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Re: Music for Megaliths
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Branwen wrote:
tjj wrote:
Hebrides Overture (Fingal's Cave) by Mendelssohn

Love this one as well. Most of my music is for the drive and walk to wild places where stones are found. Like anything haunting. An american tourist once said they'd ceased to be scared by halloween till meeting a black eyed celtic tour guide with a truly haunting stock of stories and songs in an email to my boss once. It was a recommendation, LOL.

Isle of the Dead by Rachmaninov.

Variations on a theme by Pageninni is a great cd for walking through the hills, also by Rachmaninov.

Memory of Trees by The Taliesin Orchestra in any wild and lonely, deforested area of the highlands. It is more classical than celtic. It's nice croming over the pass at Drumnadrochit.

Talking of music that sounds like someone is going to be sacrificed The Rock by Rachmaninov starts out ominously, has a summery interlude, then turns dark again half way through. I do like Rachmaninov but rarely play this one unless I've had a particularly annoying crowd of tourists on my tour, and I want to shut them up for a break from their whining going over Drumnadrochit, usually in sideways snow or rain, or trying to keep the bus straight in high winds. Helps them develop a renewed appreciation of a driver guide before stopping for evening meal at Pitlochry.

Sometimes I unashamedly love that haunting celtic soundtrack music when in the highland hills, sorry. Helps if you are a tour guide and you actually like it though. Eistigh Liomsa by Afrocelts is great walking on Rannoch Moor, and yes, it's been used in every scene of haunting Scottish wilderness going, but I can't stop loving it. Clohinne Winds or The Briar and the Rose by Niamh Parsons. Malinky are also a great band, especially if you like scottish folk music that isn't celtic movie sound track orientated. I Like their old ballads and legends tracks the best, a few truly haunting ones with no instruments are great going through Glencoe, culminating with Peaceful is the Glen which captures the horror of the massacre.

Back in the pub after the winter solstice sunrise walking tour for The Sun's Cousin by Malinky again, somebody gets toasted, but what the heck, good old fashioned folk song. Also in the pub later, Nine Stane Rig by Back to the Moon. Also someone gets the boot in that one, hrmm. Shrug. May as well throw in The Cruel Mother by Emily Smith if I'm scaring the bejesus out of them anyway... another lovely haunting voice there... most of her tracks are more cheerful though.

If it's been a good tour and I don't feel like killing anyone, The Blessing Tree by Jayne Elleson is soothing and peaceful and a few of the tracks have ancient echoes. Nice background music while you wind down with a beer after walking tours, or are letting a bus load sleep when it gets too dark to see anything anymore (about 10 hours into the tour with 2 hours still left before you get them safely back to Edinburgh, and another hour after that ahead for yourself cleaning the bus ready for the tour the next day). Celtic feel to that album too, can't help myself, I love that stuff. Bit like a cross between Loreena McKennitt and Enya, then toned down somewhat to more pleasant levels of celticness and less screetching voice.



Branwen, I almost missed this post, there is a lot in your post and I would like to check out some of the less well known musicians you mention -I have not heard of Malinky.

You reveal quite a bit about being a tour guide and guess you need a lot of patience as well as knowledge; stamina etc.

Musically, I should just mention Universal Hall by The Waterboys (Mike Scott). I don't often play it these days but it has Peace of Iona on it. The simple haunting beauty of that one song was what sent me on the long journey up to Oban and then across to Mull and Iona back in 2007. I confess it was a tour as it seemed the easiest way to do it. Our tour guide was Scottish and came from Fort William; he had a great understated sense of humour - kept looking out for a 'highland budgie' all the while.

Atb and thanks for a great post.
June


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tjj
Posted by tjj
7th January 2010ce
00:11

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Re: Music for Megaliths (Branwen)

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Re: Music for Megaliths (Branwen)

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