The Ring-Bearer's Tale

-

The Ring-Bearer's Tale was written in 1996, well before Peter Jackson's film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, which is arguably the defining novel of the fantasy genre.  Many of the characters in this epic novel are larger-than-life:  Gandalf, Saruman, Aragorn, and others.  Interestingly enough, the true heroes of Tolkien’s tale are very simple folk:  hobbits.  Bilbo Baggins and his nephew Frodo are among the most beloved characters of the story, quite possibly because they are not so much different from you or me, yet they accomplish great and heroic deeds nonetheless. 

This piece for unaccompanied flute focuses on five moments from The Lord of the Rings in which our down-to-earth heroes encounter situations both marvelous and terrible.  As the title suggests, the musical narrative follows the adventures of Frodo and his faithful companion, Samwise Gamgee (who also bore the One Ring for a time).

I. Rivendell

II. Fog on the Barrow-Downs

III. Ents

IV. Shelob's Lair

V. The Grey Havens

LISTEN on YouTube

PURCHASE on SheetMusicPlus

 

Popular posts from this blog

Groovin’ Goliath (and the slingshot of doom)

-
Image
Groovin’ Goliath (and the slingshot of doom) for saxophone choir combines elements of blues, traditional and non-traditional tonal structures, shifting metrical landscapes, and saxophonic sound effects in this retelling of the epic tale of David and Goliath. The giant still loses the fight, but the biggest saxes reign supreme in this battle royale! Scoring: SSAAATTB(Bs) - 2 Soprano, 3 Alto, 2 Tenor, 1 Baritone, Optional Bass which doubles Baritone. World Premiere: 2018 World Saxophone Congress by the Arkansas Saxophones under the direction of Dr. Jackie Lamar (University of Central Arkansas, retired) On YouTube at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Beq3Hy2sh0&t=1s Advanced Techniques: Slap-Tongue (all parts), Multiphonics (Baritone)
Read more

Temporal Physics

-
Image
Temporal Physics is a single-movement sonatina for alto saxophone and piano. Featuring a cornucopia  of meter changes, the piece explores various stylistic treatments of two brief melodic motifs. Temporal  Physics drops hints of different musical eras while remaining a truly contemporary display of soloistic  virtuosity.
Read more

Nevermore

-
Image
As this is an unaccompanied piece, ANY saxophone is acceptable. While most soloists will undoubtedly opt to use alto or soprano, the composer welcomes renditions of this piece on any of the larger saxes as well. This piece was inspired by Nevermore: An Evening With Edgar Allen Poe, a single act play featuring Jeffrey Combs. My good friend, Dr. Brent Bristow of Arkansas State University, Beebe, convinced me to go see the play when it was presented there in March of 2018. That performance by the legendary Mr. Combs inspired this piece. Why unaccompanied saxophone? Brent Bristow and I have been close friends since high school, and since he is the one who convinced me to see this show, and given that he plays classical saxophone (yes, that IS a thing!), I figured saxophone would kill two birds with one reed… or something like that. The show itself is a one-man performance, so that’s why this piece is unaccompanied. I toyed with the notion of including some text from the show. Eventua...
Read more