[Loerwyn]

This is in a similar vein to the topic on the sci-fi board. It's not so much a topic about what you listen to when reading, nor what necessarily inspires you, but more about music that is fantastical in nature (Such as the lyrics) or was created for a fantasy series. If for whatever reason it's NSFW or the lyrics have some explicit substance (Subject matter, swearing etc), please flag it up as such.

It can be what's in your collection, something you found on YouTube, a particular song you like from an otherwise normal album or even just something silly.

I'll start, and I'm going to share a couple of tracks.

"Lady in Black" - Ensiferum (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7DbZ-C4EMQ)
It's a cover of a song by a band named Uriah Heep, and I think it's got some beautiful lyrics. I think the lady in black is supposed to be a witch or a seer, but I could be wrong. Here's a few of the lyrics:
She came to me one morning
One lonely Sunday morning
Her long hair flowing
In the midwinter wind
I know not how she found me
For in darkness I was walking
And destruction lay around me
From a fight I could not win


There's a group by the name of Battlelore, who predominantly play Lord of the Rings inspired metal. My favourite track has to be Sons of Riddermark (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THLQt8kNiX0).

Oh, and before anyone else links it:
Leonard Nimoy - "Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it13YNccf5w&feature=related)
Finding one with good audio is so hard :(

[Stromkern]

A huge amount of Blind Guardian's discography is based on fantasy and other literature.
They started with "Lord of the Rings" based songs and albums in the 80s, but I personally don't like that old style power metal.

Their brand new album features one the greatest compositions in modern music - "Wheel of Time".
Pure musical beauty.

Blind Guardian - Wheel of Time (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGBZuf3mvy0&feature=related)
I creep along
So desperate and tired
Let me ask you
Why?
I am what I am
Prophecies I am the chosen
"Taveren"
The flame will grow
Feel the heat
I'll keep on breathing
After all there's no tomorrow
There is another song based on WoT, two based on ASOIAF, one on Elric, and a few more on other literature.

They also have a side project called Demons and Wizards, whose last album was named "Touched by the Crimson King" and was mostly based on The Dark Tower series.

Demons & Wizards - The Gunslinger (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wssAxRd0BA0&feature=related)
Song of turtle
And the cry of the bear
Awake
I can sense it
Still I'm afraid
Tower road lies ahead
Commala-come-ka
Ka has come to me

[imaster]

Almost all Blind Guardian are somewhat fantasy inspired and alot of power metal as well. The most interesting in my collection though is Summoning. All LotR-related lyrics and very special music. My favourite is South Away.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJqVkJq_9Ow

Leave the halls and caverns deep
Were the forests wide and dim
Stoops in shadow grey and grim

Float beyond the world of trees
Past the rushes, past the reeds
Past the marshes, weaving weeds

...and the crowns of the seven kings, and the rods of the five wizards...
South away! South away now!
Far away seek the sunlight and the day.

Hail, Éomer, king of the mark.

[algernoninc]

I usually associate fantasy with celtic / gaelic bands:
- Clannad
- Altan
- Enya
- Loreena McKennit
- Uriah Heep is also a very good starting point, as is Led Zeppelin [Battle of Evermore?] or Grateful Dead, Rainbow
- I don't listen to much of the recent gothic / metal: it's a little too energetic and breaks my reading flow so i prefer the more relaxed:
- Blackmore's Night

[Winter]

Kit Soden (http://kitsmusic.bandcamp.com/) began writing songs based off passages from Steven Erikson's books, then he went on to actually work with Erikson to create an album. It's not bad.

[Pigsonthewing]

Blue Oyster Cult - "Mirrors"
Michael Moorcock co-wrote "The Great Sun Jester"

[Leothwyn]

To me, Garmarna's music definitely has a nice fantasy feel to it. (Except for their last album - the Hildegard von Bingen one.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzsISQoEMvg
I don't know what the deal is with the cheesy image in this video, but the audio quality is better in this than in the real video (which actually shows the band playing/lip-syncing).

I know from the English translations of their lyrics in the CD liner notes that they sing about knights, magic, werewolves, talking animals, ghosts... but, I've never been able to actually keep track of which song is about what. Regardless of what they're saying, it sounds like fantasy music IMO.

[DailyRich]

Dragonforce have their tongue firmly planted in the cheek of sword and sorcery. Lots of swords and riding and evil being fought.

[owlcroft]

Over at the Ambiente Hotel (M. John Harrison's blog), he did a list a while ago of fantasy material, which was mainly books bit also included music (and yet other stuff); the original list (http://ambientehotel.wordpress.com/2009/04/15/some-good-fantasy/) was then followed by reader additions and an addendum (http://ambientehotel.wordpress.com/2009/05/13/livelier-than-the-average-dragon/) post (also with reader additions).

A few other random bits of flotsam from my CD shelves:


The Chairman Dances by John Adams
The Miraculous Mandarin by Bela Bartok
Tintagel by Arnold Bax
In the Faery Hills by Arnold Bax
The Garden of Fand by Arnold Bax
Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz
The Triumph of Neptune by Lord Berners
The Mid-day Witch by Anton Dvorak
Euterpe/Angel of Death/Aphrodite/Melpomene/Thalia by George Whitfield Chadwick
Peer Gynt by Edvard Grieg
Lament for Beowulf by Howard Hanson
Undine by Hans Werner Henze
The Planets by Gustav Holst
Celestial Fantasy by Alan Hovhaness
From the House of the Dead by Leos Janacek
The Makropoulos Affair by Leos Janacek
Baba Yaga by Anatol Liadov
The Enchanted Lake by Anatol Liadov
A Midsummer Night's Dream by Felix Mendelssohn
La Creation du Monde by Darius Milhaud
The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Saga-Drøm by Carl Nielsen
Aladdin Suite by Carl Nielsen
Pan and Syrinx by Carl Nielsen
The Incredible Flutist by Walter Piston
Cinderella by Sergei Prokofiev
Love for Three Oranges Sergei Prokofiev
Isle of the Dead by Sergei Rachmaninov
La Valse by Maurice Ravel
Daphnis et Chloe by Maurice Ravel
Ma Mere l'Oye by Maurice Ravel
La Boutique fantasque by Gioachino Rossini [orch. Ottorino Resphigi]
The Ballad of the Gnomes by Ottorino Resphigi
Sheherazade by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
The Tale of the Tsar Saltan by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
La Princesse Zenobia by Richard Rogers
Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saens
Omphale's Spinning Wheel by Camille Saint-Saens [theme of The Shadow!]
Samson and Delilah by Camille Saint-Saens
En Saga by Jan Sibelius
Pohjola's Daughter by Jan Sibelius
The Swan of Tuonela by Jan Sibelius
The Tempest by Jan Sibelius
Petrushka by Igor Stravinsky
Pulcinella by Igor Stravinsky
The Firebird by Igor Stravinsky
Jeu de cartes by Igor Stravinsky
Fairy Tale Suite by Josef Suk
Asrael by Josef Suk
Danzas fantasticas by Joaquin Turina
"The Ring" cycle by Richard Wagner
The Flying Dutchman by Richard Wagner


That is, of course, not even remotely close to a full catalogue of classical works with a fantasy basis, but it's indicative of the wealth available.

[Corporal Blues]

So many metal bands come to mind...

Rhapsody pretty much only write epic fantasy concept albums

My personal fave would be The Sword who delve into GRRM's world of ice and fire and Howard's Conan stuff as well.