Symphony No. 1 ''The Lord of the Rings'' is the first

symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

for

concert band A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion famil ...

written by

Johan de Meij Johannes Abraham "Johan" de Meij (; born November 23, 1953 in Voorburg) is a Dutch conductor, trombonist, and composer, best known for his '' Symphony No. 1'' for wind ensemble, nicknamed ''The Lord of the Rings'' symphony. Biography Johan de ...

, and one of several works of classical music based on

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was ...

's fantasy ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...

''. It premiered in 1988 with the Groot Harmonieorkest van de Belgische Gidsen conducted by Norbert Nozy. In 1989 the symphony won the Sudler Composition Award.

Structure

The symphony consists of five movements, each illustrating a personage or an important episode from the book: # Gandalf (The Wizard): this movement is "marked by a full, striving theme, and later breaks into a fast ride on Shadowfax." #

Lothlórien In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, Lothlórien or Lórien is the fairest realm of the Elves remaining in Middle-earth during the Third Age. It is ruled by Galadriel and Celeborn from their city of tree-houses at Caras Galadhon. The wood-elves ...

(The Elvenwood) # Gollum (Sméagol) # Journey in the Dark #: a. The Mines of Moria #: b. The Bridge of Khazad-Dûm # Hobbits

Reception

The CD by the military band helped give the symphony worldwide acclaim. In 1989 it won the Sudler Composition Award. It has been recorded by several orchestras. An orchestral version of the piece, orchestrated by

Henk de Vlieger Henk de Vlieger (born 1953 in Schiedam) is a Dutch percussionist, composer and arranger. Since 1984 he has been a permanent member of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra as percussionist. In May 2011 he was appointed artistic advisor t ...

, was premiered and recorded in 2001 by the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

to coincide with the release of the 2001 film, The Fellowship of the Ring. The musicologist Estelle Jorgensen wrote that while the symphony has a programmatic aspect, it is "also formally interesting as sheer instrumental sound." The Tolkien scholar David Bratman noted in 2010 that the symphony had attracted four recordings. He commented that though it was Dutch, it was in the tradition of British concert band and symphonic composers like

Malcolm Arnold Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold (21 October 1921 – 23 September 2006) was an English composer. His works feature music in many genres, including a cycle of nine symphonies, numerous concertos, concert works, chamber music, choral music and music ...

and Gustav Holst. He stated, too, that like another symphony based on ''The Lord of the Rings'', the Finnish composer Aulis Sallinen's 1996 Symphony No. 7 ''The Dreams of Gandalf'', it mainly aims not to tell the story but to create a mood. Thus, three of the movements introduce characters – Gandalf, Gollum, and (the finale) the Hobbits. The second movement, Bratman wrote, presents the character of a place, the Elvish wood of

, "which, like everyone from

Bo Hansson Bo Hansson (10 April 1943 – 23 April 2010) was a Swedish musician best known for his four instrumental progressive rock studio albums released throughout the 1970s. Early life and musical career Hansson spent his early life in a remote vil ...

Enya Enya Patricia Brennan (; ga, Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin; born 17 May 1961), known professionally by the mononym Enya, is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician known for modern Celtic music. She is the best-selling Irish solo arti ...

, de Meij seems to hear as steamy." He made an exception for the fourth movement, "Journey in the Dark", which does narrate a story, the dangerous passage through the Mines of Moria. In celebration of the symphony's 25th anniversary, De Meij conducted the Performance of the piece by the bands of Valparaiso University.

Recordings

* Dutch Royal Military Band conducted by Pierre Kuijpers (Ottavo, 1989) *The composer served as music advisor for this recording * The Danish Concert Band conducted by Jørgen Misser Jensen (Copenhagen, 1994) * Ensemble vents et percussion de Quebec conducted by René Joly (ATMA, 1997) * London Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Warble (2001) * Blaeserphilharmonie Regensburg conducted by Jörg Seggelke (2007)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Symphony No. 1 The Lord of the Rings 1988 compositions Compositions by Johan de Meij De Meij De Meij 1 Music based on The Lord of the Rings

Structure

Reception

Recordings

See also

References