Loreena McKennitt explained

Loreena McKennitt
Background:solo_singer
Birth Name:Loreena Isabel Irene McKennitt
Birth Date:17 February 1957
Birth Place:Morden, Manitoba, Canada
Origin:Stratford, Ontario, Canada
Years Active:1985–1998, 2006–present

Loreena Isabel Irene McKennitt (born February 17, 1957) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer who writes, records, and performs world music with Celtic and Middle Eastern influences. McKennitt is known for her refined and clear soprano vocals.[1] She has sold more than 14 million records worldwide.[2]

Early life and education

McKennitt was born in Morden, Manitoba, of Irish and Scottish descent to parents Jack McKennitt (died 1992) and Irene née Dickey (1931–2011). In Morden, she developed her love for music, influenced, in part, by the musical traditions of the local Mennonite community.[3]

McKennitt enrolled at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg to become a veterinarian. While in Winnipeg she discovered folk music, including fellow Canadians Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and Gordon Lightfoot. After performing at the inaugural Winnipeg Folk Festival in 1974,[4] McKennitt developed an interest in Celtic music and visited Ireland to hear it for herself.[5] Developing a passion for Celtic music, she learned to play the Celtic harp and began busking at various places, including St. Lawrence Market in Toronto to earn money to record her first album.[6]

In 1981, she moved to Stratford, Ontario, to join the Stratford Festival acting company, and still resides there.[7]

Career

Initial success: 1985–1998

McKennitt's first album, Elemental, was released in 1985, followed by To Drive the Cold Winter Away (1987), Parallel Dreams (1989), The Visit (1991), The Mask and Mirror (1994),[8] A Winter Garden (1995), and The Book of Secrets (1997). All of her work is released under her own label, Quinlan Road.

In 1990, McKennitt provided the music for the National Film Board of Canada documentary The Burning Times, a feminist revisionist account of the Early Modern European witchcraft trials. She and the musical team she headed would later re-record the documentary's main theme on her album The Visit under the title "Tango to Evora".

In 1993, she toured Europe supporting Mike Oldfield. In 1995, her version of the traditional Irish song "Bonny Portmore" was featured in the Highlander series, followed by the 1994 film Highlander 3: The Sorcerer. McKennitt's single "The Mummers' Dance" received airplay in North American markets during the spring of 1997, and was used as the theme song for the short-lived TV series Legacy. It also saw use in the trailer for a wide-release 1998 Drew Barrymore film Ever After.

Her music appeared in the movies The Santa Clause, Soldier, Jade, Holy Man, The Mists of Avalon, and Tinker Bell. It was also featured in the television series Roar, Due South, and Full Circle (Women and Spirituality).

Personal tragedy and hiatus

In July 1998, McKennitt's fiancé Ronald Rees, his brother Richard, and their close friend Gregory Cook drowned in a boating accident on Georgian Bay. She was deeply affected by the event, and she founded the Cook-Rees Memorial Fund for Water Search and Safety in the same year. At the time of the incident, she was working on a live album of two performances called Live in Paris and Toronto. The proceeds from this album were donated to the newly created memorial fund, totalling some three million dollars.[9]

After the release of the live album, McKennitt decided that she would substantially reduce the number of her public performances, and she did not release any new recordings until the studio album An Ancient Muse in 2006.

Return to music: 2006–present

During 2005, McKennitt began working on the album An Ancient Muse, her seventh full-length studio album, released in November 2006. In September 2006, she performed live at the Alhambra in Spain. The performance premiered on PBS and in August 2007 was released on a three-disc DVD/CD set titled Nights from the Alhambra.

In 2008, McKennitt wrote and composed "To the Fairies They Draw Near" for the theme song for Disney's direct-to-video animated film Tinker Bell. She also provided the narration for the film.[10]

In early 2008, she returned to Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios to record A Midwinter Night's Dream, an extended version of her 1995 mini-album . The album was released on October 28, 2008.[11]

Since the release of An Ancient Muse, McKennitt has toured consistently, in Europe and North American, including the An Ancient Muse tour in 2007, another extensive tour across Canada and United States later in 2007, a tour of Europe in 2008 and a Mediterranean tour in 2009 with stops in Greece,[12] Turkey, Cyprus, Lebanon, Hungary and Italy.

On September 17, 2009, McKennitt announced the release of a two-disc album, A Mediterranean Odyssey. The first CD, "From Istanbul to Athens", consisted of 10 new live recordings from her 2009 Mediterranean tour, including songs she had never before recorded in concert. The second CD, "The Olive and the Cedar", had a Mediterranean theme which McKennitt herself curated. It contained previously released studio recordings created between 1994 and 2006.

November 16, 2010, saw the US release (November 12 for Europe) of McKennitt's studio album, The Wind That Shakes the Barley. Recorded at the Sharon Temple in Ontario, the album comprises nine traditional Celtic songs. [13]

When McKennitt released The Wind that Shakes the Barley she visited several countries to help promote the album. During the promotional tour she performed an hour-long concert in the studios of German radio station SWR1, accompanied only by Brian Hughes (guitars) and Caroline Lavelle (cello) who have long been part of her tours and recordings. This live concert was released on CD in 2011. Called Troubadours on the Rhine, the album was nominated for a 2012 Grammy for Best New Age Album.

On November 30, 2012, McKennitt lent her support to Kate Winslet's Golden Hat Foundation together with Tim Janis, Sarah McLachlan, Andrea Corr, Hayley Westenra, the Sleepy Man Banjo Boys, Dawn Kenney, Jana Mashonee, Amy Petty, and a choir, along with others, performing on "The American Christmas Carol" concert at Carnegie Hall.[14] [15]

McKennitt's 10th studio album, Lost Souls, was released on May 11, 2018. She planned a tour to support the album's release in 2018 and 2019.[16]

She had a small acting role in the 2018 film Road to the Lemon Grove, as the voice of God.[17]

In 2019, McKennitt released the live album Live at the Royal Albert Hall, recorded earlier that year in London.

Legacy

Genre

McKennitt's music has generally been classified as World or Celtic music even though it contains aspects and characteristics of music from around the globe and is sometimes classified as folk music in record stores.

McKennitt is occasionally compared to Enya,[18] but McKennitt's music is more grounded in traditional and classical invocations, using literary works as sources of lyrics and springboards for interpretation such as "The Lady of Shalott" by Lord Tennyson, "Prospero's Speech" (the final soliloquy in William Shakespeare's The Tempest), the Northumbrian murder ballad "The Twa Sisters" (which inspired "The Bonny Swans" on The Mask and Mirror), "Snow" by Archibald Lampman, "Dark Night of the Soul" by St. John of the Cross, Dante's Inferno, William Blake's "Lullaby", Yeats' "The Stolen Child," "The English Ladye and the Knight" by Sir Walter Scott, and "The Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes.

Influences

Before McKennitt composes any music, she engages in considerable research on a specific subject which then forms the general concept of the album. Before creating Elemental and Parallel Dreams, she travelled to Ireland for inspiration from the country's history, folklore, geography and culture. The album The Mask and Mirror was preceded by research in Spain where she studied Galicia, a Celtic section of Spain, along with its abundant Arabic roots.[19] The result was an album that included elements of Celtic and Arabic music. According to the jacket notes, her album An Ancient Muse was inspired by travels among and reading about the various cultures along the Silk Road.

Documentaries

Late in the 1990s, McKennitt created No Journey's End, a half-hour documentary, for American television in which she discussed the influences behind her music. No Journey's End contained excerpts from several songs from the albums Parallel Dreams, The Visit, and The Mask and Mirror It also shows live performances of the songs "The Lady of Shalott", "Santiago", and "The Dark Night of the Soul". It was later released on DVD and VHS, the former also containing music videos for "The Mummers' Dance" and "The Bonny Swans." A bonus copy of the DVD was included with the 2004 remastered versions of McKennitt's CDs.

In 2008, McKennitt released A Moveable Musical Feast, based on her 2007 An Ancient Muse tour. The DVD included interviews with McKennitt, her band, crew, fans and professional colleagues from the Canadian music industry.

Court case

See main article: McKennitt v Ash. In 2005, McKennitt was involved in an acrimonious court case in England when her former friend and employee, Niema Ash, published a book, Travels with Loreena McKennitt: My Life as a Friend, that contained intimate details of their friendship.[20] McKennitt argued that much of the book contained confidential personal information that Ash had no right to publish. The English courts found that there had indeed been a breach of confidence and a misuse of McKennitt's private information, and the case set important precedents in the law of England and Wales on the privacy of public figures.[21] The House of Lords affirmed the lower court's decisions in 2007.[22]

Honours

Awards and decorations

McKennitt's personal awards and decorations include the following:

RibbonDescriptionNotes
Order of Canada (CM)
  • Appointed Member (CM) on May 13, 2004[25]
Order of Manitoba (OM)
  • Appointed (OM) on July 15, 2003[26]
  • medal number: 056
  • Decoration awarded in 2002[27]
  • Canadian version
  • Decoration awarded in 2012[28]
  • Canadian version
Canadian Forces' Decoration (CD)
  • Appointed Knight on 2013[30]
  • France award

Quinlan Road

Quinlan Road
Founded:1985
Founder:Loreena McKennitt
Genre:Folk, Celtic, world, new-age
Country:Canada

Quinlan Road is an independent record label founded in 1985 and based in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. It is owned and operated by its sole artist, Loreena McKennitt. Quinlan Road started out at McKennitt's home where she sold recordings by mail order. Today Quinlan Road music is distributed internationally by Universal Music Group.

Discography

Studio albums

YearAlbum detailsPeak chart positionsCertifications
(sales threshold)
CAN
[31] [32]
AUS
[33]
GER
[34]
US
[35]
1985Elemental
  • Release date: 1985
  • Label: Quinlan Road
1987To Drive the Cold Winter Away
  • Release date: 1987
  • Label: Quinlan Road
1989Parallel Dreams
  • Release date: 1989
  • Label: Quinlan Road
1991The Visit
  • Release date: November 1, 1991
  • Label: Quinlan Road, Warner Bros. (US)
28
1994The Mask and Mirror
  • Release date: March 22, 1994
  • Label: Quinlan Road, Warner Bros. (US)
42118143
  • ARG: Gold[39]
  • AUS: Platinum[40]
  • CAN: 3× Platinum
  • US: Gold
1997The Book of Secrets
  • Release date: September 30, 1997
  • Label: Quinlan Road, Warner Bros. (US)
333717
  • ARG: Gold
  • AUS: Gold[41]
  • CAN: 4× Platinum
  • US: 2× Platinum
  • GER: Gold[42]
2006An Ancient Muse
  • Release date: November 21, 2006
  • Label: Quinlan Road, MRA
91583
  • CAN: Platinum
2008A Midwinter Night's Dream
  • Release date: October 28, 2008
  • Label: Quinlan Road, Universal
1227140
2010The Wind That Shakes the Barley
  • Release date: November 12, 2010
  • Label: Quinlan Road
1328141
2018Lost Souls[43]
  • Release date: May 11, 2018
  • Label: Quinlan Road
145164
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Live albums

YearAlbum detailsPeak chart positionsCertifications
(sales threshold)
CAN
GER
US
1995Live in San Francisco at the Palace of Fine Arts
  • Release date: October 1995
  • Label: Quinlan Road
1999Live in Paris and Toronto
  • Release date: September 22, 1999
  • Label: Quinlan Road
65
2007Nights from the Alhambra
  • Release date: August 21, 2007
  • Label: Quinlan Road, Verve
11190
  • AUS: Gold[44]
  • GER: Platinum
2009A Mediterranean Odyssey
  • Release date: October 20, 2009
  • Label: Quinlan Road
11
2012Troubadours on the Rhine
  • Release date: 2012
  • Label: Quinlan Road
1632
2019Live at the Royal Albert Hall[45]
  • Release date: November 1, 2019
  • Label: Quinlan Road
76
2022Under a Winter's Moon[46]
  • Release date: November 18, 2022
  • Label: Quinlan Road
41
2024The Road Back Home
  • Release date: March 8, 2024[47]
  • Label: Quinlan Road
9
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Compilations

YearAlbum detailsPeak chart positions
GER
2009A Mummers' Dance Through Ireland
  • Release date: 2009
  • Label: Quinlan Road
2013The Journey So Far – The Best of Loreena McKennitt
  • Release date: 2013
  • Label: Quinlan Road
20
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Singles

YearSinglePeak chart positions[48] [49] Album
CANUSUS ACUS Pop
1991"The Lady of Shalott"The Visit
"All Souls Night"
"Courtyard Lullaby"
1993"Greensleeves"
1994"The Bonny Swans"75The Mask and Mirror
"Santiago"
"The Dark Night of the Soul"
1995"The Mystic's Dream"
"God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen"A Winter Garden: Five Songs for the Season
1997"The Mummers' Dance"10182314The Book of Secrets
1998"Marco Polo"
2006"Caravanserai"An Ancient Muse
2007"Penelope's Song"
2008"The Seven Rejoices of Mary"A Midwinter's Night Dream
"Noël Nouvelet"
2009"Dante's Prayer"Non-album single
2017"Breaking of the Sword"50Lost Souls
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Videos

Other

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Loreena McKennitt. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110113184810/http://www.progreviews.com/reviews/display.php?rev=lm-tmam. January 13, 2011. March 2, 2011. Progreviews.com.
  2. Web site: Alex. December 13, 2010. Folk Radio UK. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20101229092922/http://www.folkradio.co.uk/2010/12/loreena-mckennitt-releases-new-album/. December 29, 2010. March 2, 2011. Folkradio.co.uk.
  3. Web site: A seasoned soul – 22 Jan 200 . The Irish Times . August 25, 2018.
  4. Book: A History of Winnipeg Music. John Einarson. 2021.
  5. Web site: About Us – Loreena McKinnett Introduces Herself . Quinlan Road . March 2, 2011 . February 23, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110223145358/http://www.quinlanroad.com/aboutus/lmintro.asp . dead .
  6. https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/59584224.html?dids=59584224:59584224&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Nov+29%2C+1994&author=JIM+WASHBURN&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=If+You+Must%2C+Label+Her+%60Enlightened'+Pop+music%3A+Loreena+McKennitt%2C+who+performs+in+Irvine+tonight%2C+sings+ethereal+material%2C+but+don't+pigeonhole+the+harpist+as+New+Age.&pqatl=google If You Must, Label Her 'Enlightened' Pop music: Loreena McKennitt, who performs in Irvine tonight, sings ethereal material, but don't pigeonhole the harpist as New Age."
  7. Web site: Loreena McKennitt acting credits . Stratford Festival Archives . May 29, 2019 . August 5, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200805183152/https://archives.stratfordfestival.ca/AIS/Details/people/8301 . dead .
  8. Larry LeBlanc. A Breakthrough Year for Canadian Acts. Billboard. December 24, 1994. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.. 53–. 0006-2510.
  9. Web site: Explore The Music – Live in Paris and Toronto . Quinlan Road . March 2, 2011 . March 8, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110308051350/http://www.quinlanroad.com/explorethemusic/liveinparis.asp . dead .
  10. Web site: Loreena sings theme song and narrates Disney's Tinker Bell – 5 July 2008 . Quinlanroad.com . March 2, 2011 . July 15, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110715141722/http://www.quinlanroad.com/newsandviews/currentupdates.asp?id=782 . dead .
  11. Web site: A Midwinter Night's Dream Loreena's newest recording for the winter season set for release October 2008 – 7 October 2008 . Quinlanroad.com . March 2, 2011 . July 15, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110715141736/http://www.quinlanroad.com/newsandviews/currentupdates.asp?id=822 . dead .
  12. http://www.rocking.gr/article5947.php "Τέλος Ιουνίου οι συναυλίες της Loreena McKennitt" (End of June Concerts Loreena McKennitt)
  13. Web site: Loreena McKennitt – 1 December 2012 . The West End Times . May 29, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150529223402/http://www.myvirtualpaper.com/doc/West-end-Times/18.14-west-end-times/2012113001/8.html#8 . May 29, 2015 . dead .
  14. Web site: American Christmas Carol Concert . broadwayworld.com . September 14, 2012 . December 2, 2012.
  15. Web site: The American Christmas Carol . goldenhatfoundation.org . December 2, 2012.
  16. Web site: New Album Set for Release May 11th! – Loreena McKennitt. March 8, 2018. Lorrenamckennitt.com. May 15, 2018. June 16, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200616163043/https://loreenamckennitt.com/new-album-set-release-may-11th/. dead.
  17. Chris Knight, "Hamlet this ain't, though there is a touch of Romeo and Juliet in Road to the Lemon Grove". National Post, August 29, 2019.
  18. News: Goddard. Peter. The darling of old folkies and new agers plays it her way.. Toronto Star. October 29, 1991. E1.
  19. Book: Todd. Douglas. Brave Souls: Writers and Artists Wrestle with God, Love, Death, and the Things That Matter. 1996. Stoddard Publishing Co. Limited. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 0-7737-5832-1. 185. registration.
  20. http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/media/story/2006/12/14/mckennitt-ruling.html "Singer McKennitt wins privacy ruling in U.K. court."
  21. News: Publicity-shy singer wins privacy claim . CBC News . December 21, 2005 . live . August 20, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20070526163338/http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2005/12/21/Loreena-McKennitt.html . May 26, 2007 .
  22. http://www.out-law.com/page-7923 "Lords decline to hear McKennitt privacy case."
  23. http://www.rcaf-arc.forces.gc.ca/or-re/hc-ch/nr-sp/index-eng.asp?id=7995 Ms. Loreena McKennitt
  24. http://www.rcaf-arc.forces.gc.ca/en/article-template-standard.page?doc=loreena-mckennitt-appointed-honorary-colonel-of-the-rcaf/hyyl3z37 Ms. Loreena McKennitt
  25. Web site: The Governor General of Canada List. Gouvernment of Canada .
  26. Web site: The Order of Manitoba – Official Registery[sic] List ]. Gouvernment of Canada . October 25, 2019 . August 10, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200810215200/https://www.manitobalg.ca/awards/order-of-manitoba/official-registery/ . dead .
  27. Web site: The Queen Golden Jubilee Medal List. The Governor General of Canada.
  28. Web site: The Queen Diamond Jubilee Medal List. The Governor General of Canada.
  29. Web site: HCol Loreena McKennitt recognized for 12 years of service.
  30. Web site: The Governor General of Canada – AWARDS TO CANADIANS List. Gouvernment of Canada .
  31. Loreena McKennitt Chart History – Canadian Albums. Billboard. May 22, 2018.
  32. Web site: RPM Results. November 24, 2010.
  33. Australian (ARIA) chart peaks:
  34. Web site: Discographie von Loreena McKennitt. GfK Entertainment. November 6, 2019.
  35. Loreena McKennitt Chart History – Billboard 200. Billboard. May 22, 2018.
  36. Web site: ABPD – certificados . . August 29, 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110928074707/http://www.abpd.org.br/certificados_interna.asp . September 28, 2011 .
  37. Web site: CRIA album certifications. Canadian Recording Industry Association. November 24, 2010.
  38. Web site: RIAA Gold & Platinum albums – Loreena McKennitt. Recording Industry Association of America. November 24, 2010.
  39. Web site: CAPIF– Discos de Oro y Platino. Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers. August 29, 2011.
  40. Australia. Loreena McKennitt. album. 2002. December 27, 2021.
  41. Book: Ryan, Gavin. Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. 2011. Moonlight Publishing. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia.
  42. Web site: Bundesverband Musikindustrie: Gold-/Platin-Datenbank – BETA . Musikindustrie.de . March 2, 2011.
  43. Web site: Lost Souls – Loreena McKennitt. Loreenamckennitt.com. June 3, 2018.
  44. Australia. Loreena McKennitt. album. 2008. December 28, 2021.
  45. Web site: New recording Live at the Royal Albert Hall available November 1. Loreena McKennitt Website. September 26, 2019. October 31, 2019.
  46. Web site: Loreena McKennitt Announces 'Under a Winter's Moon' Album . BroadwayWorld . September 21, 2022 . September 21, 2022 . Major, Michael.
  47. Web site: The Road Back Home . 2024-02-23 . Loreena McKennitt . en-US.
  48. Web site: [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=loreena mckennitt|chart=all}} Billboard chart positions – singles]. Billboard. November 24, 2010.
  49. Web site: RPM results. collectionscanada.gc.ca. November 24, 2010.
  50. Web site: Explore The Music – Nights From The Alhambra . Quinlan Road . March 2, 2011 . June 19, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140619185543/http://www.quinlanroad.com/explorethemusic/nights.asp . dead .