Music of Loreena McKennitt Last updated September 14, 1998

Loreena McKennitt is a singer-song writer from Canada who occupies her very own place in the world music. Her music is rooted in Celtic traditions but much of her best work incorporates elements from Medieval England, Spain and North Africa.

So what is her music like? Imagine an Celtic bard with the voice of an angel, accompanied by complex and subtle arrangements of diverse instruments, with strong rythmic undercurrents that remind you of Morocco.

Loreena McKennitt runs her very own music label which means her records are exactly as she wants them. Like Robert Fripp's ideal, she owns her own music. This is the way things ought to be.

Her music: In general, Loreena's records have gotten better with each successive album, with one notable exception To Drive the Cold Winter Away, which is very old and very good.

The Records of Loreena McKennitt

The Book of Secrets    Released fall 1997
This is Loreena's most recent recording and it is an excellent introduction to her work. The standout track is Mummer's Dance which is full of wild mystery, like a fall storm that blows the leaves about and hints at the winter. Dante's Prayer is almost as good as Loreena ends the song with a quietly passionate please remember me! I doubt you will have any trouble remembering the music on this record.

The Mask and Mirror    Released 1994
One can argue that this record is, as a whole, superior to Book of Secrets. Certainly The Bonny Swans is as fantastic piece and the other songs, are masterpieces of musical invention. This record is where the musical styles of Spain and North Africa are fully integrated and meld to create what we can now call Loreena's unique style of Celtic-World Music.

To Drive the Cold Winter Away    Released 1987
This is one of Loreena's earliest recordings and it is my personal favorite. It is a very intimate record. Each song features Loreena signing accompanied by just one or two other instruments (usually her harp). The record lives or dies based on the quality of her signing and I think it is a triumph. The standout piece on this CD is Snow (which Windham Hill included on one of their Winter Solstice records). Snow is heart-breakingly beautiful, just Loreena and a tin whistle. It rivals the best songs of Altan, and that is high praise indeed. Loreena re-recorded Snow with her current group of musicians, giving it a very complex arrangement. I prefer the original. The other songs on this record are generally very good, with just one or two failures.

The Visit    Released 1992
For many old fans, this was their first introduction to her work, largely due to one song on this record: The Lady of Shalott. In truth this song, a musical version of part of the poem by Tennyson, is one of the most arresting songs ever recorded. It is long and the music repeats on several occasions, but the combination of the exquisite singing, the romantic lyrics, and the music, cast a magical spell that far outlives the length of the song. Some of the songs here don't quite work for me (like her version of Greensleeves) but all in all, this is a record well worth owning.

Lesser Works

Parallel Dreams    Released 1989
This is basically an inferior version of The Visit. This was the first record where Loreena wrote nearly all the material, but her compositions don't grab me.

A Winter Garden    Released 1995
Unlike the other lesser works, this is not an old record, just a small recording with only 5 songs on it. Two of the songs, God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen, and Good King Wenceslas are excellent. The version of Snow here is somewhat inferior to the older version and the other two songs are not special. Only for die-hard fans (like me).

Elemental    Released 1985
Her very first record. Not much here to suggest just how fantastic she would be within 8 years.

Loreena has quite a collection of fan web page and her own web site: Quinlan Road (the name of her record company).

Next artist: Steve Roach