Incantations (album)

Occupation

Studios

  • December 1977 - September 1978
  • Througham Studios

Incantations Incantations is the fourth studio album by the British musician Mike Oldfield from 1978 (translated: ' incantations '). , The longest album Oldfields, was first released as a double album and later as a CD. The four tracks, like on the previous albums, no names but are merely numbered.

Style

Oldfields Incantations music is minimalist and highly repetitive; so in Part Two, a 20 second vocal theme is repeated five minutes, in Part Four, a carillon theme runs through almost six and a half minutes. While in previous albums, the effect of many instruments has been achieved by the technique of superimposing various separately rehearsed sound tracks, here are only a few instruments can be heard simultaneously. Oldfield is supported by a string orchestra and a choir, both. Headed by David Bedford, who was also responsible for the album The Orchestral Tubular Bells

The texts for Part Two and Part Four do not come from Oldfield; in the former is The Song of Hiawatha by Longfellow, in the latter to the Ode to Cynthia from Cynthia's Revels by Ben Jonson. As is customary in earlier works by Oldfield, the lyrics of music rank among the most part and ultimately serve only as another tone, the content is secondary.

Backgrounds / Miscellaneous

  • As Oldfield was very reclusive, he underwent in the period in which he recorded Incantations, a therapy called Exegesis; apparently with telling effect: Immediately after Oldfield Incantations went with the first time on a live tour.
  • As previously characterized Trevor Key responsible for the held in shades of green cover. You can see Oldfield on the beach of Cala Galdana in Menorca.
  • When the first CDs came on the market, Incantations did not yet meet on only one disk; Thus, Part Three has been reduced by over three minutes (the beginning was omitted ) - only when the current format became the norm, these lost minutes have been restored.
  • The beginning of Part Two is a theme played in reverse from Part One.

Title list

Charts

UK # 14, D # 41, S # 32 N # 14

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