Track Listing

1. Night Night And Einini - Tommy Sands
2. Mi Gysgi Di 'Maban - Plethyn
3. Mullach A' Tsi - Garry O Briain
4. Hishie Ba - Jean Redpath
5. Morag's Cradle Song - Margie Butler
6. Si Hei Lwli - Dafydd Iwan
7. Crodh An Tailleir - Mac-Talla
8. Hush Ye, My Bairnie - Ann Mayo Muir
9. Now I Am Asleep - Chris Norman
10. Do Chuirfinnse Fein - Parson's Hat
11. Dream Angus - Moira Craig
12. Deirin De - Jill Rogoff
13. Ellen's Dreams - Alison Kinnaird
14. Arrane Saveenagh - Emma Christian
15. Suo Gan - Tudur Morgan
16. Seoithin Agus Seoithin - Garry O Briain/Padraigin Ni Uallachain
17. Taladh Chriosda - Margo Carruthers
18. Griogal Cridh - Mac-Talla

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26479 in Music
• Brand: Celtic
• Released on: 1998-08-25
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Album Description
Celtic Lullaby

A collection of traditional lullabies from Ireland, Scotland, Wales & beyond to coax, cuddle and caress a child to sleep. Ethereal and enduring, each of these cradle songs has a melody that delights and lingers within the listener. The Boston globe called this compilation “the sleeper of the year” because as soothing as these songs are to a child, they will also satisfy and please a parent. Harps, whistles, mandolins and flutes create crystalline textures, and the Gaelic lyrics and translations provided give insight into linguistic rhythms, shades of meaning, and even historical references.

Amazon.com
So much has been made of the music for babies and children to sleep, eat, and have their brains grow optimally that a collection of lullabies might seem a little suspect. But when the folks at Ellipsis Arts take up the task of creating a lullaby collection, the results are bound to be fruitful. Sure, the emphasis in this collection of 19 songs is on gentleness, but this music is so seldom heard that it's endlessly enticing. The Celtic lullabies range from three-part Welsh carols to the overtone-tinted wooden flute of Chris Norman on "Now I Am Asleep" to several showings for acoustic harp that highlight vocals by singers such as Jill Rogoff and Ann Mayo Muir. The unfortunate trend of globetrotting CDs that lose all their geographic specificity is easily bucked here with songs sung in Manx Gaelic and the more familiar Irish. The set even takes into account the farthest reaches of the Celtic diaspora by including a religious Nova Scotian melody with mother Mary singing to the baby Jesus, "Tha mi 'g altrum Righ na Mòrachd" ("I am nursing the Almighty King," for all you non-Gaelic speakers). The blurred edges throughout this selection move toward sonic dreaminess, made more warmly vaporous by the pillowing effect of the instrumental accompaniments. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews

Suantrai (sleep music). Not just for babies.
I listened to this CD of Celtic lullabies twenty or thirty times before reading the liner notes. Although I couldn't understand most of the songs--they are sung in Gaelic, Scottish dialect, Cymric, and Manx Gaelic as well as a few words in English--I found the music cheerful and gently soothing.

Then I read the liner notes.

Scratch cheerful.

I suppose it was too much to expect the Celts to be cheerful. Many of these lullabies also double as laments. The last track of the CD, "Darling Gregor" is a wife's lament for her executed husband, chief of the Clan MacGregor of Glenstrae. The last verse your baby will hear as he or she falls asleep is "My sweet-spiced apple/ Lies with the back of his head to the ground." Luckily, your baby probably doesn't understand Scottish Gaelic.

Various singers and instrumentalists recorded these lullabies, all of them specialists in their particular branch of Celtic music. Scottish folk singer, Jean Redpath might be the best-known artist on this CD. She sings "Hishie Ba" unaccompanied, which is ruefully perfect for this Lowlands lullaby since it expresses the viewpoint of an unwed mother.

Most of the songs have minimal accompaniment on instruments such as guitars, lap harps, mandolins, flutes, whistles, and small pipes. "Morag's Cradle Song/ Water Kilpie" and "Now I am Asleep" are instrumental pieces for harp and wooden flute, respectively.

The voices range from a pleasant, but nasal baritone, a husky alto who sounds consistently flat to an ear unaccustomed to Celtic music, a softly blurred soprano, to a Welsh choral group called Plethyn, who sing eerie, four-part harmonies. Some of the solo voices double up upon themselves through the miracle of modern recording techniques. Other than this, none of the singers go in for complicated vocal techniques. All sing in a tender, disarmingly simple fashion.

Although somewhat difficult to read because of eccentric fonts and several misspellings, the liner notes are well worth perusing as a brief introduction to the magic of Celtic lullabies. I was especially taken by the warning: "Be wary of translations that rhyme, especially---they often completely misrepresent the original!"

Don't buy this CD just for baby. It has a fine sampling from various Celtic traditions, from a Manx slumber song to a beautiful little Cymric lullaby, "Si Hei Lwli" with only four repeated notes.

From Crying to Sleeping in 2 tracks or less.....
I bought this CD out of sheer desperation while at a "baby fair". This is the one and only CD I can really count on to calm my son down. Even at 2+ years old, he relaxes when he hears the calm voice saying "Night night...sleep tight...don't let the bugs bite...if they do, squeeeeeze them tight...", etc. on the first track.

Every other "lullaby" album I've had has irritating instruments/parts/songs on it, or worse...fast-paced music somewhere in the middle (Hello? Someone get these people a clue!). I don't consider a loud "Jack and Jill" song to be a "lullaby", especially in the middle of the tape. Sheesh.

The info inside is interesting...and the lyrics (although some's in a different language for most of us) are in there if you want to try to sing along.

If you get one lullaby CD, truly, this one will work. A sleeping baby/toddler is a wonderful thing. :) I think I'll [...] buy this as a baby shower gift...it's well worth it!

Celtic Sleep
This CD was given to us as a gift when our son, Liam, was born. We have turned it on nearly every night when he goes to bed for over 2 1/2 years now. He's been learning Irish while he sleeps. We've played it so much that we need to buy another one. This is great music to raise your children on. Our son's a sweet charming boy....we're convinced, the lullabies have played a role.