Tolkein & Swann - The Road Goes Ever On - Any Good?

Cafe Society
1

I found on my bookshelf tonight, from a long ago time, the music to Swann’s settings of several Tolkein poems to music.

Any good? was it ever recorded so I could listen to them, and see what they’re like?

2

Yes, there’s a recording with Donald Swann on piano and William Elvin singing:

Back in 1992 at the Tolkien Centenary Conference in Oxford, England, I attended a performance of the whole song-cycle.

3

Judge for yourself - The Road Goes Ever On, Part 1.

Myself, I think it’s an interesting niche somewhere between the Ralph Vaughan Williams ‘Songs of Travel’ and some of the Britten folksong arrangements. Or their parodies.