V.
"Hobbits"
from Symphony no. 1 "The Lord of the Rings" - Johan de Meij
Dutch composer Johan de Meij (b. 1953) studied trombone
and
conducting at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague.
He now resides in suburban New Jersey. He rose to international fame as
a composer with his Symphony
no. 1 “The Lord of the Rings”. Written between
1984 and 1987, it was premiered in Brussels, Belgium in 1988.
It went on to win first prize in the Sudler International Wind Band
Composition Competition in 1989, and a Dutch Composers Fund award in
1990, and has since become a cornerstone of the repertoire for
high-level bands worldwide.
The Symphony
is based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s trilogy of fantasy novels by the same
name, which have recently also been immortalized in director Peter
Jackson’s film trilogy. Each of the symphony’s five movements
illustrates an important character or event from the Lord of the Rings
story: “Gandalf”, the wizard; “Lothlorien”, home of the Elves;
“Gollum”, the pitiful former keeper of the ring; “Journey in the Dark”,
a chronicle of an expedition through abandoned Dwarf mines; and
“Hobbits”. Says De Meij of “Hobbits”:
The fifth movement
expresses the carefree and optimistic character of
the Hobbits in a happy folk dance;
the hymn that follows emanates the determination and noblesse of the
hobbit
folk. The symphony does not end on an exuberant note, but is
concluded peacefully and resigned, in keeping with the symbolic mood of
the last chapter “The Grey Havens” in which Frodo and Gandalf sail away
in a white ship and
disappear slowly beyond the horizon.
Review
of a CD containing the symphony and de Meij's trombone
concerto. The page file is hilariously titled
"meijbonering.html".
One more program
note on Symphony no. 1, from everything2.com.
Video of an excellent Dutch band playing "Hobbits" live:
Now some Lord
of the Rings background for the uninitiated. The
various internet sources below can tell its story much more succinctly
and completely than I can. Suffice it to say that The Lord of the Rings
laid the foundation for modern fantasy writing and has inspired
countless tributes and adaptations to other media, including notably
Peter Jackson's film trilogy.