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.[5]
Overview
Like most of Loreena McKennitt's albums, The Mask and Mirror is heavily influenced by her travels. Her experiences in Spain and Morocco, specifically, serve as the inspiration for this album.
As her introduction to the album, McKennitt wrote:
I looked back and forth through the window of 15th century Spain, through the hues of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, and was drawn into a fascinating world: history, religion, cross-cultural fertilization....For some medieval minds the mirror was the door through which the soul frees itself by passing.... for others the pursuit of personal refinement was likened to polishing the mirror of the soul. From the more familiar turf of the west coast of Ireland, through the troubadours of France, crossing over the Pyrenees, and then to the west through Galicia, down through Andalusia and past Gibraltar to Morocco....the Crusades, the pilgrimage to Santiago, Cathars, the Knights Templar, the Sufis from Egypt, One Thousand and One Nights in Arabia, the Celtic imagery of trees, the Gnostic Gospels...who was God? and what is religion, what spirituality? What was revealed and what was concealed...and what was the mask and what the mirror?[citation needed]
Accompanying all the selections, as the liner remarks, are some of the entries in a traveler's log that McKennitt kept all throughout her journey.
"Santiago" is named after the Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela, and the melody is based on a spirited arrangement of the early 13th-century song "Non é gran cousa se sabe," number 26 of the Cantigas de Santa Maria.
The opening of the song "Cé Hé Mise Le Ulaingt?/The Two Trees" is "Cé Hé Mise Le Ulaingt" ("Who am I to Bear It" in Irish), It was written and performed by Patrick Hutchinson on Uilleann pipes. The second part of the song is Loreena's version of "The Two Trees". Hence the two titles.
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
References
^"McKennitt to perform in Stratford". Waterloo Region Record (Ontario, Canada) (Published as Record, The (Kitchner, Ontario, Canada)). 1994-02-08. p. D6. supporting her CD The Mask and the Mirror scheduled for a March 15 release
^Blackwell, Tom (1994-03-15). "An oasis: McKennitt's new release has Spanish, African flavors". Waterloo Region Record (Ontario, Canada) (Published as Record, The (Kitchner, Ontario, Canada)). p. D5. McKennitt's guitarist played it on The Mask and Mirror, and the lilting sounds of Spain and North Africa are woven throughout the record, which is to be released today.
^Knopper, Steve (1998). "Loreena McKennitt". In Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds.). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. pp. 734–735.
