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The Magic Of Christmas (Celtic Woman Album)
''Celtic Woman: The Magic of Christmas'', or simply ''The Magic of Christmas'', is the thirteenth studio album, and eighth Christmas-themed, released by the group Celtic Woman. ''The Magic of Christmas'' features the same four performers from the group's previous studio album, ''Ancient Land''; lead vocalists Mairéad Carlin (in her final appearance on a Celtic Woman album), Éabha McMahon (in her final appearance as a member of Celtic Woman), Megan Walsh, and instrumentalist Tara McNeill. It is also the group's first original Christmas-themed studio album since 2012's '' Home for Christmas''. Track listing Personnel Per the liner notes: Featured performers * Mairéad Carlin – vocals * Éabha McMahon – vocals * Tara McNeill – fiddle * Megan Walsh – vocals Musicians * Gavin Murphy – piano, celesta * Kieran Leonard – drums, bodhrán, percussion * Darragh Murphy – uilleann pipes, whistle * Bill Shanley – guitar * John Hunt – bagpipes FILMharmonic Orchestra, Pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Celtic Woman
Celtic Woman is an all-female Irish musical ensemble conceived and created by David Kavanagh, Sharon Browne and David Downes, a former musical director of the Irish stage show ''Riverdance.'' In 2004, Downes recruited five Irish female musicians who had not previously performed together, vocalists Chloë Agnew, Órla Fallon, Lisa Kelly and Méav Ní Mhaolchatha, and fiddler Máiréad Nesbitt, as the first lineup of the group that he named "Celtic Woman". Downes chose a repertoire that ranged from traditional Celtic tunes to modern songs. The show was meant to be a one-time event held in Dublin, Ireland, but multiple airings on PBS helped boost the group's popularity. The group's line-up has changed over the years. Fourteen albums have been released under the name "Celtic Woman": '' Celtic Woman'', '' Celtic Woman: A Christmas Celebration'', '' Celtic Woman: A New Journey'', '' Celtic Woman: The Greatest Journey'', '' Celtic Woman: Songs from the Heart'', '' Celtic Woman: Lu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Do You Hear What I Hear?
"Do You Hear What I Hear?" is a song written in October 1962, with lyrics by Noël Regney and music by Gloria Shayne. The pair, married at the time, wrote it as a plea for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Regney had been invited by a record producer to write a Christmas song, but he was hesitant due to the commercialism of Christmas. It has sold tens of millions of copies and has been covered by hundreds of artists. Synopsis "Do You Hear What I Hear?" tells a story loosely based upon the story of the Nativity of Jesus as told in the Gospel of Matthew, incorporating fragments of the annunciation to the shepherds from the Gospel of Luke, though Jesus is never mentioned by name or explicitly identified. A "night wind" tells a lamb of a star, following which the lamb tells his young shepherd that he also hears a loud song. They are each led to a "mighty king," whom they tell of a child in the cold and ask to bring the child silver and gold (much as the Biblical Magi, which in tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bodhrán
The bodhrán (, ; plural ''bodhráin'' or ''bodhráns'') is a frame drum used in Irish music ranging from in diameter, with most drums measuring . The sides of the drum are deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side (synthetic heads or other animal skins are sometimes used). The other side is open-ended for one hand to be placed against the inside of the drum head to control the pitch and timbre. One or two crossbars, sometimes removable, may be inside the frame, but this is increasingly rare on modern instruments. Some professional modern bodhráns integrate mechanical tuning systems similar to those used on drums found in drum kits. It is usually with a hex key that the bodhrán skins are tightened or loosened depending on the atmospheric conditions. History Seán Ó Riada declared the bodhrán to be the native drum of the ancient Celts (as did bodhrán maker Paraic McNeela), suggesting that it was possibly used originally for winnowing or wool dying, with a musical hist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Celesta
The celesta or celeste , also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five-octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music box (three-octave). The keys connect to hammers that strike a graduated set of metal (usually steel) plates or bars suspended over wooden resonators. Four- or five-octave models usually have a damper pedal that sustains or damps the sound. The three-octave instruments do not have a pedal because of their small "table-top" design. One of the best-known works that uses the celesta is Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovskys "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" from ''The Nutcracker''. The sound of the celesta is similar to that of the glockenspiel, but with a much softer and more subtle timbre. This quality gave the instrument its name, ''celeste'', meaning "heavenly" in French. The celesta is often used to enhance a melody line played by another instrument or sect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiddle
A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, the style of the music played may determine specific construction differences between fiddles and classical violins. For example, fiddles may optionally be set up with a bridge with a flatter arch to reduce the range of bow-arm motion needed for techniques such as the double shuffle, a form of bariolage involving rapid alternation between pairs of adjacent strings. To produce a "brighter" tone than the deep tones of gut or synthetic core strings, fiddlers often use steel strings. The fiddle is part of many traditional (folk) styles, which are typically aural traditions—taught " by ear" rather than via written music. Fiddling is the act of playing the fiddle, and fiddlers are musicians that play it. Among musical styles, fiddling tends to p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Feliz Navidad (song)
"Feliz Navidad" () () is a Christmas song written and first recorded in 1970 by Puerto Rican singer-songwriter José Feliciano. With its simple, heartfelt lyrics - the traditional Spanish Christmas/New Year greeting "Feliz Navidad, próspero año y felicidad" ("Merry Christmas, a prosperous year and happiness"), followed by text in English words "I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart" - it has become a Christmas classic and has gained popularity around the world. Background and composition Feliciano says he recorded the song while feeling homesick at Christmas, missing his family in New York City and his extended family further afield as he sat in a studio in Los Angeles. He remembered celebrating Christmas Eve with his brothers, eating traditional Puerto Rican foods, drinking rum, and going caroling. "It was expressing the joy that I felt on Christmas and the fact that I felt very lonely," he told NPR in December 2020. "I missed my family, I missed Chri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Auld Lang Syne
"Auld Lang Syne" (: note "s" rather than "z") is a popular song, particularly in the English-speaking world. Traditionally, it is sung to bid farewell to the old year at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve. By extension, it is also often heard at funerals, graduations, and as a farewell or ending to other occasions; for instance, many branches of the Scouting movement use it to close jamborees and other functions. The text is a Scots-language poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 but based on an older Scottish folk song. In 1799, it was set to a traditional tune, which has since become standard. "Auld Lang Syne" is listed as numbers 6294 and 13892 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The poem's Scots title may be translated into standard English as "old long since" or, less literally, "long long ago", This book was purchased at Burns Cottage, and was reprinted in 1967, and 1973. "days gone by", "times long past" or "old times". Consequently, "For auld lang syne", as it appear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silent Night
"Silent Night" (german: "Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht", links=no, italic=no) is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. It was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2011. The song was first recorded in 1905 and has remained a popular success, appearing in films and multiple successful recordings, as well as being quoted in other musical compositions. History "" was first performed on Christmas Eve 1818 at St Nicholas parish church in Oberndorf, a village in the Austrian Empire on the Salzach river in present-day Austria. A young Catholic priest, Father Joseph Mohr, had come to Oberndorf the year before. In the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, he had written the poem "" in 1816 at Mariapfarr, the hometown of his father in the Salzburg Lungau region, where Joseph had worked as an assistant priest. The melody was composed by Franz Xaver Gruber, schoolmaster ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Wexford Carol
The Wexford Carol ( ga, Carúl Loch Garman, Carúl Inis Córthaidh) is a traditional religious Irish Christmas carol originating from County Wexford and, specifically, Enniscorthy (whence its other name). The subject of the song is the nativity of Jesus Christ. W. H. Grattan Flood transcription "The Wexford Carol", sometimes known by its first verse "Good people all this Christmas time", is of uncertain origins, and, while it is occasionally claimed to be from the early Middle Ages, it likely was composed in the 15th or 16th century based on its musical and lyrical style. The song achieved a renewed popularity due to the work of William Grattan Flood (1859–1928), who was organist and musical director at St. Aidan's Cathedral in Enniscorthy. He transcribed the carol from a local singer and had it published in ''The Oxford Book of Carols'', putting Enniscorthy into most carol books around the world. Modern performance Traditions abound concerning the song – for exa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carol Of The Bells
"Carol of the Bells" is a popular Christmas carol, with music by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych in 1914 and lyrics by Peter J. Wilhousky. The song is based on the Ukrainian folk chant " Shchedryk". The music is in the public domain; Wilhousky's lyrics, however, are under copyright owned by Carl Fischer Music. The music is based on a four-note ostinato and is in time signature, with the B-flat bell pealing in time. The carol is metrically bistable, and a listener can focus on either measure or switch between them. It has been adapted for many genres, including: classical, metal, jazz, country music, rock, trap, and pop. The piece also features in films, television shows, and parodies. Background Origins The conductor of the Ukrainian Republic Capella, Oleksander Koshyts (also spelled Alexander Koshetz) commissioned Leontovych to create the song based on traditional Ukrainian folk chants, and the resulting new work for choir, "Shchedryk", was based on four no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greensleeves
"Greensleeves" is a traditional English folk song. A broadside ballad by the name "A Newe Northen Dittye of ye Ladye Greene Sleves" was registered by Richard Jones at the London Stationer's Company in September 1580,Frank Kidson, ''English Folk-Song and Dance''. READ BOOKS, 2008, p.26. John M. Ward, "'And Who But Ladie Greensleeues?'", in ''The Well Enchanting Skill: Music, Poetry, and Drama in the Culture of the Renaissance: Essays in Honour of F. W. Sternfeld'', edited by John Caldwell, Edward Olleson, and Susan Wollenberg, 181–211 (Oxford:Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press, 1990): 181. . and the tune is found in several late-16th-century and early-17th-century sources, such as ''Ballet's MS Lute Book'' and ''Het Luitboek van Thysius'', as well as various manuscripts preserved in the Seeley Historical Library in the University of Cambridge. Form "Greensleeves" can have a ground either of the form called a ''romanesca''; or its slight variant, the ''passame ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sleigh Ride
"Sleigh Ride" is a light orchestra standard composed by Leroy Anderson. The composer had formed the original idea for the piece during a heat wave in July 1946, and he finished the work in February 1948. The original recordings were instrumental versions. The lyrics, about riding in a sleigh and other fun wintertime activities, were written by Mitchell Parish in 1950. Anderson also made arrangements for wind band and piano. The orchestral version was first recorded in 1949 by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra. "Sleigh Ride" was a hit record on RCA Victor Red Seal, and has become one of the orchestra's signature songs. The 45 rpm version was originally issued on red vinyl. The Pops have also recorded the song with John Williams, their conductor from 1979 to 1995, and Keith Lockhart, their current conductor. The Ronettes recorded a cover of "Sleigh Ride" in 1963 for Phil Spector's ''A Christmas Gift for You'', which was commercially successful in the United States and f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
