An Evening in Rivendell
Studio album by
The Tolkien Ensemble
Released30 September 1997
Recorded1997
StudioFocus Recording, Copenhagen, Denmark
GenreClassical
Length67:49
LabelClassico
ProducerMorten Ryelund Sørensen
The Tolkien Ensemble chronology
An Evening in Rivendell
(1997) 		A Night in Rivendell
(1999)

An Evening in Rivendell is the first album by the Danish group The Tolkien Ensemble. It features songs composed to the lyrics found in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and forms the first part of what was to become a complete musical interpretation of all lyrics in the book.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Verse of the Rings"Caspar Reiff4.06
2."The Old Walking Song, The Road..."Caspar Reiff4.58
3."Tom Bombadil's Song, Hey dol! Merry dol!"Peter Hall5.40
4."There is an inn, a merry old inn..."Caspar Reiff and Peter Hall4.58
5."Song of Beren and Lúthien"Caspar Reiff7.59
6."Galadriel's Song of Eldamar, I sang of leaves"Caspar Reiff6.23
7."Elven Hymn to Elbereth Gilthoniel, Snow-white! Snow-white!"Caspar Reiff5.31
8."The Ent and the Ent-wife"Caspar Reiff7.45
9."Sam's Rhyme of the Troll"Peter Hall5.19
10."Galadriel's Song of Eldamar, Ai! Laurië lantar..."Caspar Reiff6.10
11."Sam's Song in the Orc-tower"Caspar Reiff and Peter Hall5.20
12."The Old Walking Song, The Road...,Reprise"Caspar Reiff2.41

Reception

Af Søren Aabyen, reviewing the album for the Danish Tolkien Association, found that rarely had any music appealed to him as much. He was delighted by the mezzo-soprano Signe Asmussen's mellow rendering of "Galadriel's Song of Eldamar". He enjoyed the playful hobbit-song "There is an Inn, a merry old Inn", and Caspar Reiff's suitably melancholy guitar for "The Old Walking Song" alongside the rich baritone voice of Mads Thiemann and the lyrical violin of Mette Tjærby. Aabyen noted also the pleasure of finding Queen Margaret of Denmark's illustrations in the accompanying booklet.[1] Anthony Burdge and Jessica Burke, in The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia, note that the album was the first of four by the ensemble, complete with the queen's illustrations "greatly admired by Tolkien."[2]

The Tolkien Ensemble called their Danish reviews "outstanding", noting that in other countries Tolkien Online had described it as "the most beautiful presentation of the poems of The Lord of the Rings", while Classic CD named it "Highly persuasive and splendidly performed".[3]

Credits

Production

References

  1. ^ Aabyen, Af Søren (18 May 1998). "Anmeldelser | Musik: An evening in Rivendell" (in Danish). Imladris – Danmarks Tolkien Forening.
  2. ^ Burdge, Anthony; Burke, Jessica (2013) [2006]. "Popular Music". In Drout, Michael D.C. (ed.). J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 539. ISBN 978-0-415-86511-1.
  3. ^ Reiff, Caspar. "The Story of the Tolkien Ensemble". The Tolkien Ensemble. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
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