Loreena McKennitt - An Ancient Muse (2006)

Mp3 VBR (Full album + Front Cover)

1. Incantation
2. The Gates of Istanbul
3. Caravanserai
4. The English Ladye and the Knight
5. Kercharitomene
6. Penelope's Song
7. Sacred Shabbat
8. Beneath A Phrygian Sky
9. Never-ending Road (Amhran Duit)


Album Description
Produced by the Canadian singer/composer herself, An Ancient Muse is, McKennitt says, a work of "musical travel writing". Drawing on research and literary musings that took her from the steppes of Mongolia to Ireland's western shores and the islands of the Mediterranean, McKennitt takes her inspiration from the Celtic peoples, fusing the melodic sensibility of Scottish and Irish balladry with musical traditions from Greece, Turkey, Spain, and even Scandinavia.
Beginning with an invocation inspired by Homer's Odyssey -- "Tell me, O Muse, of those who traveled far and wide"-- its nine tracks take the listener around the globe, across the ages and into the stories of a wondrous cast of characters. We hear the voices of a Scottish knight and his English lady, united by love and divided by strife; adventurers of the Silk Road approaching the gates of Istanbul; a Byzantine princess who witnessed the Crusades; the wandering Celts who claimed King Midas' lands; and Odysseus' faithful wife Penelope, scanning the wine-dark seas for his return.

From the sinuous grooves of "Caravanserai" to the elegiac echoes of "The English Ladye and The Knight" and the plaintive refrain of "Penelope's Song," the album boasts an exotic tapestry of instruments: harp, hurdy-gurdy, uilleann pipes, cello, kanoun, Turkish clarinet, lyra, bouzouki and nyckelharpa. Supporting musicians include Brian Hughes, Hugh Marsh, Caroline Lavelle, Manu Katch