CDs with online ordering
Musical Chapters from The Lord of the Rings (PFCD260-274) £95/£114
Composed by Paul Corfield Godfrey
Performed by Volante Opera
Productions
15-CD set with 64-page booklet
Demo recording using sampled orchestral instruments
CD1
A Long Expected Party [34:10]
The Return of the Shadow [45:13]
CD2
Tom Bombadil [37:55]
The Prancing Pony [24:13]
CD3
Flight to the Ford [29:41]
The Council of Elrond [44:59]
CD4
The Council of Elrond Part 2 [08:07]
Farewell to Rivendell [22:25]
A Journey in the Dark [22:38]
CD5
The Mirror of Galadriel [49:04]
The Breaking of the Fellowship [22:31]
CD6
The Plains and the Forest [32:55]
The Riders of Rohan [32:09]
CD7
The Black Gate is Closed [36:38]
The King of the Golden Hall [30:51]
CD8
The Window on the West [38:58]
The Journey to Isengard [34:01]
CD9
The Voice of Saruman [28:13]
Cirith Ungol [35:27]
CD10
Minas Tirith [21:20]
The Passing of the Grey Company [32:07]
The Siege of Gondor [25:54]
CD11
Plennor Fields [28:17]
The House of Healing [34:34]
The Black Gate Opens [12:38]
CD12
Mount Doom [45:00]
The Field of Cormallen [25:36]
CD13
The Steward and the King [30:15]
Homeward Bound [31:08]
CD14
The Scouring of the Shire [23:46]
The Grey Haven [35:00]
CD15
Appendix: The Lay of Lúthien [15:10]
Appendix: The Lay of Eárendill [26:44]
Appendix: The Lay of Durin [09:05]
Appendix: The Lay of Nimrodell [05:25]
Appendix: Aragorn and Arwen [22:16]
Review
"...this is a masterpiece... This is the great unperformed work of our time, and it deserves to be staged." Nicholas Fuller, MusicWeb International
About this Album
The agreement by the estate of the late J. R. R. Tolkien last year to sanction the recording of Paul Corfield Godfrey’s “musical chapters from The Lord of the Rings” was hailed by listeners throughout the world as a milestone in the field of Tolkien adaptations.
For many years the Tolkien Estate has refused to allow any musical treatment of the works of the author which employed his own words. Now they have agreed to make a concession in respect of the music of Paul Corfield Godfrey, whose acclaimed cycle of “epic scenes from The Silmarillion” was finally completed in 2023 with the issue of a ten-CD series of recordings from Volante Opera and Prima Facie Records.
Ever since the 1960s the composer had been working on sketches, fragments and episodes of what was originally envisaged as a cycle of musical works based upon The Lord of the Rings. Following on from the success of the recordings of The Silmarillion he was persuaded to go back to these beginnings and fully explore, expand and complete the work which has now evolved as “musical chapters from The Lord of the Rings”. This fully operatic setting has now become a companion work on the same scale as The Silmarillion. The adaptation extends to thirty “chapters” designed for performance over six evenings – more than fifteen hours of music.
This recording of the complete work by Volante Opera has now finally been completed and Prima Facie have now released a demo set of the complete cycle, in the same manner as their Silmarillion recordings, in a single volume. The professional singers, some thirty-five in number, come mainly from Welsh National Opera. Returning artists from The Silmarillion include: Simon Crosby Buttle as Frodo, Julian Boyce as Sam, Philip Lloyd-Evans as Gandalf, Stephen Wells as Aragorn, Michael Clifton-Thompson as Gollum, Helen Jarmany as Éowyn, Huw Llywelyn as Bilbo and Éomer, Emma Mary Llewellyn as Arwen and Goldberry, Laurence Cole as Boromir and Denethor, Martin Lloyd as Treebeard and the Herb Master, Helen Greenaway as Lobelia and Ioreth, Rosie Hay as Gwaihir, Sophie Yelland as the Barrow-Wight and Louise Ratcliffe as Lindir, with George Newton-Fitzgerald and Jasey Hall taking on a plethora of parts. Angharad Morgan is also reprising her role as Galadriel from The War of Wrath. Other new cast members include Rhodri Prys Jones as Legolas, Gareth Long as Gimli, David Fortey as Pippin, Dyfed Wyn Evans as Merry, James Schouten as Faramir and Elrond, Gavin Davies as Thëoden, Gareth Lloyd as Saruman, Peter Wilman, Owen Webb, Alastair Moore, Francesca Saracino and Steffan Lloyd-Evans in various other solo roles and Howard Kirk as Tom Bombadil and Quickbeam.
Although the text is inevitably abridged, it adheres without any but the most minor alterations to the author’s original words, and the original plot development remains unchanged – including such elements as Tom Bombadil and the Barrow-wight, the love story of Éowyn and Faramir and the ‘scouring of the Shire’. And some other passages, such as the coronation and wedding of Aragorn, are given expanded musical treatment. The issue includes not only the complete musical score, but also a substantial booklet containing full details of the recording (including the text as set) and a supplementary appendix disc giving more extended versions of some of the more substantial narrative poems. As with the earlier issues of The Silmarillion, the cover art has been furnished by Ted Nasmith.
Credits
Production and engineering: Volante Opera Productions ©2025
Music published by: Zarathustra Music ©2025
Texts: Used by kind permission of the estate of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, HarperCollins Publishers and Middle-earth Enterprises ©2025
Notes and Digibook design: Paul Corfield Godfrey, Phillip Walch, Klara Claesson, Larissa Martins Costa,
Volante Opera Productions ©2025
Artists appear by arrangement with Welsh National Opera
A digital booklet and complete libretti for this recording is available at https://www.volanteopera.wales/epic-scenes-and-musical-chapters-libretti
Paul Corfield Godfrey
Paul Corfield Godfrey lives in Wales, studying composition and conducting with Alan Bush and David Wynne. His works as a composer include a cycle of epic scenes based on J R R Tolkien's The Silmarillion, extracts from which have been performed in Oxford. Other works have been performed in London and elsewhere throughout England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Hungary, America, Australia and New Zealand. He has appeared as a performer both on radio and television, and a number of his works have been broadcast.
Volante Opera
Volante Opera Productions was founded by Julian Boyce in 1999, originally bringing opera gala performances to Wales and England. Our main aims are not only to take live music into the community but also through our recordings to enable a wider audience to hear varied and exciting repertoire that has previously gone unrecorded or unheard. In addition, over the years, Volante Opera Productions has helped to raise money for charities, performing in dementia homes, schools and churches. Also our Musical Advent Calendar videos, recorded in the lockdowns of 2020, raised thousands of pounds for Shelter Cymru.