VARIATIONS AND EPISODES for solo piano by Paul Corfield Godfrey - Complete Collected Piano Music 1969-2024. Sheet Music/Score
 
A4 Size, 83 Pages.
 
This score collects the complete piano music composed by Paul Corfield Godfrey between the years 1969 and 2024. 
 
Three of the pieces derive from the composer’s cycles of works based on the mythology of J. R. R. Tolkien, and form appendices to his epic scenes from The Silmarillion and his musical chapters from The Lord of the Rings (to be released in a complete recording by Prima Facie later in 2025). Piano Rondo: “Akallabêth” depicts the story of the Second Age Kingdom of Men and its downfall; the Wedding March from “The Fall of Gondolin” is an arrangement for piano of a section of that work; and Piano Episode: “The Passing of Arwen” forms an epilogue to The Lord of the Rings, drawing on material from the cycle and telling of the tragic conclusion of the tale of Aragorn and Arwen. 
 
The score also includes a set of Variations on a Bardic Melody which depicts diverse aspects of the Welsh valleys, and eight miniature Studies written at various times examining different aspects of technical and compositional techniques. 
 
All the works have been recorded by Duncan Honeybourne and will be available on CD and Digital 14/03/25, who is also giving here the first performance of the newly composed Piano Episode: “The Passing of Arwen”.
 
Paul Corfield Godfrey was born in London and after a period of residence in Ireland now lives in Wales, studying composition and conducting at various times with Alan Bush and David Wynne.  His compositions include four symphonies: various orchestral, chamber and instrumental works: songs and choral works: operas, including The Dialogues of Óisin and Saint Patric and Arcturus, both performed in Cardiff and elsewhere: and a cycle of epic scenes based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s posthumous novel The Silmarillion, as well as (forthcoming) musical chapters from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.  Other works have been performed in London and elsewhere throughout the UK, 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 he reviews live performances, audio and video recordings for MusicWeb International.
 
Piano Rondo: “Akallabêth”, Wedding March from “The Fall of Gondolin” and Piano Episode: “The Passing of Arwen” are musically connected Appendices to the larger works Epic Scenes and Musical Chapters from “The Silmarillion”, “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” after the mythology of JRR Tolkien which utilise the copyrighted texts of JRR Tolkien by kind permission of the estate of the John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, HarperCollins Publishers and Middle-earth Enterprises.
 
Wedding March from “The Fall of Gondolin” was composed before the publication of The Fall of Gondolin by JRR Tolkien, ed. CR Tolkien, in 2018 and is not associated with it. The literary work is © The Tolkien Estate Limited and C R Tolkien 2018. FALL OF GONDOLIN is a trade mark of The Tolkien Estate Limited.