VolanteOpera

Thank you for the information, I have been talking with Simon Butle and need to get back to Paul as I still owe him an email after he sent me a really useful and interesting email. Both have been so helpful and I am loving these cds. The work that has been put into them is truly remarkable.

We’ve spent seven years recording them.

It’s been a labour of love to get them all done and out there.

Being deliberately vague, but there’s a lot more that could potentially be recorded but we need word of mouth to get out there for things to get into motion!

Thank you for this thread, we appreciate the healthy discussion. We’ve not had the easiest time promoting them as most groups and social media communities dislike people promoting for sales.

We have zero budget for advertising so navigating a way through some of these community rules to try to get word out can get headache inducing….

VolanteOpera wrote:

We’ve spent seven years recording them.

It’s been a labour of love to get them all done and out there.

Being deliberately vague, but there’s a lot more that could potentially be recorded but we need word of mouth to get out there for things to get into motion!

Thank you for this thread, we appreciate the healthy discussion. We’ve not had the easiest time promoting them as most groups and social media communities dislike people promoting for sales.

We have zero budget for advertising so navigating a way through some of these community rules to try to get word out can get headache inducing….

You're welcome. These recording deserve to be heard. They are a wonderful set of recordings. I do like the frankness and honestly given in the booklets about how these are recorded, and I wouldn't know that these were recorded in big studios if it wasn't pointed out. But it adds another level of admiration that they were put together on such small budgets with people offering their time for free. It's a staple of the Tolkien community to offer up time and energy on passion projects so it fits perfectly.

I will add more here when I have heard the final piece of the puzzle and been able to process it all a bit. But others here should enjoy these recordings very much. It's a unique way to tell these stories. I am having a lot of fun exploring them all.

onthetrail wrote:

VolanteOpera wrote:

We’ve spent seven years recording them.

It’s been a labour of love to get them all done and out there.

Being deliberately vague, but there’s a lot more that could potentially be recorded but we need word of mouth to get out there for things to get into motion!

Thank you for this thread, we appreciate the healthy discussion. We’ve not had the easiest time promoting them as most groups and social media communities dislike people promoting for sales.

We have zero budget for advertising so navigating a way through some of these community rules to try to get word out can get headache inducing….

You're welcome. These recording deserve to be heard. They are a wonderful set of recordings. I do like the frankness and honestly given in the booklets about how these are recorded, and I wouldn't know that these were recorded in big studios if it wasn't pointed out. But it adds another level of admiration that they were put together on such small budgets with people offering their time for free. It's a staple of the Tolkien community to offer up time and energy on passion projects so it fits perfectly.

I will add more here when I have heard the final piece of the puzzle and been able to process it all a bit. But others here should enjoy these recordings very much. It's a unique way to tell these stories. I am having a lot of fun exploring them all.

Thank you!

We freely admit we want to hear these pieces done with full forces and in a spectacular production but until that time we have at least made it possible for people to hear the works.

As for the “final piece of the puzzle”…

Simon spent quite some time convincing Paul to write it and when he decided to do it he went big!

The story in War of Wrath is more of a Triptych of tales… the Ruin of Doriath, The Journey of Earendil and then the Defeat of Morgoth leading into the tying up of as many loose threads as possible.

The original Tolkien from these stories is quite fragmented (and occasionally contradictory) so versions had to be chosen that suited this narrative and this medium whilst still being understandable to those uninitiated in The First Age.

It’s an impossible task to set up a stand alone narrative for this far into the Silmarillion but… solace came from a motto of “You wouldn’t read The Return of the King first”, so if you are on Part Five of a cycle then some things have to be taken as read.

The music in Part Five is incredible - some of Paul’s best.

Volante have their copies of the CDs now for War of Wrath, the website hasn’t been updated yet (coming in a few days hopefully) but if people buy their War of Wrath or Complete Silmarillion direct from us we are already shipping…

VolanteOpera wrote:

onthetrail wrote:

You're welcome. These recording deserve to be heard. They are a wonderful set of recordings. I do like the frankness and honestly given in the booklets about how these are recorded, and I wouldn't know that these were NOT recorded in big studios if it wasn't pointed out. But it adds another level of admiration that they were put together on such small budgets with people offering their time for free. It's a staple of the Tolkien community to offer up time and energy on passion projects so it fits perfectly.

I will add more here when I have heard the final piece of the puzzle and been able to process it all a bit. But others here should enjoy these recordings very much. It's a unique way to tell these stories. I am having a lot of fun exploring them all.

Thank you!

We freely admit we want to hear these pieces done with full forces and in a spectacular production but until that time we have at least made it possible for people to hear the works.

As for the “final piece of the puzzle”…

Simon spent quite some time convincing Paul to write it and when he decided to do it he went big!

The story in War of Wrath is more of a Triptych of tales… the Ruin of Doriath, The Journey of Earendil and then the Defeat of Morgoth leading into the tying up of as many loose threads as possible.

The original Tolkien from these stories is quite fragmented (and occasionally contradictory) so versions had to be chosen that suited this narrative and this medium whilst still being understandable to those uninitiated in The First Age.

It’s an impossible task to set up a stand alone narrative for this far into the Silmarillion but… solace came from a motto of “You wouldn’t read The Return of the King first”, so if you are on Part Five of a cycle then some things have to be taken as read.

The music in Part Five is incredible - some of Paul’s best.

Volante have their copies of the CDs now for War of Wrath, the website hasn’t been updated yet (coming in a few days hopefully) but if people buy their War of Wrath or Complete Silmarillion direct from us we are already shipping…

I added a correction, in BOLD as I meant that they were not recorded in a big studio, which unless told, I would not have guessed.

Paul explains a lot of the thought process, in an email to me which I will be adding here once I have asked his permission to, and in his various articles on the website.

I think the choices made were very well suited to the medium. Some in the Tolkien community get a little tunnel vision when assessing adaptation but the choices have to reflect the medium and I think that if the choices made, are made for the good of the story told, then I am all for that. Paul's decisions how to best reflect the tales for the medium show his passion for those tales and themes. I am especially impressed by Beren and Luthien.

Please post any links you think will be helpful, I know others here will be interested, and even if opera music is not especially to some fans tastes, the Ted Nasmith art is stunning enough to warrant owning them.

Thank you!

As I mentioned before, both Volante and Paul’s websites are in the process of being updated with the War of Wrath release info but:

Volante’s Website:
www.volanteopera.wales

Paul’s website (containing texts and analysis):
www.paulcorfieldgodfrey.co.uk

There are contact forms on both pages to get in touch or purchase direct.

We’re represented on almost every social media, either as Volante Opera Productions (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) or Simon Crosby Buttle’s personal accounts (Tribel, LinkedIn, Mastodon).

There is a Discord server (link on Paul’s website) where we put news and information first - there’s even an “Ask Paul” forum where you can ask public questions of him about his music.

We have an active YouTube channel with a “Music of Paul Corfield Godfrey” playlist (https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFB ... knCQDcXKc73uuo9p9-oCljIp) and a “Talks by Paul Corfield Godfrey” from various events Tolkien and music events that he has attended (https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFB ... knB5NfnmJUf8vD-4b8rPm-69)

The One Ring did an interview with Paul and Simon last year: https://www.theonering.net/torwp/2022/ ... e-from-the-creative-team/