Poems and Songs of Middle Earth

• 1. Origins And Collaboration

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  In 1965, Donald Swann composed a song cycle titled The Road Goes Ever On. He set various texts by J.R.R. Tolkien to music and requested permission to perform the work. Tolkien approved the request after hearing Swann's composition. The author's British publisher, Allen & Unwin, reached a copyright licensing agreement with Swann in early to mid-January 1966. Allen & Unwin and Houghton Mifflin planned to print The Road Goes Ever On as sheet music. They also considered issuing a recording of the music simultaneously with the book. An early inquiry to Chappell & Co. was rejected because the song cycle seemed too short for an LP record. Joy Hill, an employee at Allen & Unwin, pitched the idea of an album featuring both spoken word and music. She suggested that Michael Flanders read selections from Tolkien's writings on one side. Swann met baritone vocalist William Elvin through Hill's introduction. Both men felt Elvin's voice suited the material perfectly. Tolkien remarked that the singer's surname was "a good omen". By May 1966, Swann prepared a demo version of his song cycle. He sent it to prospective record companies while preparing for concert performances.

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• 2. Recording Sessions At Home

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  Swann wrote to Tolkien in March 1967 for advice on vocal coaching. Both performers strove to maintain faithfulness in the pronunciation of words from Tolkien's constructed languages. Tolkien provided phonetic notes tailored to their voices. Rayner Unwin informed Tolkien in April that arrangements had been made to release the LP through Caedmon Records. A representative from Caedmon sent Tolkien a tape recorder to use for practice in May. The author recorded his spoken readings on the 15th of June 1967. Swann and Elvin recorded the songs from The Road Goes Ever On on the 12th of June 1967. Howard Sackler produced the session with an engineer at Tolkien's home on Sandfield Road in Oxford. Recording took place after 4 p.m., later than Tolkien preferred. Their schedule required them to travel that day from London. An earlier arrival by the team was not possible. Tolkien reported to Swann that he enjoyed the recording session. He commended the helpful and appreciative disposition of the recording team. While recording his poem "The Sea-Bell", Tolkien spotted an error in the published text that had gone unnoticed before.

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• 3. Linguistic Preservation Of Elvish

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  Tolkien provided phonetic guidance for the album to ensure accurate pronunciation of his constructed languages. The recordings feature two Elvish languages: Quenya and Sindarin. These were recited by the author himself or sung by William Elvin under his guidance. The album provided early insight into the intended qualities of these languages when spoken aloud. In March 1967, Swann wrote to Tolkien for advice on vocal coaching. Both performers strove to maintain faithfulness in the pronunciation of words from Tolkien's constructed languages. Tolkien provided phonetic notes tailored to Swann and Elvin's voices. This process ensured that the specific sounds of Quenya and Sindarin remained true to their original design. The album stands as one of the earliest examples of these languages being heard in performance. It offered listeners a chance to hear the linguistic structures as Tolkien intended them to be spoken.

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• 4. Packaging And Literary Endorsements

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  Pauline Baynes designed the cover art for the LP sleeve. Her illustration was a triptych view of a Middle-earth landscape. This image had previously appeared on the slipcase of the deluxe three-volume edition of The Lord of the Rings published by Allen & Unwin in 1964. Valerie Anand identified Orodruin, or Mount Doom, in the far distance of the artwork. W.H. Auden contributed introductory liner notes for the LP sleeve's reverse side. He agreed to do so in August 1967, pleasing Tolkien immensely. The two writers expressed mutual admiration in correspondence early that year. Auden lauded Tolkien's verse, calling the poems' metres "as exciting as they are various". He claimed the author's fantasy works possessed unique qualities. Auden also expressed disappointment that the album lacked readings from the poetry of Rohan. His essay praised the poetic structure and emotional depth of the work while noting specific omissions.

• 5. Commercial Release History

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  Caedmon Records issued the vinyl LP on the 18th of October 1967 in the United States. They released it in the United Kingdom on the 28th of March 1968. The original list price was $5.95. Caedmon shipped Tolkien three copies of the record from New York ahead of its British market appearance. In late 1971, the retailer Record Specialities reissued the LP at a discounted price of £1.99. The following year, Caedmon issued the album on cassette tape for the first time. As late as 1985, Caedmon continued to sell tapes of the album. Poems and Songs of Middle Earth was out of print by the year 2000. Copies remained in circulation via public libraries. In 1977, Caedmon reissued the album as part of a box set compilation called The J.R.R. Tolkien Soundbook. It was one of the first five releases in this series. The track listing on the LP packaging erroneously omits the sixth track on side A, "The Sea-Bell". This error existed even though the track is present on the record itself.

• 6. Critical Reception And Pedagogy

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  Frederick Woods reviewed the album for classical music magazine The Gramophone. He professed great admiration for Tolkien's fiction but felt ambivalence about Swann's compositions. Edmund Fuller wrote a review for The Wall Street Journal that cited Elvin's singing as excellent. Fuller reported that the cycle had established itself in the concert repertory in England. Several reviews appeared in journals about literature and education. Ethel L. Hynes wrote for The Horn Book Magazine that Elvin's vocals revealed beautiful melodic lines. Peter Gellatly of Library Journal called Tolkien's readings notable for their jewelled ornateness. John R. Searles at the English Journal generally praised the compositions, especially "Namárië". Catheryne S. Franklin judged Tolkien's accented pronunciation sufficiently intelligible for a general American audience. Educators and academics later cited the album's value as a pedagogical tool. Eleanor Kulleseid recommended the album for Hobbit-lovers in 1970. Marshall Tymn listed it as a resource for teaching science fiction and fantasy in 1981. Don Adrian Davidson endorsed its usefulness as a multimedia teaching aid in 1972.