THE TOLKIEN ENSEMBLE



Lord of the Rings: At Dawn in Rivendell THE TOLKIEN ENSEMBLE was formed by Caspar Reiff in the autumn of 1995, with the purpose of creating a faithful musical interpretation of the poems included in The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. This CD is the third of a series of four CDOs, which endeavours to meet this challenge. The first CD, An Evening in Rivendell, was published in 1997 and the second, A Night in Rivendell, in 2000. The Tolkien Ensemble consists of professional musicians from the Danish music scene, the majority educated at The Royal Danish Academy of Music. The original ensemble has been extended, for the purposes of this recording, to include: The English actor, Christopher Lee, as narrator and singer of the character Treebeard.
The Copenhagen Chamber Choir Camerata, Copenhagen Young Strings as well as soloists Tom McEwan (Pippin), Kurt Ravn (Legolas) and Morten Ernst Lassen (Aragorn and Eomer), also co-operated with The Tolkien Ensemble on this CD.
THE MUSIC to the poems was composed by Caspar Reiff (1971) and Peter Hall (1946), some of the songs, though, resulting from a collaborative effort. Caspar Reiff, who studied at The Loyal Danish Academy of Music, and Peter Hall (L.L.C.M. London College of Music), met in 1988. Their relationship, initially one of pupil and teacher, developed into a fruitful co-operation as musicians, and a very close friendship. Their music to this CD represents the culmination of the third phase of a quest, leading to a common musical goal.