Fabio Leone

Composed and orchestrated by Aaron Dunn, The Silmarillion Symphony: The Fall of Gondolin is an ambitious symphonic work inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s First Age of Middle-earth. Centred on the story of Tuor, the composition follows his journey from the aftermath of the Unnumbered Tears to his fateful encounter with Ulmo, Lord of Waters, and onward to the hidden city of Gondolin, its fall, and the echoes of Tuor’s destiny beyond mortal life.

Structured as a cinematic orchestral narrative, the album translates one of Tolkien’s most tragic and heroic tales into music, moving between moments of exile, revelation, wonder, siege and remembrance. Track titles such as “The Hill of Slain,” “The Hidden City,” “The Assault Begins,” “Ecthelion, Lord of the Fountain,” “Tuor & Maeglin,” and “Immortality (A Mortal in Undying Lands)” reflect the dramatic arc of the story and its central figures.

Recorded with Nashville Music Scoring at Ocean Way Studio in Nashville, the work combines symphonic composition, fantasy atmosphere and a strong narrative sensibility. Rather than functioning only as musical accompaniment, the project becomes an interpretive retelling of Tuor’s legend: a passage through grief, calling, heroism, catastrophe and transcendence.

Fabio Leone contributed the front and back cover artwork for the physical release, helping to define the visual identity of the project and its connection to the mythic, monumental world of Gondolin. In this context, the artwork serves not simply as packaging, but as a visual gateway into Dunn’s musical interpretation of Tolkien’s legendarium.

Published by Templar Publishing as part of the celebrated Ology series, Knightology: A True Account of the Most Valiant Knights is an illustrated interactive volume that brings the world of medieval chivalry, castles, tournaments and legendary quests to life. Presented as a richly designed “lost” account by Sir Lancelot Marshal, the book blends historical material with Arthurian legend, inviting young readers to explore the codes, skills and mysteries of knighthood through a highly visual and tactile reading experience.

As part of the illustration team, Fabio Leone contributed to a project that required a strong balance between historical atmosphere, narrative world-building and decorative medieval imagery. The result is a lavishly produced children’s book that treats knighthood not only as a subject of history, but as an imaginative gateway into myth, adventure and the visual language of the Middle Ages.

Set within the monumental walls of Knin Fortress, this permanent exhibition presents the story of one of Croatia’s most important historical strongholds and its enduring connection with King Dmitar Zvonimir. Rising above the town of Knin on Mount Spas, the fortress developed from the early medieval period into a vast defensive complex, shaped over centuries by changing rulers, military needs and political transformations.

At the heart of the exhibition is the figure of King Zvonimir, one of the most significant rulers of medieval Croatia. Knin became closely associated with his reign, serving as a royal seat and a powerful symbol of Croatian statehood. Through historical interpretation, visual storytelling and contemporary museum design, the exhibition explores the world of the 11th-century Croatian kingdom, the role of Knin as a political and strategic centre, and the memory of Zvonimir as a ruler whose legacy remains deeply embedded in the identity of the city.

The exhibition also follows the wider history of the fortress itself: from its early formation and medieval importance to its transformation under later Hungarian-Croatian, Ottoman, Venetian, French and Austrian influences. Rather than presenting the fortress only as a military structure, the display reveals it as a living historical landscape, shaped by rulers, soldiers, local communities, archaeologists and generations of inhabitants.

Combining archaeological material, immersive scenography, multimedia interpretation and references to early medieval Croatian ornament, the permanent exhibition invites visitors to move through time: from the age of Croatian kings to the fortress’s later defensive phases, and finally to its role today as a cultural landmark and a place of collective memory. King Zvonimir’s story becomes the gateway to a broader understanding of Knin Fortress — not only as stone architecture, but as a symbol of continuity, resilience and historical identity.