At Dawn In Rivendell: Selected Songs and Poems From the Lord of the Rings Tolkien Ensemble and Christopher Lee Universal, 2003 Buy it online Reviewed by Sue Bursztynski	A year ago, I hadn't heard of the Tolkien Ensemble. I discovered them quite by accident while surfing the 'Net. Out of curiosity, I ordered a copy of their boxed set, 24 Songs From The Lord of The Rings, which comprises their two previous albums, An Evening In Rivendell and A Night In Rivendell. I already had a small collection of Tolkien-inspired music -- the original Donald Swann album, The Road Goes Ever On, composed during Tolkien's lifetime, written for tenor and piano accompaniment, the Stephen Oliver score for the BBC radio serial, the music from a stage show of The Hobbit and, on vinyl, a jazz version. All are very different -- and this was different again from all of them. The pieces varied in style from piano-accompanied Victorian parlor song (Aragorn) to English folk song(the Hobbit songs) to hauntingly beautiful Elvish pieces sung by mezzo Signe Asmussen as Galadriel. I was hooked. The only thing better was to discover that this newest album, At Dawn In Rivendell, is even better than its predecessors. The Tolkien Ensemble is a group of classically-trained Danish musicians formed in 1995 by its leader and main composer, Caspar Reiff, for the purpose of recording and performing all the songs and poems from The Lord of the Rings. This does means all of them. Even little snippets of four lines are faithfully recorded with background music and narrator. Englishman Peter Hall, Caspar Reiff's former teacher and mentor, is a regular member of the group who composes and sings the Hobbit and Tom Bombadil pieces. Caspar Reiff, with his classical background, felt that Mr Hall's knowledge of folk music would make him a more appropriate composer for the Hobbit songs. The instruments played are bass, guitar, violin, mandolin and piano accordion, with some piano music to accompany most of Aragorn's songs. This is the third of four planned albums and has extended its regular lineup of six. The Copenhagen Chamber Choir Camerata, Copenhagen Young Strings and Kristian Buhl Mortensen on the lute round out the musicians, while soloists Tom McEwan (Pippin), tenor Kurt Ravn (Legolas) and baritone Morten Ernst Lassen (Aragorn and Eomer) take on singing roles. Ravn and Lassen have been on previous CDs, while McEwan is new as a singer (he contributed percussion on previous albums). The star attraction, of course, is Christopher Lee, evil wizard Saruman of the film version, playing a more benign role on this album as Treebeard, as well as narrator. More of this anon; it's enough here to confirm that Christopher Lee can sing. The album begins with "Verse of the Rings," declaimed to background music and voices by Christopher Lee at his sinister best. It is followed by "Song of Gondor," sung by Lassen, who has been playing the role of Aragorn since the first album. Aragorn's parlor song style is replaced here by guitar accompaniment, easier to imagine sung by the camp fire. I confess to enjoying the bouncy Hobbit songs the most, but then, I'm a Hobbit at heart and appropriately biased. Some of the early songs from The Fellowship of the Ring are included on this album: "A Walking Song" ("Upon the hearth the fire is red"), Pippin's bath song and "Farewell Song of Merry and Pippin" ("Farewell we call to hearth and hall"). On the previous albums, Peter Hall sang all the hobbit roles except Bilbo, but it's just not possible on this one, where Merry and Pippin are singing together. Somehow, though, he manages to sing Frodo and Sam in the same song, with Tom McEwan as Pippin. The latter does a wonderfully cheery bath song, one of the album's highlights. "The Song of Nimrodel" (Legolas) is delightfully done in Renaissance style, complete with lute accompaniment. Two of Treebeard's pieces are included: "The Long List of the Ents" ("Learn now the lore of living creatures") and "Treebeard's Song" ("In the willow-meads of Tasarinan"). The former is mostly spoken, with the occasional hum, while the latter is mostly sung. Christopher Lee has a wonderful bass voice which is equally good whether he is reciting things about the "elf-children" or singing sadly about his memories of the woods now under the wave. It sounds uncannily like the voice of Stephen Thorne, who played the role in the BBC radio serial. Because Lee has played so many villains, it is easy to forget that he is capable of twinkling-eyed warmth and humor, but it is apparent here. The recording ends with the hymn to Elbereth and a reprise of "The Road Goes Ever On" from the first recording, as if the story has come full circle. The album's liner notes include words to the songs, along with notations about which song comes from what book. There is even some brief background information about Tolkien, the art work and the musicians, with photos of the latter and their guest artists. One more album to go in the quartet. If it's as good as this one, it will be worth waiting for. | April 2003   Sue Bursztynski is a children's and fantasy writer and librarian based in Australia.	Tracks 1: Verse Of The Rings 2: Song Of Gondor 3: A Walking Song (I) 4: Warning Of Winter 5: Malbeth The Seer's Words 6: A Drinking Song 7: The Long List Of The Ents (I) 8: Eomer's Song 9: Boromir's Riddle 10: The Bath Song 11: Song Of Lebennin 12: Gandalf's Riddle Of The Ents 13: Ho! Tom Bombadil 14: The Riddle Of Strider (I) 15: Song Of Nimrodel 16: Treebeard's Song 17: Farewell Song Of Merry And Pippen 18: Stheles 19: A Walking Song (II) 2-: Elven Hymn To Elbereth Gilthoniel (III)