Celebrate with us! Tolkien Reading Day, March 25th

Written by Heroes and Mortals on March 17, 2024

Every year we celebrate Tolkien Reading Day with a day(s) long mythic and musical event, join us March 24-26, 2024!

Tolkien Reading Day is held each year on the 25th of March, the day Frodo (and Sam!) destroyed the One Ring, marking the downfall of Sauron and the fall of Barad-dûr. Originally organized by The Tolkien Society in 2003, it has become a global fan-holiday to celebrate and promote the life and works of J.R.R. Tolkien where fans read their favorite passages and books.

We here at Heroes and Mortals Radio love the stories that take place in middle-earth, but we also enjoy the music and other audio creations that were inspired by Tolkien, and to extend the day’s celebrations, we have a party of special magnificence planned, a 3 day celebration of the music and audio of middle-earth!

We’ll be playing interviews with authors and composers (including the composer of a Silmarillion inspired soundtrack), a prog rock opera based on The Hobbit, selected shorts and audio clips from the BBC Lord of the Rings program, a reading of The Hobbit by Nicol Williamson, music, select media clips, short audio clips of The Professor himself, and other special audio and music pieces, 24/7!

2024 Schedule

Sunday – Tuesday All Day
In between our special programming below, we will be playing a collection of music inspired by middle-earth so you can tune in all day long.

Sunday, March 24
11:00 am: Interview with Alex Langenbach, composer of a Silmarillion based soundtrack
1:00 pm: Elven Awakenings: The Silmarillion – An Epic Tale of the Bitter/Sweet
3:00 pm: Selected Shorts from the BBC Lord of the Rings
6:00 pm: Hobbit-All For The One-A Prog Rock Hobbit Opera
10:00 pm: Selected Shorts from the BBC Lord of the Rings

Monday, March 25 (Tolkien Reading Day)
10:00 am: The Hobbit: A reading by Nicol Williamson
2:00 pm: Interview with Alex Langenbach. Composer of a Silmarillion based soundtrack
3:00 pm: Selected Shorts from the BBC Lord of the Rings
6:00 pm: The Hobbit: A reading by Nicol Williamson
10:00 pm: Interview with Alex Langenbach, composer of a Silmarillion based soundtrack

Tuesday, March 26
9:00 am: The Hobbit: A reading by Nicol Williamson
1:00 pm: Elven Awakenings: The Silmarillion – An Epic Tale of the Bitter/Sweet
2:30 pm: Encounters With the Good People
3:00 pm: Book Reviews with K Fox: The Hobbit
3:15 pm: Neighborhood Watch Top 5
4:00 pm: Interview with Alex Langenbach, composer of a Silmarillion based soundtrack
6:00 pm: The Hobbit: A reading by Nicol Williamson

All times are Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) which is UTC/GMT -7:00 hours.

A selection of some of the artists and albums/songs we’re playing:

Lori Kelly – A Tale or Two to Tell
Original London Production – The Lord of the Rings (Musical)
Pär Lindh & Björn Johansson – Bilbo
Peter Hollins – Misty Mountains
Lord of the Rings Singers + Orchestra – Lord of the Rings
Nicol Williamson – The Hobbit (Audio Book)
WarCraft versus The Lord of the Rings – Epic Mashup
Jan Hruby and Kukulin – Silmarillion
Eurielle – Songs of Durin
J.R.R. Tolkien – Poems and Songs of Middle Earth
Lori Kelly – Eowyn’s Song
Kim Skovbye – The Ring (Instrumental)
Howard Shore – Soundtrack to The Lord of the Rings
Thomas Newman – Sountrack to Tolkien (Film)
Pär Lindh & Björn Johansson – Dreamsongs from Middle Earth

Sierra Entertainment – The Hobbit Videogame Original Soundtrack
AlexSonics – Gondolin The Fair, Silmarillion Soundtrack
Celestial Aeon Project – The Lord of the Rings
James Prior & Kevin Pearce – The One Ring
Inon Zur – The Lord of the Rings: War In the North (Video Game Sountrack)
Glindar – Echoes from Middle-Earth
Roxane Genot, Karliene, Gustavo Steiner – The Middle-Earth Songbook
Kim Skovbye – There and back again
Memo Music – Music Inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings
The Battle for Middle-Earth: Reforged – Video Game Music
Ainur – War of the Jewels
Eurielle – Arwen’s Promise
Hobbit – All For The One (Prog Rock Opera)
The Tolkien Ensemble – An Evening in Rivendell
Stan Lockfield – The Silmarillion: Legends of Numenor
The Silmarillion Symphony – The Deeps of Time

If all of the above still isn’t enough to satisfy your taste for Tolkien, you may also like some of the following select audio programs:

The Hi-Fi Hobbit 2.0
A new version of the famous Hi-Fi Hobbit which uses the original 1977 audio mix of The Hobbit. A new VHS source (courtesy of MySpleen user bun39, who uploaded a rip of the 1996 VHS release of the film in December 2016) has been used for higher quality audio than was previously available with the first Hi-Fi Hobbit project. Source: archive.org

J.R.R. Tolkien
HarperAudio! presents: author J.R.R. Tolkien reading excerpts from his mythical saga “The Lord of the Rings.” In this segment, we hear Tolkien as he tells the story of Treebeard and intones the mysterious Entish chants. Source: archive.org

Part 1 of 4

Part 2 of 4

Part 3 of 4

Part 4 of 4

The Lord Of The Rings: The Complete Trilogy (BBC Radio Dramatization)
Widely regarded as a broadcasting landmark, this thrilling dramatization by Brian Sibley and Michael Bakewell boasts a truly outstanding cast, including Ian Holm, Michael Hordern, Robert Stephens, and John Le Mesurier. Tolkien’s tale relates the perilous attempt by Frodo Baggins and company to defeat the evil Sauron and dispose of the Ruling Ring. Source (including all 116 parts!): archive.org

The Silmarillion Soundtrack Playlist: Middle-Earth inspired Music by AlexSonics

We had the pleasure of interviewing Alex, you can listen to the interview and find more information on Alex and his musical endeavors in our post here: https://heroesandmortals.com/an-interview-with-alex-langenbach-composer-of-the-silmarillion-soundtrack/