This past week, I had the honor of attending a Loreena Mckennitt concert in my hometown, and I'm still on a music high from listening to her ethereal Celtic ballads. So I decided to write a short post about her music and why I love it so much. The reason I'm posting her music on this blog is that most of her songs are based on history and folklore, and some concert selections were actually Victorian poems set to music.
According to her official website, which you can find by following this link, she grew up in rural Manitoba, Canada and wanted to be a veterinarian as a child. She discovered Celtic music in the 1970s, and, as she puts it, "I found that music chose me rather than me, it." Ms. McKennitt describes herself as an introverted person who connected with Celtic music through the history of the Celts and how their story impacts the world today. "I don’t consider myself to have the strong extroverted personality best suited for a career in music, but rather one which is more comfortable on a farm, in an informal gathering of friends." In short, she's a good old-fashioned country girl with a beautiful voice who found that her passion lay in history and the beauty of days gone by.
During the concert I could see this introversion in her stage presence, because she didn't really attempt to entertain with fancy moves or energetic attempts to get the crowd involved. Instead she told stories about her travels, read poetry while playing the piano, and, of course, she performed several of her songs for her audience. The concert impressed me, because she didn't attempt to show off. All she did was be herself, and her personality was graceful, kind, humble, and very thoughtful. Compared to modern concerts, it was refreshing*, and if you haven't heard of her before I highly encourage you to click on the links below to hear some of my personal favorites.
Until next time...
* I'm not trying to bash all modern concerts, because I've attended a few that I thoroughly enjoyed. All I'm saying is that there was a distinct difference in presentation styles.
According to her official website, which you can find by following this link, she grew up in rural Manitoba, Canada and wanted to be a veterinarian as a child. She discovered Celtic music in the 1970s, and, as she puts it, "I found that music chose me rather than me, it." Ms. McKennitt describes herself as an introverted person who connected with Celtic music through the history of the Celts and how their story impacts the world today. "I don’t consider myself to have the strong extroverted personality best suited for a career in music, but rather one which is more comfortable on a farm, in an informal gathering of friends." In short, she's a good old-fashioned country girl with a beautiful voice who found that her passion lay in history and the beauty of days gone by.
During the concert I could see this introversion in her stage presence, because she didn't really attempt to entertain with fancy moves or energetic attempts to get the crowd involved. Instead she told stories about her travels, read poetry while playing the piano, and, of course, she performed several of her songs for her audience. The concert impressed me, because she didn't attempt to show off. All she did was be herself, and her personality was graceful, kind, humble, and very thoughtful. Compared to modern concerts, it was refreshing*, and if you haven't heard of her before I highly encourage you to click on the links below to hear some of my personal favorites.
Until next time...
* I'm not trying to bash all modern concerts, because I've attended a few that I thoroughly enjoyed. All I'm saying is that there was a distinct difference in presentation styles.
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