"I feel as if I was inside a song"The Presence of Music in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth and Songs and Poems set to Music

The only published renditions of songs from The Lord of the Rings during the author’s lifetime were written by British composer Donald Swann (1923-1994), who set a number of songs from the book to music along with one song from The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. In later editions two additional songs were added, which are not an official part of the song cycle, named The Road Goes Ever On. Swann wrote the cycle at the request of his wife, who was an avid fan of the book (Swann, v). Swann played the songs to Tolkien, who liked them with the exception of one single song (see 4.1.1). This song then would become the only published musical work by Tolkien himself, but included in Swann’s song cycle. The songs are set for a solo vocalist with piano accompaniment and in their style draw from art song. The cycle is intended to be performed as a whole with key changes composed in. As such, it does not strive to represent the actual performances from the book, but must be seen as separate from the book. The composer writes that his “music was not written in Middle-earth” (Swann, v).