Secret Garden - Once in a Red Moon
List Price:
Our Price: $7.30
You Save: $9.68 (57%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.61 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
CD Details
Artist: Secret GardenEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language), Stereo
CD Release Date: 2002-03-26
Music Label: Decca
Soundtracks:
- Awakening
- You Raise Me Up
- Silent Wings
- Greenwaves
- Invitation
- Duo
- Belonging
- Gates Of Dawn
- The Promise
- Fairytale
- Once In A Red Moon
- Elegie
Music reviews of Once in a Red Moon
Music Review: Strong effort, semi-essential for Secret Garden fans
Rating: 4 Stars
I bought this CD due to some of the selections not being on my "best of" CD.
I had heard a sample of the track "Once in a Red Moon," and found the melodic phrasing sampled to be as moving and powerful as the most beautiful melodic passages in "Adagio" and "Passacaglia." Now I know why this piece is not featured on the "best of" CD. The enclosed inner booklet describes the nature of this song as shifting from a mood of "tranquility" to "passion." The beautiful melodic phrasing that grabbed me is the "passion" part," which is repeated just twice in the selection. The rest of the piece is much slower with melodic phrasing that is nowhere near as memorable. In fact, without the "passion," part, I would have found this piece formulaic in a bland way, and not among the better Secret Garden efforts. I can only imagine if Lovland had written melodic phrasing for the "tranquility" part in the same gorgeous nature as the "passion" part.
I really enjoyed the cut, "Invitation," which is one of the more joyous of the Irish "dance" tunes that is featured on all of the SG CDs. "You Raise Me Up," and "Gates of Dawn," two of the three vocalized songs, I could listen to over and over again. Both are very spiritual songs with meaningful lyrics. "Greenwaves," is pleasant to listen to for the genre it serves. I'd rather that SG had included an instrumental song in place of this to fit in with their style of music.
The other songs, instrumentals are typical Secret Garden magic - very soothing, ethereal, uplifting music. I enjoyed "Awakening," "Duo," and "Elegie" (not for the much talked about final "global C chord," which struck me as harsh considering the elegant and powerful music which preceded it) very much and rate among the better Secret Garden efforts. What I found pleasant, but nothing more than that, were "Silent Wings," "Belonging," and "Fairytale" (this last piece I found quite unmemorable and uninspired).
This CD, as has been noted before in other posts, is more melancholy (although "EarthSongs" is fairly melancholy in its own right, too!) and more heavily weighted with Celtic music (including all the instrumentals and vocalized songs - even "You Raise Me Up," is stated as being based on an Irish tune) vs. the music found on some of their other CDs which has a greater presence of classical musical phrasings. What is noticeable is the presence of more instruments and strings being used in the background.
In the "passion" part of "Once in a Red Moon," the extra lushness adds to the emotional intensity of the music. The cello playing of Julian Lloyd Webber on "Duo" compliments the playing of Sherry, Lovland, and others.
In summary, I found the use of the full Orchestra, enhanced the musical lines and added more emotional impact.
Granted, I am rating and judging Secret Garden on its own works, not compared with others. Their work is in a class to itself, so even a CD with some sub-par efforts which I rate this CD, is still worth getting, and listening to repeatedly for obvious reasons.
The inner booklet is excellent - lyrics are provided for all songs as well as an explanation by Lovland as to the creative background of each songs.
Excluding "best of" compilations, my favorite SG items are as follows - "White Stones," "Songs from a Secret Garden" (these first two I would rate as their best), the DVD "A Night with Secret Garden," "EarthSongs," and then "Once in a Red Moon."
What do I remember most from this CD? That musical phrasing from the "passion" part of "Once in a Red Moon," the song "Gates of Dawn" (with its beautiful lyrics), the memorable tune to "Invitation," the vocal in "You Raise Me Up," and the three instrumentals that struck me as very unmemorable.
(Side note - I do not have in my collection "Dawn of a New Century," but I have heard all the songs on it, and as a collection, rate OIaRM as more desirable as representing what I like best about SG than the cuts as a whole on DoaNC. Every SG CD with the exception of "Songs from a Secret Garden" and "White Stones" seem to have one to three cuts that most of us are blase about, most other cuts as very enjoyable, and two or three cuts that are absolute gems. Such is the case I found with this CD.)
Description of Once in a Red Moon
Japanese SHM-CD pressing. Universal. 2012.A mature and at times moving work, Once in a Red Moon fortifies Secret Garden's stature as a marquee New Age act. The duo of Irish violinist Fionnuala Sherry and pianist-composer Rolf Lovland here refine their specialty of making classical/contemporary/Celtic mini-epics in small orchestral and choral settings. Moreover, each piece elicits reflection, celebration, or atonement with the divine. Red Moon's mood of melancholy is stronger than usual--"Invitation" and "Fairytale" are the disc's only propulsive tracks--though there's an undercurrent of lamentation and reverence. Highlights include the gospel-fueled, Josh Groban-like "You Raise Me Up," sung by Brian Kennedy (Riverdance) and fittingly conducted by Steven Mercurio (musical director for Andrea Bocelli). And a riveting, slow-building plea for peace, "Elegie," features the voices of Anuna and a forceful, concluding piano chord--a composite of 66 C chords submitted by fans worldwide in response to an online invitation from the group. --Terry Wood
Folk CDs
Music Genres
Bestsellers in Folk CDs
Margie Adam - Another PlaceRelease date: 1994-07-26; Music CD
Best price: $16.99
Ann Reed - Road of the HeartRelease date: 1994-06-29; Music CD
Best price: $29.99
Ann Reed - Back & ForthRelease date: 1994-07-26; Music CD
Best price: $2.00
Price in other shops:
Kay Gardner - Rainbow PathRelease date: 1994-07-26; Music CD
Best price: $15.05
Price in other shops:
Joanne Rand - Grant Me EyesRelease date: 2001-08-02; Music CD
Best price: $9.96
Price in other shops:
Betty - Hello Betty!Release date: 1994-03-21; Music CD
Price in other shops:
Kay Gardner - AmazonRelease date: 1994-07-26; Music CD
Price in other shops:
Stage 2: Human HeartRelease date: 1997-04-11; Music CD
Best price: $14.95
Price in other shops:
Cyntia Smith, Ruth Barrett - Heart Is the Only NationRelease date: 1996-07-17; Music CD
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops:
Giants! A Colossal Collection of Tales and TunesGreathall Productions, Inc.; Release date: 2000-04-05; Published: 1996; Music CD
Best price: $8.68
Price in other shops:
Similar CDs
Secret Garden - Ultimate Secret GardenRelease date: 2004-08-16; Music CD
Best price: $12.47
Price in other shops:
Fionnuala Sherry - Songs From BeforeRelease date: 2011-06-21; Music CD
Best price: $10.01
Price in other shops:
Secret Garden - Inside I'm SingingRelease date: 2009-04-14; Music CD
Best price: $11.75
Price in other shops:
Secret Garden - DreamcatcherRelease date: 2001-05-22; Music CD
Best price: $9.57
Price in other shops:
Secret Garden - Dawn of a New CenturyRelease date: 1999-04-20; Music CD
Best price: $4.63
Price in other shops:
Secret Garden - EarthsongsRelease date: 2005-03-08; Music CD
Best price: $6.48
Price in other shops:
Secret Garden - The Best of Secret Garden: 20th Century Masters - The Millennium CollectionRelease date: 2004-08-03; Music CD
Best price: $4.29
Price in other shops:
Secret Garden - Winter PoemRelease date: 2011-11-08; Music CD
Best price: $9.89
Price in other shops:
Secret Garden - White StonesRelease date: 1997-04-15; Music CD
Best price: $6.17
Price in other shops:
Secret Garden - Songs From a Secret GardenRelease date: 1996-04-16; Music CD
Best price: $7.66
Price in other shops: