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Interview with Heidi Steimel

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by André Gand
posted on November 28, 2009


Heidi Steimel

Heidi Steimel studied Music at the Grace University in Omaha, Nebraska (USA) and devoted herself to the exploration of the musical aspects of Tolkien's works as for example in her essay “The Dwarven Philharmonic Orchestra” which was published in Hither Shore Vol. 5. Together with Friedhelm Schneidewind she edited Music in Middle-earth, a collection of essays which is published in English by Walking Tree Publishers and in German by Verlag der Villa Fledermaus.

In the following interview Steimel talks about her relationship to Tolkien and his work, as well as her passion for music and Music in Middle-earth. The interview was conducted by André Gand.

André: First of all, can you tell us something about your musical education and interests?

Heidi Steimel: I began playing piano when I was 7 years old. This has remained my primary musical passion, though I have tried out various other instruments. I gained experience in accompanying and performing in school and at church in the U.S., my home, and decided to major in church music at college. Since then I have taught piano and performed as a church musician.

André: How did you get to know Tolkien's works?

Heidi Steimel: During college a friend gave me his Lord of the Rings books to read. I laid them aside for only the most necessary activities, living in Middle-earth for three days until I finished reading them. Afterwords I reread them immediately and have reread them many times since then. When I moved to Germany, I met no one who was familiar with the books. When the movie came out, I discovered other fans in the internet and got to know some of them personally. In Germany I have met others especially through the German Tolkien Society.

André: Tolkien often uses music and poetry in his works - for example in “The Unexpected Party” in The Hobbit or the “Music of the Ainur” in the Silmarillion. What is the significance of music in Tolkien's works, and are these the themes that interest you especially?

Heidi Steimel: Music, especially singing, plays a very important role in Tolkien's stories - often having magical effects. His creation myth is a wonderful musical event, and songs and instruments are frequently mentioned. Naturally, as a musician I am fascinated by the topic and read these passages with particular interest. I also read Tolkien's biography to find out how important music was to him. His wife Edith was a talented pianist, and he loved classical music.

André: Were you musically inspired by Tolkien's works?

Heidi Steimel: I was actually moved more to writing because of and about his books rather than becoming musically active. I'm not a composer, so I didn't feel the need to set his songs to music - with one exception: I wrote a simple melody to my favourite poem, The Road Goes Ever On and On. The other melodies I heard just didn't express what I feel. Another area of inspiration is visual - I have put some ideas from several of Tolkien's works into textile art, as patchwork quilts.

André: Tolkien's works were often the inspiration for musicians and composers, so that a lot of music was created because of him. Are there some examples that you particularly like?

Heidi Steimel: I like Howard Shore's sound track for the LotR very much, as well as the music and songs of the BBC radio play by Stephen Oliver. Donald Swann's The Road Goes Ever On has interesting settings, though not necessarily stylistically appropriate to Middle-earth. However, I enjoy being able to play the accompaniments on the piano and realising that Tolkien and his wife knew and liked the compositions. I think the Tolkien Ensemble's project (composing and performing music to all of the songs in the LotR) is wonderful, though I find that the individual melodies and arrangements differ in their appeal to me. There are so many other composers and musicians that I can't begin to name or even know all of them.

André: Together with Friedhelm Schneidewind you have edited a volume of essays dealing with musical topics for Walking Tree Publishers, including various contributions by Tolkien scholars. How did the idea for the book come up?

Heidi Steimel: I was researching about instruments in The Hobbit, preparing a lecture for the Tolkien Seminar. I found almost no material on the topic and asked Walking Tree whether it might not be a good subject for a book. They asked me to co-edit it, along with Friedhelm Schneidewind, who was an appropriate partner for the project, being an experienced author, editor and publisher as well as a musician.

André: All of the essays exist in two languages - those originally written in German were translated into English, those in English into German. The German contributions are printed in the volume Musik in Mittelerde (Verlag der Villa Fledermaus) and those in English in Music in Middle-earth (Walking Tree). What sparked this idea?

Heidi Steimel: Friedhelm Schneidewind is one of the publishers in the Edition Stein und Baum, Verlag Villa Fledermaus; he thought that the topic would be of interest to German-speaking readers. Since we had contributions in both languages, we thought it was a good idea. As far as I know, this is the first time that a book on Tolkien is published bilingually.

André: Can you give us a brief summary of the book's contents?

Heidi Steimel: The first chapters shed light on the musical creation mythology from various aspects: physics, music, and theology. Then there are several contributions that discuss the use of music in Tolkien's stories, speculating on the kind of music that might have been sung and played and the instruments that are mentioned. The essays in the following section explore the influence of other literature on Tolkien's songs and poems and compare them with other authors' works. Finally there are several chapters which deal with today's compositions and interpretations of music from The Lord of the Rings, for example the film and radio play music.

 

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