Dear Dopers,
I have a book of the sheet music that Donald Swann composed for some of Tolkien’s songs. (‘The Road goes ever on - a song cycle’.) Most enjoyable!
However I have a persistent feeling that Swann actually made a recording of this work, possibly with a singer named William Elvin.
Nothing appeared on Amazon when I searched, but can you do better?
Regards,
Glee
If memory serves, you are correct in you recollections. You can read more about it here.
The Road Goes Ever On is still available in the UK; Amazon UK list it…
The hardback cover price is £20.00 and the cd is just over 22 minutes long - I’ve just put a copy on and first impressions are that it won’t be to everybody’s taste!
Piano and vocal only - clear enunciation with good voice projection and the sound of a man used to singing without a mic!
This is included in The J. R. R. Tolkien Audio Collection. I don’t know if it’s the complete work or just excerpts, but there are several songs. And the version I linked to is the cassette version that I have, which is apparently out of print but still readily available. It has been rereleased on CD, but I couldn’t tell you for sure if the contents are the same.
And now that I see the OP is in England, here’s a link to what appears to be the same item on Amazon.co.uk.
First, thanks for your replies!
Thudlow, ‘The J. R. R. Tolkien Audio Collection’ is certainly interesting, and I shall probably buy it. However it appears to feature Tolkien singing 
, but not Swann or Elvin 
.
Tapioca, yes, that’s precisely what I wanted! 
Meurglys, I searched Amazon.co.uk for ‘Swann Tolkien’ and ‘road goes ever on’. The CD you refer to didn’t appear. Could you kindly post a link? 
The version I have does indeed feature Elvin singing (and Swann playing the piano)—so says the paper that came with it. However, I can’t find this mentioned in any online descriptions of the Collection, which makes me wonder if it might have been left out of other editions, though this may just be because it makes up a relatively small part of the collection compared to the readings by J. R. R. (and Christopher) Tolkien.
I have the Tolkien Audio Collection (4-CD version, used library copy, no booklet). The songs by Swann are not included. Just JRRT from the 1952 tapes and Christopher reading from the Silmarillion. (I just noticed that “Reuel” is misspelled “Reul” on the back.)
I’ve got the book, but I have never heard the recordings. My wife who reads music and plays Piano & Guitar (among other instruments) said the music was difficult to play.
I would like to here the music performed. One of the SDMB members is part of a Choral Group/Orchestra that performs Tolkien Related music.
I’ll Email him and hopefully bring his attention to the thread.
BTW: He is Wendell Wagner. Maybe he know more.
Jim
What Exit? writes:
> I would like to here the music performed. One of the SDMB members is part of a
> Choral Group/Orchestra that performs Tolkien Related music.
> I’ll Email him and hopefully bring his attention to the thread.
> BTW: He is Wendell Wagner. Maybe he know more.
Afraid not. I belong to some Tolkien societies, both in the U.S. and the U.K., but I’ve never been in any choral group/orchestra doing Tolkien stuff (or anything else). I’ve listened to the Swann music of Tolkien’s poems as sung by Elvin, but it was many years ago.
Sorry about that, now I have to figure out who I was thinking of.
That is cool that you have heard Elvin sing Swann’s music though.
Again, I am sorry for the confusion. I suppose QtM might wander by and know you I am thinking of.
Jim
Incidentally, I meant that I’ve listened to the music on record, not live. Sorry if that was confusingly stated. And it was long enough ago that it definitely was a record, not a cassette and certainly not a CD, since those didn’t exist yet.
Here’s an Amazon UK link to the book; the cd is in a little sleeve inside the back cover.
A reader review further down mentions buying the book for the cd, although the puplisher details don’t appear to mention that it’s included…
Thanks for that - I wouldn’t have found it without you!
I recently bought the songbook secondhand, but of course there was no CD.
What Exit?, I did have the record, but it disappeared in a house move. (I’d rather have a CD anyway.) It’s simple, yet haunting.
Oh, and my 84 year old mother thanks you for describing the music as difficult - she managed to sight-read it!