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World & New Age Music artist from Kansas City, KS. New songs free to stream, with purchase options starting at $0.75. Add to your playlist now.

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The Ardic Bardic Philharmonic

Kansas City, KS  USA
March 11, 2006
2,085 plays
17,030 views
A New Age group that blends modern rock and traditional Western orchestra.
Band/artist history
In 1971, at a location very near the site of the discovery of the now-famous Red Book of Westmarch by Professor J.R.R. Tolkien, a wooden box, apparently made from the legendary mallorn tree, was unearthed. In it a cache of strange-looking manuscripts was discovered by the Ardic Bardic Philharmonic. The next 33 years saw countless hours of fruitless efforts, arguments, and despair as the manuscripts defeated attempts at translation. Suddenly, finally, in 2004, a break came. Due to the recent popularity of Professor Tolkien's work a fortunate circumstance occurred: one of our researchers was able to recognize the title of the first manuscript in the box, and pointed out its similarity to the frontispiece page of The Lord of the Rings: The Downfall of the Lord of the Rings and The Return of the King. After long and painstaking research the manuscripts finally revealed themselves to be, not just writing, but musical writing...a system of notation for playing music compositions! Apparently we had discovered an entire suite of Middle Earth music. More study showed that many of the lyrics to these compositions were actually quoted in the Red Book by Professor Tolkien, notably Galadriel's lament and Gandalf's chant of her, the Lord of the Rings Elven lore stanzas, and Sam's song of the fall of Gil-Galad.
Have you performed in front of an audience?
We live in Middle Earth, although we hail from Chicago, Illinois.
Your musical influences
Tolkien, Beethoven, Tschaikowsky, Elton John
What equipment do you use?
Although some compositions have called for instruments by names we would still recognize (most notably the harp), some were not so clear and indeed were mysteries unsolved; in such cases we have substituted completely random instruments in their place. They are noticeable in these recordings as synthesizers.
Anything else?
MUSICAL ANALYSIS Several were what we would call "New Age" compositions, in that no lyric was sung; these pieces perhaps were used in meditation... The musical notation system is dissimilar to the one we use today; it may most be said to resemble the pre-baroque notation of the Catholic Church. In consultation with my linguistic, mystical and musical mentors and betters, we have, at last, produced what is believed to be fairly faithful renderings of 12 of these lost manuscripts. Among the things we noticed compositionally were: * the Mannish/Hobbit and Dwarvish compositions are in either 2/4 or 4/4; but * the Elvish melodies are all in 3/4 time; this was apparently the meter of what the hobbits would call 'magic', though the Elves did not use (nor indeed understand) that term, as it also seems to apply to the deceits of the Enemy, as Galadriel said. * the Sauron/Ring theme is similar to Professor Tolkien's description of Melkor/Morgoth's theme in the Music of the Ainur: just a few notes, brayed out and endlessly repeated * the Lord of the Rings piece itself is also different from the other compositions in that it varies between 4/4 and 3/4; perhaps this was an attempt to show Sauron's domination of all peoples of Middle Earth * the exact same notes are used in the Dwarfish Khazad-Dum theme as are in the Nine Walkers theme, but in different sequence and rhythms; a marginal note from an elvish hand states "this was the theme of mortality but its strength was its endless adaptation to circumstance..." * additionally the notes used in the "Overture" coincide with the notes that are the basis for the Dwarvish and Mannish themes, in the keys of D minor, while the Elvish ring notes are in C, which form the basis of Galadriel's Lament and has the relative minor of A minor, which is the key of Gandalf's Song, In Dwimordene.
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