Track Listing

1. Reel Around the Sun
2. Heart's Cry
3. Countess Cathleen/Women of the Sidhe
4. Caoineadh C� Chulainn (Lament)
5. Shivna
6. Firedance
7. Slip into Spring
8. Riverdance
9. American Wake (The Nova Scotia Set)
10. Lift the Wings
11. Macedonian Morning
12. Marta's Dance/The Russian Dervish
13. Andalucia
14. Home and the Heartland
15. Harvest
16. Riverdance (Reprise)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4605 in Music
• Released on: 1997-06-17
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Special Edition, Soundtrack
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Amazon.com
Based on Irish folk dancing styles, Riverdance was originally devised as a 20-minute intermission entertainment for the Eurovision Song Contest. There, its phenomenal reception inspired composer Bill Whelan to expand the piece into a full-length stage show, still centered around Irish music, but now telling a loose story of many different peoples who in the 20th century have found themselves émigrés. The paradoxically formal yet expressive, sensual, and exhilarating energy of traditional Irish dance and Irish folk music is only the beginning. A work full of strong melodies, excitement, romantic dreams, and nostalgic longing, the full Riverdance show is a spellbinding spectacle. Complete with orchestra, Whelan brings influences from Irish classical music, incorporates the haunting sound of vocal group Anuna, and adds the diverse folk sounds of Nova Scotia, Macedonia, Russia, and Andalucia to his rich cultural melting pot. Playing on the album are some of the finest folk musicians around, including piper Davy Spillane and Eileen Ivers on fiddle. The result is not just a tuneful souvenir of a great stage show, but a most enjoyable release in its own right. Whelan also has worked on the Rob Roy soundtrack and composed The Seville Suite and The Spirit of Mayo. --Gary S. Dalkin

Customer Reviews

Riverdance -- Music from the Show
If you've ever seen The Show, then you know what I mean when I say WORDS CAN NOT DESCRIBE WHAT YOU HEAR. Riverdance -- Music from The Show is the best CD ever, it's even been released 3 Times by different records labels, and with each new release more tracks are added and the music just gets better and better. If you find the Atlantic Records version you will hear the "taps" from the dancers on Tracks 1, 3, and 16. If you get the Universal/Celticheartbeat version you will hear the taps only on tracks 1 and 3 but you will hear an EXCELLENT REMIX of the Title Track RIVERDANCE!

If you haven't seen The Show, go see it, then buy the CD, or BUY the CD, then go see THE SHOW.

The Original International Dance Phenonmenon The Magic, Energy, and Passion...

Riverdance -- The Show Experience the Original

Not quite the real soundtrack
I am disappointed and a bit upset. This is NOT a soundtrack. The music of Riverdance IS wonderful! I have a tape that is several years old and wanted a CD since I never get tired of this soundtrack. But I was very disappointed. The soundtrack of Riverdance includes the sounds of the dancers when they are "clogging." This is very much a part of this music. The first track includes the dancing, but none of the others. I was very disappointed that this CD is not as I expected it to be. The music is still good, but an important part of it is most definitely missing. :~(

Worth every penny!
The music is incredible! I must have listened to this CD at least a hundred times now and I'm still not tired of it. The soundtrack is even better than the show in my opinion. I especially enjoyed "Lift the Wings" - the melody is soothing and relaxing. A must-have for anyone into Irish dance/music.