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writerrighter

Hi…. happy to be here. That’s because I get to share my passion for some... more

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Irish Images

Singing the Praises

Beautiful Music

Collect Her Music and Videos!

Sit Back & Listen

Liner Notes

A Legend in the Making

See Loreena Onstage

The Zest Book

Loreena McKennitt Music

Meet singer/songwriter Loreena McKennitt. She is busy creating a musical legend racking up CD sales with nearly 15 million CD's sold to date. Awarded numerous sales awards with original music in theatre and film has made her notable. Listen to her authentic Celtic-style music, as well as the sounds influenced by other cultures...you'll be glad you did. She recently wrapped up a world tour in 2007. Maybe you can see her in person during a future tour. Or, instead you can fine tune your own musical skills with quality instruments from Woodwind & Brasswind.

Irish Images

Loreena Mcennitt.	Loreena McKennitt.	Loreena McKennitt.

Singing the Praises

Loreena McKennitt, a multi-instrumentalist, sings beautifully the music she herself writes. Her very entertaining live performances are memorable due to her powerful stage presence. Her voice is undeniably northern; but listen closely and you may also hear Arabian influences. Her discography includes Elemental released back in 1985 that contained a number of good songs. My favorite is "Stolen Child" with lyrics worded by W.B. Yeats. In 1989 she recorded her second album, Parallel Dreams which later became very successful. It featured original compositions that fused Celtic and North American native rhythms. Loreena writes about this album, "Beyond the transportation into fantasy, dreams served as a vehicle through which we have integrated our conscious and subconscious, the real and the surreal, the powerful and the intangible....I tried to recall the reverence for dreams of the North American first peoples and the early European Celts. If there is a recurrent thread, which runs through these dreams, it is one of yearning toward love, liberty and integration. Of all the variations of dreams we may have, these surely are or parallel dreams."

The album, The Visit, is somewhat better than Parallel Dreams and contains a wonderful version of “Greensleeves”. Loreena writes about this album, "This recording explores....the earlier eastern influences of the Celts, the likelihood that they started from as far away as India before being driven to the western margins of Europe in the British Isles. With their musical influences came rituals around birth and death which treated the land as holy and haunted; this life itself as a visit." Its opening track, “All Souls Night” is loved because it is upbeat and spirited. Then in 1994 she releases The Mask and Mirror. This album exhibits Celtic, Spanish and Moroccan influences. “The Bonny Swans” is a wonderful traditional folk song that enjoyed mainstream success upon its release. Other songs are richly textured and eclectic. There is still Irish folk influence but Arabic rhythms begin to appear. Take note that a wonderful store, Musicnotes.com has digital sheet music for download, including Irish folk music.

Loreena refines her style yet continues her work with a blending of cultures on an album that follows. This one reflects on certain philosophical tangles, such as who has the power to control the information necessary for the progress of humanity. It’s The Book of Secrets—whose title was taken from ancient alchemy books. It contains the popular song with music and lyrics by Loreena called “The Mummers' Dance”. These three albums could be considered a trilogy as they resemble each other in terms of background and inspiration. They all result from her investigation of the human experience throughout time and in various regions of the world. For transfixing musical experiences of your own visit A&E Shop for their current offering!

Beautiful Music

	An Ancient Muse (Music) It's been nearly a decade since Loreena McKennitt's last studio album, The Book of Secrets, but An Ancient Muse picks up the caravan exactly where she left off on her mystical jou...more Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (See the reviews) List Price: $18.98 Lowest Used Price: $8.24 (as of 9/5/2008@8:30 AM) Lowest New Price: $7.24 (as of 9/5/2008@8:30 AM)
	Nights from the Alhambra - (Jewel 2 CD + DVD) (Music) After nearly a decade off the scene, Loreena McKennitt returned to the performance and recording stage in 2006 and 2007. The Canadian singer picked up exactly where she left off, ...more Average Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5 (See the reviews) List Price: $26.98 Lowest Used Price: $15.58 (as of 9/5/2008@8:30 AM) Lowest New Price: $17.31 (as of 9/5/2008@8:30 AM)
	The Book of Secrets (Music) BONUS DVD (PAL) Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (See the reviews) List Price: $18.98 Lowest Used Price: $6.44 (as of 9/5/2008@8:30 AM) Lowest New Price: $6.99 (as of 9/5/2008@8:30 AM)
	Pixie Harp and Learn to Play Book (Musical Instruments) Featuring 19 DuPont hard nylon strings, a range from F below Middle C to High C, 19 sharpening levers, engraved and inlaid rosewood frame and a plywood soundboard for exceptional ...more List Price: $399.99 Lowest New Price: $209.25 (as of 9/5/2008@8:30 AM)
	Folkcraft Black Walnut Hourglass Dulcimer With Celtic Cross Tone Holes (Musical Instruments) This mountain dulcimer is 37''L x 7''W x 2''D and features a 1 3/8''W fingerboard. The dulcimer responds easily to the intricacies and different musical textures required for fing...more List Price: $330.00 Lowest New Price: $330.00 (as of 9/5/2008@8:30 AM)
	The Mask and Mirror (Music) Average Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5 (See the reviews) List Price: $18.98 Lowest Used Price: $7.10 (as of 9/5/2008@8:30 AM) Lowest New Price: $7.19 (as of 9/5/2008@8:30 AM)

Collect Her Music and Videos!

	Overstock.com Overstock.com, Inc.: World's largest garage sale! Discounts on computers, cameras, clothes, toys, apparel, tools, home decor, and more. Products include: electronics, apparel, computers, monitors, modems, pcs, printers, software, telephones, toys, gadgets, computer games, computer accessories, housewares, sporting goods, tools, jewelry, clothing, tools, luggage, audio products, health products, fitness products, garden products and hardwares.
	Musicnotes.com Shop for sheet music, digital leadsheets, books, and downloads at Musicnotes.com. Musicnotes.com is the leading Internet-based sheet music store offering more than 17,000 pieces of digital sheet music from Warner Bros. Publications, Universal Music Group, Mel Bay Publications, BMG Music Publishing, Zomba Music Publishing, Brentwood-Benson, BUG Music, Famous Music Publishing, EMI Christian Music Publishing and more. In addition to the instant delivery of digital sheet music, Musicnotes.com also o...
	A&E Shop At A&E you can shop for episodes of your favorite A&E shows & movies. A&E has DVDs from their hit shows like Criss Angel Mindfreak, Dog the Bounty Hunter, Gene Simmons Family Jewels, Inked, Intervention & the Paul McCartney DVD. A&E box sets include Baseball, Crime & Justice series. Other A&E DVDs are sold by categories like original movies, Real Life Series, Mysteries, Religion, Ancient Civilization, Biographies, Science & Tech, Children & Family, Wars & Warfare, World History, Drama, & Comedy....
	Shop PBS PBS is a non–profit media enterprise owned and operated by the nation's 354 public television stations. PBS uses the power of noncommercial television, as well as the Internet and other media, to enrich the lives of all Americans through quality programs and education services. Shop PBS not only provides just about everything the educational network offers on television, but also offers a variety of products under categories such as arts, health, history, nature, news, science and much more. Sho... Anonymous's Comments: See the DVD titled Celtic Tides: A Musical Odyssey!
	Abebooks.co.uk

Sit Back & Listen

Go to Yahoo Music to download songs, video and even buy concert tickets!

Yahoo Music

Liner Notes

Fans worldwide wait nine years for this songstress to produce a studio album Late in 2006 she releases An Ancient Muse. Judging by its popularity, it does not disappoint. On it are nine songs featuring a variety of instruments, from harp and accordion to the stringed instruments lyra and kanoun. It succeeds in peaking on Billboard’s top album chart at #2. Applause! As of Oct, 2007 it has graced Billboard’s top albums chart for 45 weeks. Clap, clap, clap!

Tracklist:

1. Incantation
2. Gates Of Istanbul
3. Caravanseral
4. English Ladye And The Knight
5. Kecharitomene
6. Penelope's Song
7. Sacred Shabbat
8. Beneath A Phrygian Sky
9. Never-Ending Road (Amhran Duit)

She can create a complex sound with her harp. It allows her to express her innate talent for the instrument. The tracks “Sacred Shabbat” and “The Gates of Istanbul” sound more Middle-Eastern and exotic. Acclaimed musicians contribute to this project she describes as "musical travel writing". She explores the Celts' easternmost wanderings, from the Mongolian plains to the Byzantine Empire.

A Legend in the Making

Last September Loreena filmed two impressive nights of a concert she gave in Granada, Spain titled Nights From The Alhambra. She chose the location as it had a Celtic history of which she had studied about. Debuting on PBS television last March, it’s footage is likely to air on PBS for many a future fundraiser! In all seriousness, she is one of few artists to have been granted permission to perform in the World Heritage site at The Alhambra Palace historic monument. It is considered the best preserved Moorish palace in Europe whose name translates to Red Castle in Arabic. This performance was fueled by stellar musicans and included material from her recent album, An Ancient Muse, and newly orchestrated renditions of her familiar songs, “The Mummers' Dance,” All Souls Night, “The Bonny Swans” and “Cymbeline”. A DVD of it has been released and is available for purchase. I've made sure to include a link to it above. In addition, she is honored to have her song “Penelope’s Song” now incorporated in the aerobatic show of the Canadian Forces’ Snowbirds during their flyover honoring lost comrades!

Loreena is a Canadian of Irish and Scottish descent. She presently lives in Ontario and is recently married to a veterinary surgeon from the UK. Together they share a love for dogs and, in particular, greyhounds. Her talents include singing and composing, playing the harp, piano, accordion and tambourine. She is often compared to the new age artist, Enya or folk pop artist Sarah McLachlan—a fellow Canadian. But Loreena's music is more traditional using literary works to form the general concept of an album. Her personal style exhibits a cosmopolitan character. Her method of composing music involves much research on a specific subject that forms the inspiration for an entire album; such as her knowledge gained about the Celts. This is due to her interest in the early Eastern influences of the Celts. She points out that their influence results from an assemblage of many tribes around middle Eastern Europe, not only from Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This groundwork also involves legwork as she will travel directly to locations and read about their old cultures, as happened when she traveled across Siberia and was moved to write the song “Night Ride Across the Caucasus”.

As young girl she learned to play the harp. She bought a second hand Celtic harp which she still uses to this day. She has taught herself much about playing instruments but studied classical piano for 10 years and voice for about 5 years formally. She has been able to adapt those skills to the harp. As a harpist she is enchanting with her masterful playing. She has even written a book titled Season of the Eiders. Get it at Indigo Books.ca.

See Loreena Onstage

The Mummer's Dance, Live.

The Lady of Shalott, Live.

The Zest Book

HighlandGRL said:

She is a fantastic musician, I'm a new fan!

September 20, 2007 12:08 PM