The Lord of the Rings in Symphony Form

I feel bad for Jerry Bilik and his blandly named Symphony for Band, for this cover has its sights set completely on the other work.

No matter, Johan de Meij's first Symphony is a very satisfying listen. It sags just a little in the middle, but the work musically characterizes moments from the J.R.R. Tolkien book very well.

The 'Lord of the Rings' Symphony has since been orchestrated (by Henk de Vlieger), although I haven't heard that version. This wind band original still holds up very well, and these Dutch players are excellent.

The previously mentioned Bilik work is a staple of the concert band repertoire, and not easy either. It is a little tougher to listen to compared to the main feature, but spending time with it helps.

The recording is barely an hour long. Now you can hear this music from the composer himself, among many, many other available recordings.

Review from 2020

This 1989 recording features The Lord of the Rings Symphony for wind band by Dutch composer Johan De Meij, an album that really struck a chord a decade before the trilogy of LOTR movies came out in theatres, although it has been a favourite of wind ensembles for a long time. American composer Jerry Bilik and his 15-minute Symphony for Band unfortunately get second billing, but its bland title and short timing are far less flashy than what precedes.

De Meij’s music is ultra cinematic. Tuneful, swollen for dramatic effect, and very colourful, The Lord of the Rings Symphony is extremely approachable. Essentially musical portraits based on characters from JRR Tolkien’s books, De Meij satisfyingly portrays each subject vividly and tunefully. The music can seem a bit broad for the average classical music listener, the pub-tune settings and Romanticized ebbs and flows seem garish (that huge brass chorale in the middle of the 1st and 2nd movement is highly caloric, yet so satisfying), but in the end it is all a gas and terribly good fun.

At the time of the 2001 movie release, listeners were enflamed that De Meij’s music was not considered for use in Fellowship, but that seems mighty silly today. Of course, the London Symphony Orchestra arranged this music for orchestra around that time for a cash grab, but this music belongs firmly in the wind-band sound world, as it is portrayed here.

Bilik’s Symphony for Band is less immediately appealing. Not as tuneful or memorable as the lead-in work, it is more rhythmic than it is melodic, although we get a nigh-upon Spanish motive in the 1st movement and a valiantly heroic theme in the final movement. The Symphony is a wind standard today and is notable for the percussion work and tricky metrical difficulties among the winds and brass. I am not a ‘band’ guy outside the standard classical literature, and while I appreciate this music, the mix of clashing wind sonorities just doesn’t do much for me. Maybe spending a little more time with the music will ingratiate itself upon me.

I have no problems, however, over the highly professional playing by the Royal Netherlands Military Band who brought these works into the recorded musical consciousness. Articulate and characterful, not to mention extremely virtuosic, this performance still remains the standard of these works. Despite being recorded in a church, the sound from the Dutch label KMK / Ottavo is immediate and full, with all of the solos well heard among the band. The liner notes give excellent background information on the composers and JRR Tolkien, but nothing on the performers, and that is really a shame, for they are the stars of this recording.

The headliner Lord of the Rings Symphony is garish but fun, and De Meij followed it up with four more programmatic symphonies, include a 5th Symphony titled “Return to Middle Earth”. A collection of these works can be found with the Peabody Conservatory, but for the Lord of the Rings alone, this recording remains the top choice. I don’t warm to the Bilik Symphony as much, it is less populous sounding I guess, but these Dutch performances are top-drawer.

Works
Symphony 1 'Lord of the Rings' (42.17)
Symphony for Band (16.38)

Performers
Royal Netherlands Military Band
Pierre Kuijpers, conductor

Label: KMK
Year: 1989
Total Timing: 58.55

 

A very fine sounding recording of the main event.

The paired work will probably not please most coming for a Lord of the Rings inspired composition.

However, both are worth getting to know.

 

 

Find more de Meij recordings HERE!