2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival review; Emma Horwood – Songs of Middle-Earth

Middle-Earth Melodies by Linh

Emma Horwood performs Songs Of Middle-Earth at the 2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival. Image: emmahorwood.com.au



Local soprano and harpist Emma Horwood’s Songs of Middle-Earth is one of two shows inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s book The Lord Of The Rings being performed at this year’s Adelaide Fringe Festival. The other is the theatre comedy One Man Lord Of The Rings starring Charles Ross (One Man Star Wars Trilogy).


In Horwood’s show, she seamlessly blends her singing with harp and short readings from specific chapters in Tolkien’s The Lord Of The Rings and sets her songs to the poetry in Tolkien’s book. Horwood selects poems in the order they appear in The Fellowship of The Ring, The Two Towers and The Return Of The King, and links each reading with a song.
With the exception of the first and last songs in the programme, all the words in the songs are from Tolkien’s book. Founder and director of The Adelaide Chamber Singers,Carl Crossin, arranged and set the music for the poem Elbereth. The other songs are composed by Australians Helen Cartridge, Judith Clingan and Andrew Close, with music by English composers Donald Swann and Stephen Oliver. Horwood transcribed Oliver’s music and arranged any music not written for the harp to create an aural journey, enabling the audience to experience the wonders in Tolkien’s fantasy world of Middle-Earth.

Emma Horwood sings and plays the harp during her show Songs Of Middle-Earth at the 2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival. Image: Linh Chameleon.


Horwood’s dark forest green dress represents the luscious greenery and beauty of the hills, dales and forests depicted in Tolkien’s book and the earthiness of the many characters from hobbits to elves. Her harp and music stand are entwined with green vines to create the sight and sounds of being in a forest glade where Tolkien’s elves would sing, dance, eat and drink in merriment.

Horwood holds the audience in silent hypnotic awe with her angelic voice and harp-playing in the intimate Radford Auditorium. The music seems to transport the listener to the magical world of Tolkien’s fictional Middle-Earth as inhabited by characters that were depicted in director Peter Jackson’s film adaptations of The Lord of The Rings. Songs Of Middle-Earth is for fans of Tolkien’s books as well as those who love classical music, and for anyone who enjoys the talents of a sublime performer such as Emma Horwood.

Emma Horwood reads passages from J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings during her show Songs Of Middle-Earth at the 2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival. Image: Linh Chameleon.


Visit Emma Horwood's website:
Emma Horwood: Harpist and Soprano

WHO: Emma Horwood- Songs Of Middle-Earth

WHAT: Solo performance, classical singing, harp playing, book reading

WHERE: Radford Auditorium at the Art Gallery of South Australia

WHEN: 3pm show – 20 February
7pm show – 27 February

PRICE: Adults - $22
Concession - $18

RUNNING TIME: 1 hour and 15 minutes

Sunday Spectrum - Emma Horwood; review

On one of the busiest Sundays in March, it's difficult to choose which show to attend. After two frustrating attempts to catch the Fringe puppetry performance of Rusalka based on the opera by Antonin Dvorak, where both shows were cancelled, I finally decided on a relaxing and enchanting afternoon of classical, folk, and comtemporary music. It was an excellent choice as Emma Horwood launched her debut solo voice and harp CD Vox Angelica at the Sunday Spectrum concert in the Festival Centre's Artspace.

Emma graduated with a Bachelor of Music at Adelaide University's Elder Conservatorium, and works as a freelance harpist, singer,teacher and conductor.

Her concert Landscape of the Musical Heart, complements the art exhibition in the Festival Centre's Artspace.

Heavenly Harpist and Soprano by Linh

It's a rarity to have an artist who can sing beautifully while playing harp, so it's a joy to watch Emma Horwood perform.

The gentle caressing and plucking on the harp strings accompanying Emma's angelic voice is sublime as she enthralls with her playing.

For the exhibition After Heysen - Exposing the Australian Landscape, Emma's Landscape of the Musical Heart concert, combined songs and music to explore the beauty of the Australian outback and expose the wonderful works of artists whose paintings so vividly reflect the nation's hidden geographical gems.

In a concert featuring local composers including Carl Crossin, Graeme Koehne and Helen Cartridge, Emma has captured the musical heart of the Australian flora and fauna through voice and harp.

Emma's distinctively precise intonation in Robert Johnson's Have You Seen, But A White Lily Grow? brought alluring beauty to the imagination, with splendid expression in Benjamin Britten's The Sally Gardens.

Emma's voice and harp playing exuded powerful emotion throughout Bill Whelan's Cloudsong and The Heart's Cry. Her expressive singing brought radiance to a somewhat stultified Apache Blessing by Carl Crossin.

Emma is versatile and talented as a singer and harpist, whose ethereal vocal performances and masterful harp presentations are truly awe-inspiring.