Paul Corfield Godfrey

From Tolkien Gateway
Paul Corfield Godfrey
Biographical information
Born1950
OccupationComposer
LocationUnited Kingdom
Websitehttps://www.paulcorfieldgodfrey.co.uk/

Paul Corfield Godfrey is a British musician who composed music and, most notably, operatic adaptations utilising the words of J.R.R. Tolkien between the years 1971-2023 with the permission of the Tolkien Estate.

His Epic Scenes from The Silmarillion after the mythology of J.R.R. Tolkien - a cycle of operatic works originally written between 1980 and 1994 consisted of Op. 46 - Fëanor, Op. 47. Beren and Lúthien, Op. 48 - The Children of Húrin and Op. 49 - The Fall of Gondolin. The libretti for these works were compiled with the assistance of Christopher Tolkien who supplied Godfrey with, at that point in time, unpublished versions of some of the texts to help expand the words of The Silmarillion into a more dramatic form.

Priscilla Tolkien hosted an event for The Tolkien Society in 1982 where a small ensemble of singers performed highlights from The Children of Húrin to the assembled members at the Oxonmoot. Priscilla herself joined the choir for the occasion.

The operas sat unperformed until 2018 when Volante Opera Productions undertook the process of creating demo recordings of the works. During this process Godfrey was persuaded to compose a final part to The Silmarillion to finish off the tales which was subsequently recorded. This fifth and final part was entitled Op. 71. The War of Wrath was completed in 2020.

In total the cycle has a duration of approximately ten and a half hours, has a cast of 48 characters and 55 scenes.

Other authorised works currently include Op. 9 - Tolkien Songs, Op. 33 - Shadow-Bride, Op. 36 - Symphony No. 3 Ainulindalë, Op. 42 - Akallabêth (for solo piano), Op. 42a - Akallabêth (for Orchestra) and Op. 45 - Daeron. There are also suites and concert performable highlights from each of the component parts of The Silmarillion.

Discography[edit | edit source]

Scores[edit | edit source]

Epic Scenes from The Silmarillion after the mythology of J. R. R. Tolkien:

Articles[edit | edit source]

External link[edit | edit source]

References