Track Listing

1. Prologue
2. Mummers' Dance
3. Skellig
4. Marco Polo
5. Highwayman
6. Serenissima
7. Night Ride Across the Caucasus
8. Dante's Prayer

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #73858 in Music
• Released on: 1999-12-23
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
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

CD Description
Loreena McKennitt began her career as a New Age pop chanteuse, steeped in Celtic folk mysticism and possessed of an airy, ethereal voice. Over the course of her career she has dabbled to varying extremes in the pop format, but she remains true to the spirit of the traditional balladeer on THE BOOK OF SECRETS. With the aid of top-flight musicians like Danny Thompson and David Rhodes, she weaves a web of fanciful, wispy folk-rock that's not afraid to be beautiful as it pulls listeners in with it's comforting hypnotic qualities.

Customer Reviews

Loreena Mckennitt - singer/storyteller par excellence
The 'Book of Secrets' is a fantastic album. 'The Mummer's Dance' sets you on your way, and 'The Highwayman' tells a great tale of love and personal self sacrifice by the Inn keeper's daughter. I find that 'Dante's Prayer' provides the most haunting finish to a superb collection of songs, staying with me long after the album has played out. I've since picked up 2 more of Mckennitt's albums, Parallel Dreams' and 'The Mask and Mirror'. Mckennitt is in a class by her self with a most beautful voice to narrate the tale. If you are considering buying one of her albums, start with this one.

Celtic international
This is far from Loreena McKennitt's first album, but it may be her breakthrough album. In this recording she has captured a glorious cross-section of Celtic-influenced international-themed songs. The 'chart topper' on the album is 'The Mummer's Dance', ironically not in the version that was heard on most American radio stations (that is a souped-up version released on CD-single, which was also used for the theme music for a short-lived television series called 'Legacy'). This has the rhythms, instrumentation and lyric qualities one has come to associate with modern Celtic tunes (a la Enya, Marie Brennan, Clannad, etc.).

Other songs are modern-day retellings of folk songs: 'The Highwayman' is a decidedly anti-British-occupation song, in which the heroine sacrifices her life to save her lover who is about to be trapped -- the Celtic peoples have learned from Roman times to the present to drink deep from the cup of sorrow, and this song (among others on the album)is a generous portion for that cup.

My favourite song, however, must be 'Skelling' -- it conjures up visions of monastic vows and solitude, a journey into life's vocation that requires both inward and outward travel far from home, never to return, but ultimately being content and safe in the community. Sweet and melancholy, the learned monk, reminiscent of Saint Francis for his love of animals, is essentially giving his final will and testament, a most spiritual treasure beyond valuing, from someone with vows of poverty.

Interspersed are several instrumental interludes, with differing characters (some decidedly oriental, others western, all however bearing a strong Celtic stamp).

This is a perfect introduction to McKennitt's work, but do not stop there. Her previous work is well worth exploring.

I've discovered her - at last
There was one track of hers on the Celtic Chillout collection. It was The Mummers' Dance, an extraordinary track. I have just purchased a pre-release promotional CD of The Book Of Secrets, from which the aforementioned track comes from. The whole album is extraordinary.

There is so much to write about this album that if I tried to express everything I wanted to say, I would lose myself in an ever-decreasing spiral. Let's just say that Ms McKennitt has a very beautiful and original voice, the subjects of her compositions are varied to say the least; there are lots of influences which show themselves in the lyrics and the melodies; the musicianship is truly masterful and she has produced a near-perfect album.

One reviewer of her music suggested that it should be experienced whilst having sex. I think I would rather pay attention to her first and keep my partner waiting .....!

This is an exemplary album and a good way to get into Ms McKennitts brand of Celtic music - as I have. One can only wonder why it has taken me so long to find out about her.