paul corfield godfrey
Level 2
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Posts: 14
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In fact Stephen Oliver's music for THE LORD OF THE RINGS was issued on CD, as an additional disc to the 13-disc set of the complete BBC production in a luxurious presentation box. However the BBC subsequently remastered their original tapes, adjusting the layout to fit onto twelve CDs corresponding to the original books and films (with some additional material added to cover the revised order, I believe) and the CD would have disappeared at that time. The additional CD was especially valuable as it included full-length recordings of some of the items that only featured in the BBC dramatisation in parts, together with some useful booklet notes on the music itself.
The BBC themselves seem to be unaware of this CD's existence, as about a year ago when they broadcast an extract from Stephen Oliver's music on Radio 3 (following a request from a listener) they employed an LP version of the music.
The main problem with Stephen Oliver's music was that he was heavily restricted, presumably for financial reasons, in the orchestral forces he was able to employ: just strings, percussion and a solo horn. This seriously underchanged some of the more dramatic moments in the action. Nor, judging even by the results on the CD version, was much rehearsal time made available. Might I tentatively suggest that as a setting, for example, of Sam's song "In western lands" a more emotional response can be gained by listening to the same lyric when it appears in my own setting of "Beren and Lúthien" scored with a much larger ensemble and dramatic scope? Another "Lord of the Rings" poem will appear on next year's issue of "The
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