''The Mirror Pool'' is

Lisa Gerrard Lisa Germaine Gerrard (; born 12 April 1961) is an Australian musician, singer and composer who rose to prominence as part of the music group Dead Can Dance with music partner Brendan Perry. She is known for her unique singing style technique ( ...

's first solo album, released by 4AD in 1995 (one year before the release of ''

Spiritchaser ''Spiritchaser'' is the seventh studio album by Dead Can Dance, and would prove to be the last before the duo reunited fourteen years later for '' Anastasis''. It expands on its exploration of world music, and like '' Into the Labyrinth'', was ...

'', the last work

Dead Can Dance Dead Can Dance are an Australian music duo first established in Melbourne. Currently composed of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry, the group formed in 1981. They relocated to London the following year. Australian music historian Ian McFarlane des ...

issued before disbanding in 1998).

Overview

Among this album's musicians was

Pieter Bourke Pieter Bourke is an Australian musician, composer, producer and audio engineer. From 1995 he has recorded several projects with Dead Can Dance founder Lisa Gerrard, and was a touring member of Dead Can Dance's 1996 Spiritchaser Tour. On 14 April ...

, who later co-wrote Gerrard's 1998 album ''

Duality Duality may refer to: Mathematics * Duality (mathematics), a mathematical concept ** Dual (category theory), a formalization of mathematical duality ** Duality (optimization) ** Duality (order theory), a concept regarding binary relations ** Dual ...

''. Gerrard explained the album title: "If you read about African music, they believe that during the process of making this music that you come into contact with spirits from another plane. They say that this place is like a mirror of the world we live in, ..With the best music, you don't find the composer or the musicians within the work, you find yourself, your own feelings."Ken Bogle, October 19, 1995: "Dancing Alone: Lisa Gerrard talks about her new album", ''

The Daily of the University of Washington ''The Daily of the University of Washington'', usually referred to in Seattle simply as ''The Daily'', is the student newspaper of the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, USA. It is staffed entirely by University of Washington studen ...

''
online archive
. The album's repertoire spans seven years, from 1988 to 1995,Lanham 1995, op. cit. featuring some of her material not worked into Dead Can Dance albums. Gerrard noted, "There is usually a surplus of work that overlaps the continuous nature of a Dead Can Dance record. Some of these pieces, which were not realized for reason of continuity, have been collected together in the form of largely orchestral-based works and pieces written primarily for 'voice' music." * "La Bas" refers to French writer

Joris-Karl Huysmans Charles-Marie-Georges Huysmans (, ; 5 February 1848 – 12 May 1907) was a French novelist and art critic who published his works as Joris-Karl Huysmans (, variably abbreviated as J. K. or J.-K.). He is most famous for the novel ''À rebou ...

's controversial 1891 novel '' Là-bas'' (meaning "Down There"); a main character is the bell-ringer Carhaix from Brittany, obsessed with legends of prophetic bells,Cf. end of chapter V, beginning of chapter XXII. echoing the fabled bells of the drowned cathedral of Ys in Brittany. * "The Rite" was taken from Gerrard's libretto for a 1991 production of ''

Oedipus Rex ''Oedipus Rex'', also known by its Greek title, ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' ( grc, Οἰδίπους Τύραννος, ), or ''Oedipus the King'', is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed around 429 BC. Originally, to the ancient Gr ...

''. * "Persian Love Song" is a traditional piece from

Shiraz Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As o ...

in southern

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, arranged by Gerrard. It was previously performed in concerts by Dead Can Dance and eventually included on their 1994 live album ''

Toward the Within ''Toward the Within'' (1994) is the first official live album of Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard's group Dead Can Dance. It contains 15 songs, of which only four appeared on their previous albums, and two of which were later re-recorded and inc ...

''. * " Sanvean" and "Gloradin" (under the name "Gloridean") were written in September 1993. Both were previously performed in concerts by Dead Can Dance and eventually included on ''Toward the Within''. * "Largo" is the opening aria from

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

's opera '' Serse (Xerxes)'', a popular composition titled "

Ombra mai fu "" ("Never was a shade…"), also known as "Largo from ''Xerxes''", is the opening aria from the 1738 opera ''Serse'' by George Frideric Handel. Context The opera was a commercial failure, lasting only five performances in London after its premi ...

" but usually nicknamed "Largo" (despite being larghetto). * "Laurelei" is a variant spelling of the

Lorelei The Lorelei ( ; ), spelled Loreley in German, is a , steep slate rock on the right bank of the River Rhine in the Rhine Gorge (or Middle Rhine) at Sankt Goarshausen in Germany, part of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site. Th ...

Rhine maiden, so as not to conflict with a

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

by fellow 4AD artists

Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins was a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instrum ...

. * "Celon" was written a few days before Gerrard gave birth to her daughter: "'' ..there's this weird thing that takes place, thinking about procreation, sex, and death -- you get very morbid just before you have a baby.''". The River Celon is a fictional river in

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was ...

's mythology.

In popular culture

The tracks "La Bas (Song of the Drowned)", "Celon" and "Gloradin" were used for the 1995 ''Heat'' soundtrack.

Track listing

Music by Lisa Gerrard, except 3 (traditional, arranged by Gerrard), 4 (Gerrard, Andrew Claxton), 9 (

, public domain), and 11 (arranged by Gerrard, Bonnar, Kyryakou).

Personnel

; Musical *

– vocals, yang ch'in/

yangqin The trapezoidal yangqin () is a Chinese hammered dulcimer, likely derived from the Iranian santur or the European dulcimer. It used to be written with the characters 洋琴 (lit. "foreign zither"), but over time the first character changed ...

(7, 11, 14), arranger (3, 11) * John Bonnar – orchestra conductor/arranger (1-4, 7, 10, 12-13), arranger (11), keyboards (9, 11), vocals (5, 12) *

– vocals (5 intro), bass

tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

(7), camel drum (7), large/small derabukka/darabukka/darabeka (14), handclapping (14) * Dimitry Kyryakou –

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...

(7, 11, 14), vocals (5 intro), arranger (11) * Jacek Tuschewski – vocals (5, 12) * The Victorian Philharmonic Orchestra – full orchestra (1-4, 7), woodwind section (10, 12-13) ; Technical *

– producer (all), engineer (5-6, 8-9, 11, 14-16) at Gerrard Studio (Gippsland, Australia) * Jacek Tuschewski – engineer (5-6, 8-9, 11, 14-16) at Gerrard Studio (Gippsland, Australia) * Robin Gray – engineer (orchestra 1-4, 7) at Eaton Studio (Melbourne, Australia) * Garry Havrillay – engineer (woodwind 10, 12-13) at ABC Studios (Melbourne, Australia) * Guy Charbonneau – mixing (all) * Charlie Bouis – mixing assistance (all) ; Graphical * Jacek Tuschewski – front cover art * Dennis Keeley – sleeve photography (portrait) * Chris Bigg – sleeve design ; Acknowledgements *

Ivo Watts-Russell Ivo Watts-Russell (born 1954) is a British music producer and record label executive. He was joint-founder with Peter Kent of the indie record label 4AD. He has produced several records, although he prefers to use the term "musical director". Ea ...

(founder of 4AD), Nanette and John Gerrard, Michael Atkinson - "thank you ..for their invaluable efforts" * Dolby Model 740 Spectral Processor (courtesy

Dolby Laboratories Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (often shortened to Dolby Labs and known simply as Dolby) is an American company specializing in Noise reduction#In audio, audio noise reduction, Audio data compression, audio encoding/compression, spatial audio, and ...

) - sonic enhancement (all)

References

; Sourced consulted * * ; Endnotes

External links

Official album page
with samples

at Dead-Can-Dance.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Mirror Pool, The 1995 debut albums Lisa Gerrard albums 4AD albums