''Leaving Rivendell'' is the fourth album by the Danish group

The Tolkien Ensemble The Tolkien Ensemble (founded in 1995) is a Danish ensemble which created "the world's first complete musical interpretation of the poems and songs from ''The Lord of the Rings''". They published four CDs from 1997 to 2005, in which all the Poet ...

, with

Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a career spanning more than sixty years, Lee became known as an actor with a deep and commanding voice who often portrayed villains in horr ...

as additional vocalist. It features songs composed to the lyrics found in ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'' by

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

and forms the end part of a complete musical interpretation of all lyrics in the book. The composer Stephen Eddins describes the music as "largely modal and melancholy". In his view the album has the correct tone for accompanying Tolkien's poems, but the music is not in the main "strong enough" to attract listeners who are not already Tolkien fans. He prefers Peter Hall's settings to those by , and considers Hall's "

Song of Eärendil The Song of Eärendil is the longest poem in ''The Lord of the Rings''. In the fiction, it is sung and composed by the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins in the Elvish sanctuary of Rivendell. It tells how the mariner Eärendil and Elwing, Eärendil tries to ...

" to be the most successful track in the album. That setting is played on guitar by Hall and sung by the Scottish musician

Nick Keir Nick Keir (14 March 1953 – 2 June 2013) was a Scottish musician from Edinburgh, Scotland, who is best known for his work with The McCalmans. More recently Keir emerged as a singer-songwriter, producing three solo albums and performing as ...

, and to Eddins it "sounds authentically rooted in Celtic folk music, with occasional eccentric and unexpected but effective harmonizations". He admired the singing and playing of The Tolkien Ensemble, the Danish Radio Sinfonietta, and the Danish National Chamber Choir on the album; the conductor was Morten Ryelund Sørensen.

Track listing

# " Riddle of Strider (II)" (Caspar Reiff) # " Verse of the Rings (II)" (Caspar Reiff) # "Bregalad's Song" (Caspar Reiff) # "Legolas' Song of the Sea" (Caspar Reiff) # "Song of the Elves Beyond the Sea - Galadriel's Song of Eldamar (II)" (Caspar Reiff) # "Oliphaunt" (Peter Hall) # "Ents' Marching Song" (Peter Hall) # "Galadriel's Messages" (Caspar Reiff) # "

" (Peter Hall) # "Song of Durin" (Peter Hall) # "Tom Bombadil's Song (III) I Had an Errand There..." (Peter Hall) # "Wight's Chant" (Peter Hall) # "Ho! Tom Bombadil (II)" (Peter Hall) # "Tom Bombadil's Song (IV)" (Caspar Reiff) # "Théoden's Battle Cry" (Caspar Reiff) # "At Théoden's Death" (Caspar Reiff) # "Snowmane's Epitaph" (Caspar Reiff) # "Burial Song of Théoden" (Caspar Reiff) # "Long List of the Ents, No. 2" (Peter Hall) # "Sam's Invocation of Elven Hymn to Elbereth Gilthoniel" (Peter Hall) # "Call to Arms of the Rohirrim" (Caspar Reiff) # "Eagle's Song" (Caspar Reiff)

Credits

* Peter Hall – founder, composer, vocals, guitar * – founder, composer, guitar *

Signe Asmussen Signe Asmussen Manuitt (born 1970) is a Danish mezzosoprano singer who has performed widely, not only in classical concerts, chamber music and opera but also in Latin jazz and as a member of The Tolkien Ensemble. Since 2001, she has made a mark a ...

– vocals * Morten Ernst Lassen – vocals * Katja Nielsen – double-bass * – accordion * Morten Ryelund Sørensen – violin * Mads Thiemann – vocals * Jørgen Ditlevsen – vocals * Kurt Ravn – vocals * Nick Keir – vocals * The Danish National Chamber Choir/DR * The Danish Radio Sinfonietta/DR *

– recitation

References

{{Authority control The Tolkien Ensemble albums 2005 albums 2000s concept albums Christopher Lee albums