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Music from Amazon

The magic of this CD is that you can listen to it repeatedly, as you do your appreciation of it will deepen. Though the topic of the lyrics is relatively narrow the renditions and style are not, making this a richly varied CD.

Celtic music is at the heart of Laura Powers' style which also incorporates New Age, Pop and Folk elements. The theme of her current project revolves around the mythology of the Celtic goddess. The production features Irish flute, mandolin, cello and Uileann pipes which provide the background for richly layered vocals. From songs like the mythical "Morrighan's Quest" to "My Avalon" her music captures the heart and soothes the spirit.

Robert Gass and his choir have done it again! This album crosses time and space, culture and language, and religious traditions! Z. Budapest does a wonderful appearance on the CD in track #9 (Glad Woman)! The CD also has a wonderful resource/suggested reading section....

The music is a ritual in itself -- invoking the Mother Goddess and honoring her with different names. The music was recorded in the Oracle Chamber in the Hypogeum at Hal Salfieni, built by the neolithic peoples of Malta. It starts out with tones sung through an aperture in the rock that causes sounds to resound throughout the Hypogeum. Then Jennifer adds her guitar and chant: "Returning, returning, returning to the Mother of us all." Other voices weave in and out with a chant to Yemayah, the African ocean mother goddess, a Navajo chant for Mother Earth, and a chant from the Buddhist Heart Sutra to evoke the Goddess of Perfect Wisdom. Enjoy!

This CD changed my life. It is incredible, I can't put words to it's beauty. It's blending of disparate elements works... I've been making and listening to collage music for a very long time, and Ms. Berezan has created here something that will last the length of time. The concept is gorgeous... I'm not going to ruin it for you and tell you what happens. Like a good movie, this one is best experienced for oneself.

McKennitt's soaring voice is an instrument unto itself, combining exquisitely with her masterful arrangements of traditional melodies and original compositions.  In this first major label effort, McKennitt draws heavily upon Celtic themes.  If you enjoy this CD you will also like The Mask and Mirror and The Book of Secrets

Listening to this CD allows your energy, your vibrations, to resonate with the beauty of the earth and the stars and the mountains and the sea until the beauty of all that is becomes the beauty of who you are. It is a healing experience, and a celebration, of all that is good in the world.

Therese Schroeder-Sheker casts an almost mystical spell with the power of insight and understatement as she brings rich tapestries of medieval music to life. As one fascinated listener confessed, "The strongest impression I had was one of whispers that almost seemed to shout into my consciousness." Rosa Mystica showcases Schroeder-Sheker's uniquely expressive gift for subtlety, as well as her acuity, lyricism, and potent musical virtuosity. The poignant purity of her soprano voice, and the warmth of her harp accompaniments imbue the ancient Irish, Rumanian, Israeli, and Sephardic melodies with a beauty and clarity that transcends time. At the hands of this accomplished artist, these songs of love, passion, devotion, spiritual awakening, and the pain of rejection become as relevant to modern listeners as they were hundreds of years ago. Similarly, her original composition, For the Roses, draws inspiration from the past to shed light on how 20th century women mourn the loss of love and begin to heal in time.

As mothers we would kill or die for our children. As daughters we learn from our mothers to love with ferocity, navigate long division and city streets, to apply lipstick and plow gardens, and build lives that are beautiful and strong. And as we together grow gray, mature into our aging bodies, and weather the various storms of life, we depend on one another, often reversing the role of caretaker, holding fast when one precedes the other in death. This tender cyclical relationship is chronicled on Mother: Songs Celebrating Mothers and Motherhood by singers Susan McKeown and Cathie Ryan and contemporary New Age pianist Robin Speilberg, each of whom draws on her own evolving experiences. Mother is a lovely record of Celtic traditionals, lullabies, and original compositions: Spielberg's keys are as clear and bright as a full moon, Ryan's sweetly expressive soprano bounces and reverberates like a dance, and McKeown's warm throaty tones are an aural embrace. --Paige La Grone

The union between the well-respected Irish singer Nóirín Ní Riain and the monks of Glenstal is a perfect one. Ní Riain's lovely soprano tenderly chimes over the monks' deeper vocal blanket as they sing medieval Celtic religious songs in the sean nos or "old style" tradition--subtly varying enunciation and tempo. Singing in Gaelic and Latin Gregorian plainchant, Ní Riain delicately wavers and flies throughout Limerick's Glenstal Abbey, creating an angelic and purely holy atmosphere. On closer listen, it's actually the Glenstal monks who occasionally have trouble keeping up with Ní Riain's vocal mastery--though their lower, male voices provide a refreshing, grounding counterpart to her delicate, high tone. The last track, "The Blessed Virgin's Keening," offers a particular highlight of the extraordinary call-and-response littered throughout this album. One of the Glenstal monks takes the solo male vocal and the result is a lovely, repetitive, masslike conclusion to the CD. Ní Riain has also authored books on Celtic culture and Gregorian chant. --Karen Karleski