PAUL CORFIELD GODFREY was born in London and after a period of residence in Ireland now lives in Wales, studying composition at various times with Alan Bush and David Wynne. His works include three symphonies: various chamber and instrumental works including sonatas for flute, saxophone and violin: two large-scale concert works for piano: songs with accompaniment for piano, for chamber ensemble and for full orchestra: choral works and arrangements: operas, including The Dialogues of Óisin and Saint Patric and Arcturus, both performed in Cardiff and elsewhere in South Wales: and a cycle of operas based on Tolkien's posthumous novel The Silmarillion, extracts from which have been performed in Oxford. Apart from the operas, other works have been performed in London and elsewhere throughout England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Hungary, America, Australia and New Zealand. His manuscript scores are lodged at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth. He has appeared as a performer both on radio and television, and a number of his works have been broadcast.

Fëanor, Op.46
Soprano: 2 Tenors: Baritone: Bass: mixed chorus

Beren and Lúthien, Op.47
Soprano: Mezzo: 2 Tenors: Baritone: Bass: mixed chorus

The Children of Húrin, Op.48
Soprano: Mezzo: Counter-tenor: 2 Tenors: 2 Baritones: Bass: mixed chorus

The Fall of Gondolin, Op.49
Soprano: Mezzo: Tenor: 2 Baritones: 2 Basses: mixed chorus

Paul Corfield Godfrey’s Silmarillion cycle are not so much operas in the traditional sense as music dramas, in some cases resembling oratorios with their heavy use of narrative chorus. Each work is structured along the pattern of three triptychs, three parts of three scenes each, with perhaps a prologue or epilogue (there are variations). For his text the composer tries to use Tolkien’s words as much as possible, and Christopher Tolkien helped him with this, but in some cases the composer has to paraphrase, especially when combining prose with poetry, and to find words to "fill in the gaps". He admits to borrowing words from elsewhere In Tolkien’s opus to do this. In The Fall of Gondolin, for example, he uses an earlier written version of the story in which Idril remains behind in Middle-earth; for the Epilogue she sings The sleeper in the tower of pearl combined with the choral poem The last ship from Tolkien’s essay A secret vice Beyond Bree, November 1999

Paul Corfield Godfrey is one of the very few composers who have been granted permission to publish a musical work using the words and themes from Tolkien’s writings Amon Hen, June 1982

Beren and Lúthien is a carefully thought-out and composed piece, but the downside of this performance is that it is done on a synthesiser rather than by a real orchestra

Minas Tirith, December 1999

 

 

The Lord of the Rings [J R R Tolkien]

The Black Gate is Closed, Op.5
2 Tenors: 2 Baritones: Bass: mixed chorus

Over Hill and Under Hill, Op.8a
6 Tenors: 5 Baritones: 5 Basses: mixed chorus

Fire and Water [fragments], Op.8b
2 Sopranos: 2 Mezzos: 6 Tenors: 5 Baritones: 5 Basses: mixed chorus

Tom Bombadil, Op.10
Soprano: Counter-tenor: 2 Tenors: 3 Baritones: Bass

The Grey Havens, Op.11
Soprano: Tenor: Baritone: mixed chorus

A Long-Expected Party 2 Tenors: 3 Baritones: Bass: mixed chorus

Bilbo’s Walking Song Tenor

The Reading of the Ring Baritone

The Gaffer and the Black Rider Baritone

Strider Tenor

Sam’s Song of Gil-galad Baritone

Song of the Troll Baritone

Frodo awakes in Rivendell Tenor, Baritone

Song of the Blessed Realm Counter-tenor, female chorus

Boromir’s Dream Bass

The Gates of Moria 2 Tenors, Baritones, Bass

Farewell to Lórien Soprano

The Riders of Rohan: opening scene Tenor, Baritone, male chorus

The Departure of Boromir Tenor, Baritone, Bass

Treebeard Bass

Quickbeam’s Lament Baritone, male chorus

The Voice of Saruman Tenor

Song of the Fisherman Tenor

Oliphaunt Tenor, Baritone, male chorus

Faramir’s Narration Tenor

The Ride of the Rohirrim male chorus

Song of the Prisoner Baritone

The Field of Cormallen mixed chorus

Song of the Eagle Tenor, mixed chorus

Burial Song Baritone, male chorus

Bilbo’s Song of Farewell Tenor

Since its publication in 1955, Tolkien’s literary masterpiece has served as muse to countless musicians and composers. Overshadowing this cacophonous sea of contending minstrelsy tower a few giants, artists who have devoted more to Middle-Earth than the odd song or one-shot concept album: who, like Tolkien’s autobiographical painter Niggle, have set before themselves canvases of truly epic proportions – titanic artists like Paul Corfield Godfrey Move, September 2002

 

Diarmuid and Gráinne, Op.7 [Michéal Mac Liammóir]
2 Sopranos, Mezzo, Contralto, 3 Tenors, 3 Baritones, 2 Basses, male chorus
2 Flutes/Piccolo: Oboe: English Horn: Clarinet: Bass Clarinet: 2 Bassoons: 2 Horns: 3 Trumpets: 2 Trombones: Timpani: Percussion (1): Harp: strings

The Dialogues of óisin and Saint Patric, Op.16 [Leon Wiltshire]
Tenor: Baritone: male chorus ad lib:
Flute: Oboe/English Horn: Clarinet: Trombone: Percussion (1): Harp: Organ: strings

The Nightingale and the Rose, Op.21 [Oscar Wilde]
Soprano: Mezzo: Tenor: Baritone: Bass: mixed chorus
3 Flutes/Piccolo: 2 Oboes: English Horn: 2 Clarinets: Bass Clarinets: 2 Bassoons: Double Bassoon
4 Horns: 3 Trumpets: 3 Trombones: Tuba: Timpani: Percussion (2): Piano/Celesta: Harp: Strings

The Children of Lyr, Op.28 [the composer]
Soprano: Tenor: Baritone: Bass: 4 children soli: mixed chorus
Flute: Oboe/English Horn: Clarinet: Trombone: Timpani: Percussion (1): Harp: Organ: strings

Arcturus, Op.41 [David Lindsay, adapted by Richard Clive Rose]
Soprano: Tenor: Baritone: Bass
Flute/Piccolo: Oboe/English Horn: Clarinet/Bass Clarinet: Trumpet: Percussion (2): Piano duet: Organ: strings

Arcturus follows the progress of an "everyman" protagonist through a sequence of highly dramatic encounters with a series of characters representing the abstract concepts of Pain, Love, Death and Rebirth. The music and singing, though modern in idiom, are highly accessible and easily interpret the emotional and fantasy elements of the drama. The composer has said that "it is perhaps open to music to make the strange and inconceivable explicit in a manner that is not possible for the written or spoken word," and with that in mind the opera can be considered a success Signpost, September 1983

 

Mostly the work [Arcturus] functions in a kind of recitative, but occasionally the score opens out into a strong vocal line effective enough to make us wish the composer would do this more often

Opera, September 1983

 

Symphony No 1 The Mists of Time, Op.15
2 Flutes/Piccolo: 2 Oboes/English Horn: 2 Clarinets: 2 Bassoons: 4 Horns: 2 Trumpets: 3 Trombones: Tuba: Timpani: Percussion (2): Piano: Harp: Strings

Symphony No 2 The Great Dance, Op.20 [C S Lewis]
Male chorus
2 Flutes: Piccolo: Oboe/English Horn: Clarinet: Bass Clarinet: Bassoon: Harp

Symphony No 3 Ainulindalë, Op.36
3 Flutes/Piccolo: 2 Oboes: English Horn: 2 Clarinets: Bass Clarinet: 3 Bassoons
4 Horns: 3 Trumpets: 3 Trombones: Tuba: Timpani: Percussion (3): Piano/Celesta: Harp: Strings (12.12.8.8.6)

The Black Gate is Closed Suites Nos 1-3, Op.5a
2 Flutes/Piccolo: Oboes: English Horn: 2 Clarinets: 2 Bassoons: 4 Horns: 3 Trumpets: 3 Trombones: Tuba: Timpani: Percussion (2): Piano: Harp: Strings

The Hobbit Suites Nos 1-2, Op.8a
Tenor or Mezzo ad lib
3 Flutes/Piccolo: 2 Oboes: English Horn: 2 Clarinets: Bass Clarinet: 2 Bassoons: Double Bassoon
4 Horns: 3 Trumpets: 3 Trombones: Tuba: Timpani: Percussion (4): Piano: Celesta: 2 Harps: Strings

The Death of óisin, Op.16a
2 Flutes: 2 Oboes: 2 Clarinets: 2 Bassoon: 2 Horns: 2 Trombones: Timpani: Percussion (1): Piano: Harp: Strings

The Cold Crystal Stars, Op.21a
3 Flutes/Piccolo: 2 Oboes: English Horn: 2 Clarinets: Bass Clarinet: 2 Bassoons: Double Bassoon
4 Horns: 3 Trumpets: 3 Trombones: Tuba: Timpani: Percussion (2): Piano/Celesta: Harp: Strings

Passacaglia On the Seashore of Endless Worlds, Op.31 [Rabindranath Tagore]
Mezzo: Flute solo
2 Oboes: 2 Clarinets: 2 Bassoons: 2 Horns: Trumpet: Timpani: Percussion (1): Piano: Harp: Strings

A majestically paced slow and solemn passacaglia is beautifully varied by the composer in its conjuration of the images of children playing by the shore of a great ocean Kentish Times, July 1976

Arcturus Scenes and Visions, Op.41b
2 Flutes/Piccolo: 2 Oboes/English Horn: 2 Clarinets: 2 Bassoons: 4 Horns: Trumpet: 3 Tbns: Tuba: Timp: Perc (2): Pno: Harp: Strings

Fëanor Suite, Op.46a
3 Flutes/Piccolo: 2 Oboes: English Horn: 2 Clarinets: Bass Clarinet: 3 Bassoons
4 Horns: 3 Trumpets: 3 Trombones: Tuba: Timpani: Percussion (3): Piano/Celesta: Harp: Strings

Beren and Lúthien Suite, Op.47b
3 Flutes/Piccolo: 2 Oboes: English Horn: 2 Clarinets: Bass Clarinet: 3 Bassoons
4 Horns: 3 Trumpets: 3 Trombones: Tuba: Timpani: Percussion (3): Piano/Celesta: Harp: Strings

The Children of Húrin Suite, Op.48a
3 Flutes/Piccolo: 2 Oboes: English Horn: 2 Clarinets: Bass Clarinet: 3 Bassoons
4 Horns: 3 Trumpets: 3 Trombones: Tuba: Timpani: Percussion (3): Piano/Celesta: Harp: Strings

The Fall of Gondolin Wedding March, Op.49b
3 Flutes/Piccolo: 4 Recorders ad lib: 2 Oboes: English Horn: 2 Clarinets: Bass Clarinet: 3 Bassoons
4 Horns: 3 Trumpets: 3 Trombones: Tuba: Timpani: Percussion (3): Piano/Celesta: Harp: Strings

The Water is Wide, Op.58
Mixed chorus ad lib
3 Flutes/Piccolo: 2 Oboes: English Horn: 2 Clarinets: Bass Clarinet: 2 Bassoons: Double Bassoon
4 Horns: 3 Trumpets: 3 Trombones: Tuba: Timpani: Percussion (4): Piano/Celesta: Harp: Strings

Diarmuid and Gráinne Four movements, Op.7a
2 Flutes: Oboe: 3 Clarinets: Bassoon: 2 Horns: Trombone: Timpani: Harp: Strings (3.3.2.2.1)

Counterpoint, Op.35 [Walt Whitman]
Mezzo: Flutes: 2 Clarinets: Tenor Saxophone: Percussion (1): Harp: string quartet

Arcturus Scenes and visions, Op.41a
Flute/Piccolo: Oboe/English Horn: Clarinet/Bass Clarinet: Trumpet: Percussion (2): Piano duet: Organ: string quintet

Willow Pattern, Op.53
2 Flutes: Percussion (1): Piano: Harpsichord: Harp: violins

Four Winds, Op.4
Melodic Variations 2 Flutes: 3 Clarinets

Psalm 23 3 Flutes: 3 Clarinets

Mead beneath the leaves Treble Recorder, Tenor Recorder: Piano or Harpsichord

The Iceberg Flutes: English Horn: Clarinets: Bass Clarinet: Bassoon

The Wanderings of óisin, Op.6 7 Clarinets

Rainbow Fanfare, Op.51 3 Trumpets: 3 Trombones

Saxophone Sonata, Op.27 Tenor saxophone: Piano

Flute Sonata, Op.32 Flute: Piano

Daeron, Op.45 Flute: Piano

Ap Huw: variations on a Welsh bardic melody, Op.19 Harp or Piano

Akallabêth, Op.42 Piano

akallabêth is remarkably versatile in how the piano is used to express differences of mood and texture, and the final section is impressive in its sombre relentless rhythm, linking it with the beginning

December 1997

Eight Studies, Op.43 Piano

The Fall of Gondolin Wedding March, Op.49c Piano

Nativity Mass, Op.1 Mixed soli and chorus unaccompanied

Requiem Canticle, Op.2
mixed chorus
2 Flutes: 2 Oboes: 2 Clarinets: 2 Bassoons: 2 Horns: 2 Trumpets: Timpani: Piano: Strings

Whispers of Heavenly Death, Op.12 [Walt Whitman]
mixed chorus or 8 solo voices
2 Flutes: 2 Oboes: 2 Clarinets: 2 Bassoons: 2 Horns: 2 Trumpets: Timpani: Harp: Piano: Strings

The Ride of the Rohirrim: Burial Song Baritone solo: Male chorus: Piano

Waly Waly: Ca’ the yowes: She moved through the fair: All my trials: The House of the Rising Sun: Dafydd y Garreg Wen Male chorus unaccompanied

Dafydd y Garreg Wen Mixed chorus unaccompanied

Stillness [James Elroy Flecker]: Gods [Walt Whitman] Male chorus unaccompanied

Dedication Tenor: Mixed chorus unaccompanied

Monotone Bass: Male chorus: Piano

The Mystery of the Immortal Rose Mixed soli and chorus unaccompanied

Two Meditations, Op.25 Mixed chorus unaccompanied

Two Pagan Choruses, Op.30 Baritone: Mixed chorus: Piano

Hymnus Mysticus, Op.37 [Alistair Crowley]
Soprano: Baritone: mixed chorus
2 Flutes: 2 Oboes: 2 Clarinets: 2 Bassoons: 4 Horns: 2 Trumpets: 3 Trombones: Tuba: Timpani: Percussion (2): Piano/Celesta: Harp: Organ: Strings

Llef, Op.39
Male chorus
Flute: English Horn: Clarinet: Trombone: Timpani: Percussion (1): Harp: Organ: Strings
also for Flute: Timpani: Organ

Beren and Lúthien Love scene [chamber orchestra], Op.47c
Soprano: Baritone: mixed chorus: Flute solo
Piano duet: Percussion (3): string quintet

The Fall of Gondolin Suite [reduced orchestra], Op.49a
Soprano: Tenor: mixed chorus
2 Flutes/Piccolo: 2 Oboes: 2 Clarinets: 3 Bassoons: 4 Horns: 3 Trumpets: 3 Trombones: Tuba: Timpani: Percussion (3): Piano/Celesta: Harp: Strings

Tair Can Gymreig, Op.50 Male chorus: Harp
Dacw ’nghariad i: Ym Mhontypridd mae ’nghariad: Ffarwell i blwy’ Llangower

A Song of Nationalism [traditional] Voice: Piano

Those dancing days are gone [W B Yeats] Mezzo: Harp

One came back [Olive Gaunt, arrangement] Voice: Piano

Seven Tolkien Songs, Op.9 [J R R Tolkien] Voice: Piano

The Sea Bell, Op.11a [J R R Tolkien] Voice: Piano

see under The Grey Havens for orchestral version

The Deserted Village, Op.23 [Oliver Goldsmith adapted by Alun Alban Davies]
Baritone: 2 Trumpets: 3 Trombones

Three Songs of Faith, Op.24 [John Bunyan] Voice: Piano

Three Songs of Twilight, Op.25 [Ausonius] Mezzo: Flute: Harp

The Arrogance of Youth, Op.29 [Liam Blake] Baritone: 3 Clarinets: Piano

Shadow-Bride, Op.33 [J R R Tolkien] Mezzo: Viola: Piano

Planctus, Op.34 [Peter Abelard] Voice: Flute: Violin: Viola: Cello: Guitar or Harp

Four Epigrams, Op.38 Voice: Piano

Mysteries of Time, Op.44 Voice: Piano
The Mystery [Ralph Hodgson]: Cywydd [Gerard Manley Hopkins]: Graveyard [Allison Reynolds]: The Seven Woods of Coole [W B Yeats]: The Queen of Air and Darkness [Poul Anderson]

Two Songs of Protest, Op.52 Voice: rock ensemble

The lover at sunrise [Algernon Swinburne] Voice: Flute: Bassoon: Guitar

The Nightjar [Leon Wiltshire] Voice: Guitar: string trio

Sundials, Op.57 [Hilaire Belloc] Voice: Piano

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