The global phenomenon of Secret Garden has been so far reaching that it's hard to believe the duo of Norwegian keyboardist/composer Rolf Lovland and Irish violinist Fionnuala Sherry have only recorded three previous studio albums in addition to their 2001 compilation, Dreamcatcher.
Once in a Red Moon continues Secret Garden's tradition of organic storytelling melodies and straight-from-the-heart performances with a wink back to the innocence and raw simplicity of their debut.
Lovland and Sherry felt that their second and third recordings, White Stones (1997) and Dawn of a New Century (1999), were conceived as larger-scale projects which would help build the scope of their live performance presentation.
This time, they wanted to let the natural performance of the piano and violin be the leading force; to this end, they built their productions based on the first, original sensitive and raw takes in the demo phase.
There are also some unique new elements: guest appearances by the Irish National Symphony Orchestra and RTE Concert Orchestra players performing live in the studio fronted by Sherry (five of which were scored and conducted by Steven Mercurio, musical director for Andrea Bocelli); guest vocalist Karen Matheson of Scotland (on the ethereal universal love message "The Gates of Dawn" and the dreamlike, atmospheric "Greenwaves," with lyrics by Ann Hampton Calloway, who wrote the words for the Barbra Streisand song based on another Secret Garden track); Swedish harpist Asa Jinder, who worked on Secret Garden's debut and helps define the Nordic/Celtic mix of the duo's music; and world-renowned cellist Julian Lloyd Webber, duetting with Sherry's violin on the sweetly melancholy "Duo." Once in a Red Moon also features a once-in-a-lifetime musical experiment.
Via their website, the duo asked people to participate in the new album by sending them "the global C," recorded on a piano.
They received piano chords from all over the world, creating a global energy of sound for the final chord of the emotional closing track, "Elegie.".
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AwakeningRolf Løvland | Secret Garden | Play | 03:55 | 9 MB | 15 MB |
| 2 | You Raise Me UpBrendan Graham, Rolf Løvland | Secret Garden | Play | 05:04 | 11 MB | 24 MB |
| 3 | Silent WingsRolf Løvland | Secret Garden | Play | 03:42 | 8 MB | 15 MB |
| 4 | GreenwavesAnn Hampton Callaway, Rolf Løvland | Secret Garden | Play | 04:45 | 10 MB | 23 MB |
| 5 | InvitationsRolf Løvland | Secret Garden | Play | 03:59 | 9 MB | 25 MB |
| 6 | DuoRolf Løvland | Secret Garden | Play | 03:58 | 9 MB | 18 MB |
| 7 | BelongingRolf Løvland | Secret Garden | Play | 03:58 | 9 MB | 21 MB |
| 8 | Gates of DawnBrendan Graham, Rolf Løvland | Secret Garden | Play | 04:29 | 10 MB | 25 MB |
| 9 | The PromiseRolf Løvland | Secret Garden | Play | 03:20 | 7 MB | 13 MB |
| 10 | FairytaleRolf Løvland | Secret Garden | Play | 03:27 | 7 MB | 20 MB |
| 11 | Once in a Red MoonRolf Løvland | Secret Garden | Play | 05:01 | 11 MB | 22 MB |
| 45 mins | 104 MB | |||||
| 45 mins | 226 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A-Lex | Piano |
| 2 | Alexei Aeodonitsky | Piano |
| 3 | Gillian Anderson | Piano |
| 4 | Anúna | Choir/Chorus |
| 5 | BJ | Piano |
| 6 | Colleen Baird | Piano |
| 7 | Hilde Ottem Berntsen | Costume Design, Stylist |
| 8 | Roar Berntsen | Piano |
| 9 | Kjetil Bjerkestrand | Arranger, Harmonium, Keyboards |
| 10 | Andrew Boland | Engineer, Mixing, Producer |
| 11 | Pat Broaders | Piano |
| 12 | Nancy Bundt | Photography |
| 13 | Bastian Bux | Piano |
| 14 | Ann Hampton Callaway | Composer |
| 15 | Jean Marie Campbell | Piano |
| 16 | Betsy Casaleno | Piano |
| 17 | Alex Cedillo | Piano |
| 18 | Henry Chan | Piano |
| 19 | Clinton C. Christian | Piano |
| 20 | Elaine Clark | Leader |
| 21 | Caitlin D. Clenard | Piano |
| 22 | Steve Cooney | Guitar |
| 23 | Keith Cornman | Piano |
| 24 | Noel Eccles | Percussion |
| 25 | Alf Emil Eik | Engineer |
| 26 | Simon Elmes | Cor Anglais, Oboe |
| 27 | Björn Engelmann | Mastering |
| 28 | John Finucane | Clarinet |
| 29 | Brendan Graham | Composer |
| 30 | Ricky Graham | Assistant Engineer |
| 31 | Quentin Guiné | Assistant Engineer |
| 32 | H | Piano |
| 33 | Yuriko Iwamaru | Piano |
| 34 | Jake Jackson | Assistant Engineer |
| 35 | Hans Fredrik Jacobsen | Whistle (Instrument) |
| 36 | Åsa Jinder | Key Harp |
| 37 | Chihiro Kato | Piano |
| 38 | Laoise Kelly | Irish Harp |
| 39 | Brian Kennedy | Vocals |
| 40 | Doctor Kill | Piano |
| 41 | La La | Piano |
| 42 | Marian Lisland | Vocals (Background) |
| 43 | Julian Lloyd Webber | Cello, Guest Artist |
| 44 | London Community Gospel Choir | Choir/Chorus |
| 45 | Rolf Løvland | Arranger, Composer, Harmonium, Orchestration, Piano, Producer, Vocals (Background) |
| 46 | Andrea Marlish | Harp |
| 47 | Karen Matheson | Guest Artist, Vocals |
| 48 | Michael McGlynn | Director |
| 49 | Stuart McLeod | Piano |
| 50 | Basil Meade | Principal |
| 51 | Steven Mercurio | Conductor, Orchestration |
| 52 | Des Moore | Guitar |
| 53 | Mick O'Brien | Uillean Pipes, Whistle (Human) |
| 54 | Liam O'Flynn | Tin Whistle, Uillean Pipes |
| 55 | Richard Pachman | Piano |
| 56 | David Paginton | Piano |
| 57 | Helen Papaodyssea | Piano |
| 58 | Robert Parr | Piano |
| 59 | Ryan Pertusio | Piano |
| 60 | Bjørn Ole Rasch | Arranger, Organ |
| 61 | Anthony Rochester | Piano |
| 62 | Arnie Schulze | Piano |
| 63 | Secret Garden | Primary Artist |
| 64 | Fionnuala Sherry | Producer, Violin |
| 65 | Andrea Smith | Piano |
| 66 | Per Oystein Sorensen | Vocals (Background) |
| 67 | Stu | Piano |
| 68 | Johnny Tate | Conductor, Orchestration |
| 69 | Stephen G. Taylor | Piano |
| 70 | Trond Tellefsen | Piano |
| 71 | Rafael Tello | Piano |
| 72 | Stuart Tetley | Piano |
| 73 | Colette Lea Thomas | Piano |
| 74 | Thérèse Timoney | Leader |
| 75 | Paolo Tramannoni | Piano |
| 76 | Anna Troften | Piano |
| 77 | Trinity Troften | Piano |
| 78 | Marc Volz | Piano |
| 79 | Lara Wall | Piano |
| 80 | Peter Weiss | Piano |
| 81 | Yvonne White | Organizer |
| 82 | Alex Wong | Piano |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |