''The Visit'' is the fourth studio album by

Loreena McKennitt Loreena Isobel Irene McKennitt, (born February 17, 1957) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer who writes, records, and performs world music with Celtic and Middle Eastern influences. McKennitt is known for her ...

. Released in 1991, the album has been certified four times platinum in Canada and gold in the United States. It was produced by

and Brian Hughes. The album was a cowinner, with the compilation album ''

Saturday Night Blues ''Saturday Night Blues'' is a Canadian radio program, which airs Saturday nights on CBC Music. Hosted by Holger Petersen, the program airs a mix of blues concerts, recordings and interviews with blues musicians. ''SNB'' first broadcast on CBC Radi ...

'', of the 1992 Juno Award for Best Roots and Traditional Album of the Year. The album was released as a limited edition, numbered, 180 gram vinyl in 2016. A 30th anniversary edition of the album is slated for release in September, 2021.

Track listing

Song information

* "All Souls Night" derives from McKennitt's merging of the traditions, mythology, and culture of Japan with old Celtic

Samhain Samhain ( , , , ; gv, Sauin ) is a Gaelic festival on 1 NovemberÓ hÓgáin, Dáithí. ''Myth Legend and Romance: An Encyclopaedia of the Irish Folk Tradition''. Prentice Hall Press, 1991. p. 402. Quote: "The basic Irish division of the year ...

rituals. The "bonfires" and "figures dancing" are European, the "candles and lanterns" are from Japanese traditions. * "Bonny Portmore" is a traditional

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

folk song about oak forest deforestation. It was featured in the soundtrack of Highlander III: The Sorcerer (as well as "Cé Hé Mise le Ulaingt?" and "The Two Trees" from the album "

The Mask and Mirror ''The Mask and Mirror'' is the fifth studio album by Loreena McKennitt. Released in 1994, the album has been certified Gold in the United States. Overview Like most of Loreena McKennitt's albums, ''The Mask and Mirror'' is heavily influenced ...

"). * "The Lady of Shalott" is based on the poem ''

The Lady of Shalott "The Lady of Shalott" is a lyrical ballad by the 19th-century English poet Alfred Tennyson and one of his best-known works. Inspired by the 13th-century Italian short prose text '' Donna di Scalotta'', the poem tells the tragic story of Elain ...

'' by

Alfred, Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...

. * Contrary to the album notes, "Greensleeves" was not actually written by Henry VIII; though this is a long-held belief and legend. * "Tango to Evora" was used in the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

documentary ''

The Burning Times ''The Burning Times'' is a 1990 Canadian documentary, presenting a feminist account of the Early Modern European witchcraft trials.''Toronto Globe and Mail'', June 12, 1991 ''"Religion"'' by Jack Kapica, "Review of The Burning Times" transcri ...

''. A cover to the song has been recorded by one of Greece's most popular and respected singers,

Haris Alexiou Haris Alexiou ( el, Χάρις Αλεξίου, ; born 27 December 1950 in Thebes, Greece as Hariklia Roupaka, el, Χαρίκλεια Ρουπάκα, ) is a Greek singer. She is considered one of the most popular singers in Greece and has been co ...

, entitled "Nefeli's Tango", with lyrics written by herself. Another cover to the song has been recorded by Turkish singer, Nilüfer, entitled "Çok Uzaklarda". Evora is a historical city in Portugal. The song has also been covered by the Iranian singer

Ilya Monfared Ilya, Iliya, Ilia, Ilja, or Ilija (russian: Илья́, Il'ja, , or russian: Илия́, Ilija, ; uk, Ілля́, Illia, ; be, Ілья́, Iĺja ) is the East Slavic form of the male Hebrew name Eliyahu (Eliahu), meaning "My God is Yahu/ Jah ...

under the title "Gol-e-Orkideh" (Orchid Flower). There is also a Finnish cover, entitled "Katkennut Helminauha" by Finnish singer,

Anneli Saaristo Terttu Anneli Orvokki Saaristo (born 15 February 1949) is a Finnish singer and actress, best known internationally for her participation in the 1989 Eurovision Song Contest. Early career Saaristo was born in Jokioinen. She spent the 1970s perf ...

and a German cover by

Bettina Wegner Bettina Wegner (born 4 November 1947 in West-Berlin) is a German singer-songwriter. She is best known for her song "Sind so kleine Hände", written as "Kinder (Children)", also sung by Joan Baez, Dean Reed and others. Biography Wegner was born ...

under the title "Alles was ich wünsche". The Kurdish cover was by Homar Dizayî, under the title "Xozga". There is an Albanian cover, too, entitled "Rrugës i trishtuar" (known also with the title "Sonata"), by the Albanian popular singer

Eli Fara Eli Fara (; born 21 May 1967) is an Albanian singer. Prior to 2000, she was awarded the Merited Artist of Albania by the Government of Albania. Life and career Fara was born on 21 May 1968 into an Albanian family of Aromanian descent in t ...

. A Romanian cover of the song, named “Tango pentru Evora” (Romanian translation of ”Tango to Evora”) was sung during the show “Dansez pentru tine” by Mălina Olinescu. The lyrics were written by Florin Busuioc. * "Cymbeline" is taken from a song in the

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

play ''

Cymbeline ''Cymbeline'' , also known as ''The Tragedie of Cymbeline'' or ''Cymbeline, King of Britain'', is a play by William Shakespeare set in British Iron Age, Ancient Britain () and based on legends that formed part of the Matter of Britain concerni ...

.''

Personnel

–

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

, bodhran, vocals, arranger, producer, adaptation * Anne Bourne –

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

* Al Cross –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Tom Hazlett – bass * Brian Hughes –

balalaika The balalaika (russian: link=no, балала́йка, ) is a Russian stringed musical instrument with a characteristic triangular wooden, hollow body, fretted neck and three strings. Two strings are usually tuned to the same note and the thir ...

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

, assistant engineer, assistant producer * Patrick Hutchinson –

uillean pipes The uilleann pipes ( or , ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as "union pipes", their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the elbow"), from their ...

George Koller George Koller (born December 9, 1958) is a Canadian bassist who has played free jazz, folk music, world music, and world fusion. Career Koller has worked with Bruce Cockburn, William Beauvais, Holly Cole, Peter Gabriel, Graeme Kirkland, Lore ...

– bass, cello, mad fiddle, tamboura, sitar * Rick Lazar – percussion, udu drum *

Hugh Marsh Hugh Marsh (born June 5, 1955) is a violinist from Toronto, known for his electric violin sound. Marsh was nominated for a 2007 Juno Award in the best contemporary jazz album category. Early days Marsh was born in Montreal, Quebec and brought ...

–

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, th ...

Other personnel

* Jeff Wolpert – engineer, mixing, assistant producer

Certifications

!scope="row", Worldwide , , 1,400,000 , -

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Visit, The 1991 albums Loreena McKennitt albums Warner Records albums