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The Mask and Mirror is an album by Loreena McKennitt that was released in 1994. The album has been certified Gold in the United States.[2]
[edit] Overview
Like most of Loreena McKennitt's albums, The Mask and Mirror is heavily influenced by her travels. Her experiences in Spain and Morocco, specifically, serve as the inspiration for this album.
As her introduction to the album, McKennitt wrote:
| “ |
I looked back and forth through the window of 15th century Spain, through the hues of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, and was drawn into a fascinating world: history, religion, cross-cultural fertilization....For some medieval minds the mirror was the door through which the soul frees itself by passing.... for others the pursuit of personal refinement was likened to polishing the mirror of the soul. From the more familiar turf of the west coast of Ireland, through the troubadours of France, crossing over the Pyrenees, and then to the west through Galicia, down through Andalusia and past Gibraltar to Morocco....the Crusades, the pilgrimage to Santiago, Cathars, the Knights Templar, the Sufis from Egypt, One Thousand and One Nights in Arabia, the Celtic imagery of trees, the Gnostic Gospels...who was God? and what is religion, what spirituality? What was revealed and what was concealed...and what was the mask and what the mirror? |
” |
Accompanying all the selections, as the liner remarks, are some of the entries in a traveler's log that McKennitt kept all throughout her journey.
[edit] Track listing
- "The Mystic's Dream" – 7:40
- "The Bonny Swans" – 7:18
- "The Dark Night of the Soul" – 6:44
- "Marrakesh Night Market" – 6:30
- "Full Circle" – 5:57
- "Santiago" – 5:58
- "Cé Hé Mise le Ulaingt?/The Two Trees" – 9:06
- "Prospero's Speech" – 3:23
[edit] Song information
[edit] Personnel
- Anne Bourne – cello, background vocals
- Al Cross – drums
- Nigel Eaton – hurdy gurdy
- Ofra Harnoy – cello
- Brian Hughes – guitar, balalaika, electric guitar, oud, electric sitar
- Patrick Hutchinson – pipe, Uillean pipes
- George Koller – bass, cello, tamboura
- Rick Lazar – dumbek, percussion, drums, udu
- Dónal Lunny – bouzouki, drums, bodhran
- Hugh Marsh – fiddle
- Loreena McKennitt – organ, synthesizer, dumbek, piano, accordion, harp, keyboards, vocals, voices
- Ravi Naimpally – tabla
- Abraham Tawfik – oud, nai
- Strings – Kent Teeple, Marc Sabat, Sharon Prater, Douglas Perry, David Miller, Morry Kernerman, Sylvia Lange, Susan Lipchak, Fujiko Imajishi, David Heatherington, Heinz Boshard, Marie Berard, Andy Benac, Adele Armin
- Victoria Scholars – choir, chorus
[edit] Production
- Loreena McKennitt – producer, arranger
- Margo Chase – design
- Jerzy Cichocki – director, choir master
- Ann Cutting – photography
- Richard Evans – engineer, mixing
- Russel Kearney – assistant engineer
- Bob Ludwig – mastering
- John Naslen – engineer
- John Welsman – arranger, string arrangements, cello arrangement
- Jeff Wolpert – engineer, mixing, assistant producer
[edit] Chart performance
| Chart (1994) |
Peak
position |
| Australian Albums Chart[3] |
21 |
| Dutch Albums Chart[4] |
54 |
| Germany Albums Chart[5] |
18 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart[6] |
15 |
| Spanish Albums Chart[7] |
6 |
| Swedish Albums Chart[8] |
25 |
| US Billboard 200[9] |
143 |
| US World Albums[10] |
1 |
| US New Age Albums[10] |
7 |
[edit] References
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"The Lady of Shalott" • "All Souls Night" • "Courtyard Lullaby" • "Greensleeves" • "The Bonny Swans" • "Santiago" • "The Dark Night of the Soul" • "The Mystic's Dreams" • "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" • "The Mummers' Dance" • "Marco Polo" • "Caravanserai" • "Penelope's Song" • "The Seven Rejoices of Mary" • "Noël Nouvelet!" • "Dante's Prayer"
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