The cover of the Demo CD
In July 2002, after seeing the first film of Peter Jackson's trilogy, I had the idea of setting the songs from The Lord of the Rings to music. I was not aware of any other full-scale versions at the time and felt the call. I had just finished reading it again and I was primed to go.
In a bout of creativity unheralded in my previous career I wrote 18 of the songs in just 2 weeks! I recall on one occasion writing 3 or 4 songs in one day! And as anyone who has written music knows; it usually takes a day or two to get a song down, also they don't come every day and never more than once a day. Not only did they come to me thick and fast but the quality of the songs was of the very highest order and no two alike!
I finished the orchestral arrangements for LOTR Songs in early 2003 and set about making a demo. I used local singers, mostly amateurs and semi-professionals and generated the instrumental sounds with my computer's synthesizer. I recorded the vocals direct to hard disk and mixed the whole show digitally. The CD was finished in 2004.
This CD of 19 songs was made purely as a demo, in order to persuade Tolkien's Estate to grant me permission to use Tolkien's words, and also to try and interest a record company in producing a fully professional recording for the commercial market. Only a small number were ever made and they were sent to Tolkien's publishers, various record companies, participating musicians, family and friends. None were ever sold, nor are they available for sale.
Somewhere in the first half of 2005 somebody decided to make this demo available on the internet via the Bit Torrent and Gnutella networks. I can't condone this activity but neither can I say that I am unhappy to see these wonderful songs being enjoyed by people as was intended.
If you have heard these songs I would be only too happy to receive any feedback you may wish to provide. I am aware that synthesizers are not as good as a real orchestra, and that amateur singers are not as good as professionals but one can only work with what one has. I believe however, that this album stands up despite these shortcomings, and that the beauty, grandeur, tragedy and heroism of Tolkien's masterwork shine through.