Loreena Mckennitt - The Book of Secrets
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CD Details
Artist: Loreena MckennittEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2006-11-14
Music Label: Verve
Soundtracks:
- Prologue
- The Mummers' Dance
- Skellig
- Marco Polo
- The Highway Man
- La Serenissima
- Night Ride Across The Caucasus
- Dante's Prayer
Music reviews of The Book of Secrets
Music Review: One of the Best New-Age Albums of All Time
Rating: 4 Stars
McKennitt brings new life to the Celtic genre with her dreamy lilting voice and haunting melodies. Book of Secrets was inspired by her journeys through the world and many of the songs call upon ancient tunes and traditions. The music is simple but not boring and carries a nice blend of Celtic and middle-eastern influences.
Prologue is mainly instrumental, though Loreena uses her voice to impose a countermelodious "la" sound. The sound is very slow and dark, using a deep bongo drum (though that may not be the right word) to provide the beat and what sounds like a finger-plucked mandolin. Perhaps an oboe in the background? The sounds are nothing like the things most Americans are used to; she uses instruments from many different cultures.
The Mummer's Dance is based on the historical "mummers" who dressed up in straw masks and ribbons and carried greenery to homes as they sang. It was an action associated with springtime and fertility, but this song is not the typical happy springtime song. The lyrics are about nature.. "The songs of birds seem to fill the wood/That when the fiddler plays/All their voices can be heard/Long past their woodland days." but the tune carries the same instruments as the Prologue and is somewhat dark.
Skellig begins with a lonely violin that is gradually joined by the rest of the strings and then a wood (tin?) flute. The story tells of Irish monks who often lived in remote places such as the Skellig Islands in Ireland, copying texts and striving to reach closer to God. Reading the lyrics ("I'd hear the ocean breathe/Exhale upon the shore/I knew the tempest's blood/Its wrath I would endure"), I can almost smell the salt water and see the lonely monk walking barefoot along the rocky cliffs.
Marco Polo is another almost entirely instrumental song that distinctly conjures up images of a harem and belly dancers. It's what I would have referred to as "snake charmer music" a few years ago. I find myself irrepressibly swaying to the beat of the drums and I must say that if I were a snake, I'd definitely be charmed!
The Highwayman is my favorite song from this CD. Based upon Alfred Noyes' poem of the same name, McKennitt does an amazing job of setting the words to music and her wistful voice tells the sad tale ("The wind was a torrent of darkness/Among the gusty trees") of a highwayman who had fallen in love with the landlord's daughter ("Bess, the landlord's daughter/Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair"). The highwayman leaves to perform his questionable job, assuring Bess that he will come back that night ("Watch for me by the moonlight/I'll come to thee by the moonlight, though Hell should bar the way").
Unfortunately, an old man listening at the gate overheard this exchange and warned the lawmen, who sent troops to hide in the cottage and wait for the highwayman. They tied up Bess, roping a musket to her side, next to the window so that she would see him approaching his death. Bess, though, refused to let that happen and twisted her hands around until she grasped the musket trigger ("Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him with her death"). The highwayman quickly turned around, for he knew he was in danger. He found out in the morning what Bess had done and flew off in a rage ("Back he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky/With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high!") but the troops were still alert and shot him down ("Down like a dog on the highway").
The tale says that his angry ghost still haunts the inn where his now-dead love once lived ("When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor... A highwayman comes riding up to the old inn-door").
A very sad tale, with Noyes' fantastic words and McKennitt's voice that is so well-suited to storytelling, this is an amazing song.
La Serinissima is purely instrumental, with mainly a string quartet and a plucked acoustic guitar. It is, as the name implies, extremely serene and is a nice come-down after the intense emotion of the previous song. It turns to a major key for its melody and eases the transition from depressing love song back to stories of nature.
Night Ride Across the Caucasus returns to the minor key and middle-eastern instruments with a slow, introspective melody about the human desire to learn the secrets of the world, and the lengths to which a curious mind will go to find them.
Dante's Prayer, the last song, begins with a cathedral-ish chant but quickly gives way to a soft piano/violin combination as Loreena wraps up her journeys with a quiet melody about rising to a higher level of life. Her voice fades out and the cathedral tune comes back briefly then fades as well.
This is one of the few albums that I can actually listen to while going to sleep. It's conducive to meditation and a relaxed state of mind.. another good "bathtub album" if you will. It's also enjoyable to listen to this CD through an open door while you sit on the porch with your soda/beer/cigarette/other vice and contemplate the stars. This CD is a great introduction to Celtic-style music and I'm glad Loreena shared her journey's book of secrets with us. I'll end with a quote from the liner notes.. "Music and singing do not produce in the heart that which is not in it." Ponder at will, and enjoy the album.
Description of The Book of Secrets
All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.McKennitt's recordings always have the quality of a spiritual sojourn; her songs are those of a seeker, whether she's setting Yeats, Scripture, or her own words to her compositions. It's this that attracts people to her music, and The Book of Secrets is no exception, whether it's the lazy rhythms of "Marco Polo," the sober joy of "The Mummers' Dance," the poignancy of "Skellig" or "Dante's Prayer," or the drama of Alfred Noyes's "The Highwayman." "The Highwayman" is a particularly strong effort, especially in comparison to her earlier setting of "The Lady of Shalott"; McKennitt has become much more skilled at musical narrative. This is music that can be enjoyed on many levels, from McKennitt's growing skill as a composer to the deeper questions posed by her lyrics. --Genevieve Williams
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