Login
Login

To Drive the Cold Winter Away

{{Infobox album

| name = To Drive the Cold Winter Away

| type = Album

| artist = Loreena McKennitt

| cover = Album_Cover-To_Drive_the_Cold_Winter_Away.jpg

| alt =

| released = {{Start date|1987|01|11}}

| recorded =

| venue =

| studio =

| genre = Folk · seasonal recording

| length = {{Duration|m=44|s=29}}

| label = Quinlan Road

| producer = Loreena McKennitt

| prev_title = Elemental

| prev_year = 1985

| next_title = Parallel Dreams

| next_year = 1989

}}

{{Album ratings

|rev1 = Allmusic

|rev1score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/to-drive-the-cold-winter-away-mw0000113564|title = To Drive the Cold Winter Away - Loreena McKennitt | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic|website = AllMusic}}

}}

To Drive the Cold Winter Away is Canadian musician Loreena McKennitt's second studio album, released on January 11, 1987. It pays homage to her childhood memories of music for the winter season, the most vivid of which "came from songs and carols recorded in churches or great halls, rich with their own unique ambience and tradition."

{{Citation

| title = To Drive the Winter Cold Away

| date = n.d.

| url = https://loreenamckennitt.com/album/drive-cold-winter-away/

| accessdate = 2008-09-27}}

To capture that remembered ambiance, McKennitt kept the arrangements sparse, celebrating the beauty of simplicity. She also chose to leave the found sounds of life in the performances, which were recorded on location in churches and great halls:

{{Citation

| last = Quinlan Road Ltd.

| author-link = Quinlan Road

| title = To Drive the Winter Cold Away Liner Notes

| orig-year = 1987| year = 2006

| url = http://www.quinlanroad.com/pdf/QRCD102R-ToDrive-Web.pdf

| accessdate = 2008-09-27}}

Track listing

{{Track listing

| total_length = {{Duration|m=44|s=29}}

| title1 = In Praise of Christmas

| note1 = traditional

| length1 = {{Duration|m=6|s=6}}

| title2 = The Seasons

| note2 = traditional

| length2 = {{Duration|m=4|s=55}}

| title3 = The King

| note3 = traditional

| length3 = {{Duration|m=2|s=4}}

| title4 = Banquet Hall

| note4 = McKennitt

| length4 = {{Duration|m=3|s=53}}

| title5 = Snow

| note5 = Archibald Lampman, McKennitt

| length5 = {{Duration|m=5|s=35}}

| title6 = Balulalow

| note6 = traditional

| length6 = {{Duration|m=3|s=9}}

| title7 = Let Us the Infant Greet

| note7 = traditional

| length7 = {{Duration|m=3|s=46}}

| title8 = The Wexford Carol

| note8 = traditional

| length8 = {{Duration|m=6|s=7}}

| title9 = The Stockford Carol

| note9 = McKennitt

| length9 = {{Duration|m=3|s=2}}

| title10 = Let All That Are to Mirth Inclined

| note10 = traditional

| length10 = {{Duration|m=6|s=52}}

}}

Song information

  • "The King" features vocals by Cedric Smith. Shannon Purves-Smith plays Viols on two other tracks. Everything else was done by McKennitt.
  • "Snow" uses the words of the poem of the same name by Archibald Lampman. It was included on a Windham Hill Records album titled Celtic Christmas (1995).

Certifications

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Worldwide|nocert=true|salesamount=84,000|salesref={{cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3QkEAAAAMBAJ&q=loreena+mckennitt+billboard&pg=PA107|title=McKennnit to unleash 'Book of Secrets'|publisher=Billboard |date=23 August 1997 |accessdate=12 April 2018}}}}

{{table end}}

References

{{Reflist}}

{{Loreena McKennitt}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1987 Christmas albums

Category:Loreena McKennitt albums

Category:Christmas albums by Canadian artists

Category:Folk Christmas albums

{{1980s-folk-album-stub}}