''The Mirror Pool'' is

Lisa Gerrard Lisa Germaine Gerrard ( ; born 12 April 1961) is an Australian musician, singer and composer and member of the group Dead Can Dance with music partner Brendan Perry. She is known for her unique singing style technique (glossolalia). She has a ...

's first solo album, released by

4AD 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name Axis Records by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD after the release of th ...

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 (album), Anastasis''. It expands on its exploration of world music, and like ''Into the ...

'', the last work

Dead Can Dance Dead Can Dance are a British-Australian band founded in Melbourne in 1981 by Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard, before relocating to London the following year. The Australian music historian Ian McFarlane described Dead Can Dance's style as "const ...

issued before disbanding in 1998).

Overview

Among this album's musicians was Pieter Bourke, who later co-wrote Gerrard's 1998 album '' Duality''. 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. It is staffed entirely by University of Washington students, ...

''
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 (1884, pub ...

'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'' (, ), or ''Oedipus the King'', is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles. While some scholars have argued that the play was first performed , this is highly uncertain. Originally, to ...

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

Shiraz Shiraz (; ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the popu ...

in southern

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, 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 () is a village near Dunoon, west of Scotland, in the south of the Cowal Peninsula. During World War II, the Toward area was a training centre called HMS ''Brontosaurus'' also known as the No 2 Combined Training Centre (CTC), based at ...

''. * " 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 concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

's opera '' Serse (Xerxes)'', a popular composition titled " Ombra mai fu" but usually nicknamed "Largo" (despite being larghetto). * "Laurelei" is a variant spelling of the

Lorelei The Lorelei ( ; or , or ; also found as ''Loreleï'', ''Lore Lay'', ''Lore-Ley'', ''Lurley'', ''Lurelei'' and ''Lurlei'' throughout history) is a , steep slate rock on the right bank of the River Rhine in the Rhine Gorge (or Middle Rhine) at ...

Rhine maiden, so as not to conflict with a

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

by fellow 4AD artists

Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins were a Scottish rock music, rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth on the Firth of Forth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981. In 19 ...

. * "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 philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

'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 to ...

(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) * Pieter Bourke – vocals (5 intro), bass

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

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

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', , from Greek , from Turkish ) is a musical instrument popular in West Asia (Syria, Iraq), Europe and Balkans (Greece, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey). It is a member of the long-necked lute fam ...

(7, 11, 14), vocals (5 intro), arranger (11) * Jacek Tuschewski – vocals (5, 12) * The

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

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 independent record label 4AD. He has produced several records, although he prefers to use the term "musical director" ...

(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. (Dolby Labs or simply Dolby) is a British-American technology corporation specializing in audio noise reduction, audio data compression, audio encoding/compression, spatial audio, and high-dynamic-range television (H ...

) - 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