Dreaming Out Loud: Laura Griffin’s Blog

Loreena McKennitt

October 11th, 2007

It has been over 15 years since Loreena McKennitt has graced a Dallas stage. I had the privilege of seeing her perform live this past Tuesday night. For those of you that may not have heard of her, Loreena is a Canadian singer, songwriter, harpist, pianist, & accordian player extraordinaire. Although Celtic in origin, her music sounds as though it were excavated from deep, exotic corners from all over the world.  

After the loss of her fiance in a tragic boat accident, Loreena travelled to many far off corners of the world studying Celtic tribe history & artifacts in places like China, Mongolia, Turkey, Morroco, etc. During the show, she occasionally stopped to share stories of her adventures & help us understand the inspiration behind her music. You could definitely hear the influence of those far-off lands in her work. Loreena tours with a group of at least 10 performers…all very talented musicians. I was particularly drawn to the unusual instruments she uses in her arrangements including the hurdy-gurdy & the Greek lyra. They lent such an interesting texture to the sound. The highlight of the show was when she played “Marco Polo” & “Highwayman” back-to-back. “Marco Polo” was an Eastern influenced song that some co-workers & I used to dance to every night in the wee hours of the morning working on budgets. “The Highwayman” is a beautiful musical translation of this famous poem by Alfred Noy. I didn’t think it could get any better, and then she played Dante’s Prayer, my 3rd favorite song next!!!! This little mp3 snippet of music that I wrote years ago was inspired by that song. If you are interested in hearing her work, I highly suggest her 2-disc live Paris/Toronto recording that can be bought here. It is phenomenal and includes many favorites.

Entry Filed under: Music