Godfrey, P C: The Fall of Gondolin

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Release Date: 19th Oct 2018
Catalogue No: PFCD09293
Label: Prima Facie
Length: 1 hour 56 minutes

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Godfrey, P C: First Triptych

Work length36:31

$10.50

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Philip Lloyd-Evans, Volante Demo Chorus, Martin Lloyd, Louise Ratcliffe, Julian Boyce, Stephen Wells, George Newton-Fitzgerald

I. Prologue "Sing Us a Tale of Eärendil the Wandering"

Track length6:41

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II. "Now Shalt Thou Go to Gondolin, Turgon"

Track length2:38

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III. Scene One "And Turgon Rose"

Track length3:51

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IV. Scene One "But Aredhel Wearied of the Guarded City"

Track length2:06

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V. Scene One "So Aredhel Rode Abroad"

Track length0:48

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VI. Scene Two "But the Trees of Nan Elmoth"

Track length5:10

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VII. Scene Two "You Are of the House of Eöl, Maeglin"

Track length2:22

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VIII. Scene Three "And, Driven by Anger and Despair"

Track length0:52

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IX. Scene Three "I Rejoice Indeed That My Sister Has Returned"

Track length2:51

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X. Scene Three "Welcome, Kinsman: For so I Hold You"

Track length9:12

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Godfrey, P C: Second Triptych

Work length43:39

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Volante Demo Chorus, Martin Lloyd, Demo Orchestra, Philip Lloyd-Evans, George Newton-Fitzgerald, Simon Crosby Buttle, Julian Boyce

I. Scene Four "Huor the Brother of Húrin"

Track length6:04

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II. Scene Four "And at That Hour the Sun Went Down"

Track length1:53

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III. Scene Four "Rise, Son of Huor!"

Track length5:56

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IV. Scene Four "Storm"

Track length2:09

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V. Scene Four "Hail, Voronwë! I Await You"

Track length4:03

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VI. Scene Four "Often Have I Vowed"

Track length5:45

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VII. Scene Five "In a Dim and Perilous Region"

Track length5:59

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VIII. Scene Five "Fell Is This Frost"

Track length2:04

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IX. Scene Six "This Is Strange in You, Voronwë"

Track length3:43

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X. Scene Six "Rejoice That You Have Found"

Track length6:03

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Godfrey, P C: Third Triptych

Work length36:31

$10.50

$15.80

Philip Lloyd-Evans, Demo Orchestra, Simon Crosby Buttle, Stephen Wells, Anitra Blaxhall, Laurence Cole, Julian Boyce, Volante Demo Chorus, George Newton-Fitzgerald

I. Wedding March

Track length3:52

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II. Scene Seven "There Elven Lights"

Track length8:09

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III. Scene Eight "I Am Maeglin"

Track length0:53

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IV. Scene Nine "Ilu Ilúvatar"

Track length4:58

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V. Scene Nine "Morgoth Is Upon Us!"

Track length2:39

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VI. Scene Nine "Ah! Woe Is Me"

Track length1:13

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VII. Scene Nine "The Fume of the Burning"

Track length1:02

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VIII. Scene Nine "Then a Green Turf Came There"

Track length2:17

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IX. Epilogue "I Know a Window in a Western Tower"

Track length4:53

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X. Epilogue "Oh Happy Mariner"

Track length6:35

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About
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About

During the period 1982-97 Welsh composer Paul Corfield Godfrey produced a series of ‘epic scenes’ drawn from J R R Tolkien’s posthumous writings for The Silmarillion, employing a large variety of posthumously published texts by the author with the permission of the Tolkien Estate. The cycle, extending in performance over four evenings, is the largest-scale work of classical music written in Wales in the twentieth century, demanding a full roster of solo singers, chorus and an orchestra of some eighty players, but has only ever been performed in excerpts until now.

Following on the success last year of the CD of the composer’s music including the piano rondo 'Akallabêth' and other Tolkien works, Prima Facie Records in collaboration with Volante Opera Productions now presents the first instalment in a complete recording of the epic scenes, to be released in a series of double CD albums. In a review last year Chris Seeman of the Tolkien Music Website wrote: “In the annals of Tolkien-inspired music, Paul Corfield Godfrey is the proverbial oliphaunt in the closet” and expressed a hope that more of his work would be recorded in the near future. Accordingly this set of 'The Fall of Gondolin' will be followed next year by a release of 'Beren and Lúthien', to be followed in due course by 'The Children of Húrin' and 'Fëanor'.

The singers are all professional artists from Welsh National Opera, and the sets will make available for the first time a fully representative recording of the music with the complete lyrics by Tolkien. Because of budgetary and other constraints, the orchestra is represented by sampled sets (using the sounds of real instruments) which have been carefully balanced and ad- justed in collaboration with the composer to obtain as close a result to the sound of an actual orchestra as possible. The booklet with this set of 'The Fall of Gondolin' explains the methods of production in greater detail, and also includes an essay by the composer on the manner in which the author’s text has been adapted for music.

In a review last year of the composer’s 'Akallabêth', Göran Forsling referred to his music as “accessible and captivating”. Brian Wilson in another review compared his Tolkien songs to the Housman settings of Vaughan Williams, and observed that he would not be surprised if “some of Godfrey’s music becomes as well-loved as the Vaughan Williams.” We would hope that audiences will enjoy the further exploration of this extensive work.

This musical work was composed before the publication of 'The Fall of Gondolin' by J R R Tolkien, ed. C R Tolkien, in 2018 and is not associated with it. The literary work is © The Tolkien Estate Limited and C R Tolkien 2018. FALL OF GONDOLIN is a trade mark of The Tolkien Estate Limited.

Godfrey, P C: The Fall of Gondolin

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