What do you think of the proposed tour songs?

Celeste · **Joined:** Sat Dec 08, 2007 4:32 pm **Posts:** 322

According to the CW site, the tour will include:

Quote:

brand-new renditions of “Fields of Gold” and “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You,” as well as an original anthem by Brendan Graham, writer of “You Raise Me Up.” Musical Director David Downes has composed stunning new music for the 19 member ensemble featuring the wonderful voices of Celtic Woman—Chloë, Lisa, Lynn and Alex and the energetic musical inventiveness of Celtic violinist, Máiréad. The show will also feature cornerstone favorites such as “The Sky and the Dawn and the Sun,” “Danny Boy,” and “Spanish Lady,” among others.

I'll be honest -- I'm not terribly impressed yet. Apart from the final two holdovers from the last tour, it all sounds like "new" (or worse, pop) music. At the very least, I HOPE the tour will include Chloe singing "Pie Jesu."

But where are the Classical numbers? I've always LONGED to hear Chloe sing "Panis Angelicus" on tour. She's filmed it on three DVDs, and in A New Journey it was the greatest solo performance of the entire show. But never on a tour -- how I would love to hear that, or other Classical songs.

And terribly absent, I think, are distinctively Celtic numbers. Think about it: "Si Do Mhaimeo i" was a crowd-pleaser in the first show, then "Dulaman" and "At the Celi" were much beloved in the second. Where are the Gaelic numbers, which make Celtic Woman distinctive?

What makes Celtic Woman special, and not just another pop-ish singing group, are the Classical and Celtic numbers, and I hope this tour has some -- more, at least, than the above indications would suggest.

Scott · **Posted:** Sun Dec 21, 2008 9:36 am

Celeste wrote:

According to the CW site, the tour will include:

Quote:

brand-new renditions of “Fields of Gold” and “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You,” as well as an original anthem by Brendan Graham, writer of “You Raise Me Up.” Musical Director David Downes has composed stunning new music for the 19 member ensemble featuring the wonderful voices of Celtic Woman—Chloë, Lisa, Lynn and Alex and the energetic musical inventiveness of Celtic violinist, Máiréad. The show will also feature cornerstone favorites such as “The Sky and the Dawn and the Sun,” “Danny Boy,” and “Spanish Lady,” among others.

I'll be honest -- I'm not terribly impressed yet. Apart from the final two holdovers from the last tour, it all sounds like "new" (or worse, pop) music. At the very least, I HOPE the tour will include Chloe singing "Pie Jesu."

But where are the Classical numbers? I've always LONGED to hear Chloe sing "Panis Angelicus" on tour. She's filmed it on three DVDs, and in A New Journey it was the greatest solo performance of the entire show. But never on a tour -- how I would love to hear that, or other Classical songs.

And terribly absent, I think, are distinctively Celtic numbers. Think about it: "Si Do Mahmeio i" was a crowd-pleaser in the first show, then "Dulaman" and "At the Celi" were much beloved in the second. Where are the Gaelic numbers, which make Celtic Woman distinctive?

What makes Celtic Woman special, and not just another pop-ish singing group, are the Classical and Celtic numbers, and I hope this tour has some -- more, at least, than the above indications would suggest.

Celeste,

I absolutely agree with you, I miss the classical pieces. It makes me wonder if they will drop "Vivaldi's Rain" also. Chloe has done a very nice solo version of "Laschia Ch'io Pianga" (as we know) that could be slipped in for the new tour, as a way of linking the previous tour with the upcoming one. It's so unfortunate that they will probably never do Schubert's "Ave Maria" (as opposed to the Bach/Gounod version), for the simple reason that they probably would want to avoid confusion among casual fans. Or they could bring Dvorak's "Going Home" (which Chloe has ALSO done solo) into the new tour. So many opportunities...

And with the Celtic pieces, I again agree, it's the same thing... in the end, the only really Celtic song remaining will probably be "Danny Boy." I do like the song "Fields of Gold" and I'm sure David Downes will fit it to the girls style... but it would appear that they are determined to "mainstream" the girls' sound. Much as I do love what they do, it could be so much more.

What do you think of the proposed tour songs?

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