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.
"A good traveller has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving."
Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu's words are a good introduction to the third album in a trilogy of musical travel documents that began with The Visit. Recorded at Peter Gabriel's Real World studios in England, The Book Of Secrets was written and researched all over the world, and, following its release in 1997, would go on to sell several million copies around the globe.
The album features a cast of over two dozen musical collaborators, and the eight songs contained therein, including North American hit single ?The Mummers? Dance?, leads the listener on unexpected journeys. Follow the music from ancient Byzantium to a puppet-maker's theatre in Sicily, or from the rocky island of Skellig Michael once inhabited by Irish monks in the Dark Ages to Venice and the journeys of Marco Polo, or from the tragic narrative of ? The Highwayman? to the thunder of hooves across the Caucasus and the echoes of Dante? s words found, unexpectedly, in a train journey across Siberia.
1. Prologue
2. The Mummers' Dance
3. Skellig
4. Marco Polo
5. The Highwayman
6. La Serenissima
7. Night Ride Across the Cau
8. Dante's Prayer
USD $26.29
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