Vox Nova at the Radio:The Lord of the Rings Musical

Several years ago, I heard that there would be a musical edition of the Lord of the Rings. I’ve not seen it yet, though many of the reviews have been good. They put a lot of money and effort into the production.

What got my interest was those who were chosen to compose the music itself. One is now an academy award winning composer (AR Rahman), and the other is the Finnish band, Varttina (one of my favorite bands, period). I was not sure what to expect, but I did think the Finnish band was appropriate (Tolkien started his work on Turin as a rewriting of Finnish legends about Kullervo; and the Finnish spirit can be seen as an influence throughout Tolkien’s works).

I ordered the CD, and have been relatively satisfied with it. A few songs just remind me of the type you expect from musicals, and are not special. But some… like this one… are haunting and make me wonder how it is used when being sung on stage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=</span></span>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcTe2Xwptsk

I have to say, the musical version’s of “The Road Goes Ever On”, at first disappointed (having heard the previous recording done by Swann), but quickly found it to be catchy and a good, creative attempt to follow through with one of my favorite Tolkien poems.

All in all, the CD for the musical has made me want to see the production itself. That I think is a testimony to the quality of the songs themselves.

I’m sure these scenes don’t capture the stage well:

Cat and the Moon:

Lothlorien

The Star of Eärendil