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19. Bilbo's Last Song
Stephen Oliver (1950-92)
J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973)
Arranged by Cantabile
Our second setting of the Tolkien poem. Stephen Oliver and Cantabile have a long association:- first there was the West End musical, Blondel,
which Oliver wrote with Sir Tim Rice, and in which Cantabile were the four narrating monks for 399 performances. Then came Sue Limb's The Wordsmiths at Gorsemere,
a fabulous surreal take on the Lake Poets and their friends, with Cantabile singing Oliver's concise and witty musical interruptions to the show.
Two more commissions followed, one from the group itself, Commuting, where Cantabile have to play at least twelve parts and all end up in drag,
and Ricercare IV, which Simon Callow commissioned. These pieces were premiered, and performed along with another Oliver work The Waiter's Revenge,
at the Covent Garden Festival in 1996.
The Radio 4 Lord of the Rings series on CD kept us going on an exhausting trip around the USA. Mark had listened to it religiously when it first came out
in 1981 and loved the music from then on.
www.tolkien.co.uk
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