Various artists
Celtic Twilight 7: Sacred Spirit (Hearts of Space, 2007)
As the name implies, the latest installment of the popular Celtic Twilight series is dedicated to sacred music. Since all of the so called Celtic lands happen to be located in Christian countries that are primarily Catholic or Anglican, the Gregorian and monastic traditions are deep.
The artists chosen from the compilation range from well known Irish acts such Anúna and Áine Minogue, Irish-American Cathie Ryan, Scottish musician Jocelyn Montgomery, American fiddler Mark O’Connor, Matthew Barley, the traditional choir of The Cambridge Singers, and spacey world electronica act Stellamara.
The most inspiring are the three songs by Jocelyn Montgomery, who blends her gorgeous echoing voice with natural sounds, birds and majestic synthesizers. Her songs were taken from the celebrated Lux Vivens CD, which was a tribute to the great Medieval composer Hildegard von Bingen, a nun.
On the opposite end Anúna uses a choir format, singing beautifully, accompanied by dreamy harp. Other highlights are the superb vocals on "Lament of the Three Marys" by Cathie Ryan and Aine Minogue’s "Kyrie Eleison."
Buy Celtic Twilight 7: Sacred Spirit.
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
