An Ancient Muse

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title: "An Ancient Muse" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["loreena-mckennitt-albums", "2006-albums"] topic_path: "arts/music" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Ancient_Muse" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox album"]

Field	Value
name	An Ancient Muse
type	studio
artist	Loreena McKennitt
cover	An_Ancient_Muse.jpg
released	November 20, 2006
recorded	June 2005–August 2006
genre	World music, folk
length	54:19
label	Quinlan Road, MRA
producer	Loreena McKennitt
prev_title	Live in Paris and Toronto
prev_year	1999
next_title	Nights from the Alhambra
next_year	2007
::

An Ancient Muse is the seventh full-length studio album of the Canadian singer, songwriter, accordionist, harpist, and pianist, Loreena McKennitt. It was released on November 20, 2006, internationally, and November 21, 2006, in the United States and Canada. It was her first studio album after a 9-year gap. It has sold over a half a million copies worldwide since its release.

Overview

Work on An Ancient Muse started in 2005. According to reports on McKennitt's Quinlan Road website, most of the inspiration for the tracks of the album came from the music of Greece, Turkey, the Middle East and the Far East. Most of the tracks, with the exception of three revealed at the mid-September concerts in the Alhambra of Granada in Spain, were completely unknown until the release.

An Ancient Muse debuted on the U.S. Billboard 200 at number 83, with about 19,000 copies sold in its first week. This was also its peak position on the chart.

Track listing

All music and lyrics written by Loreena McKennitt except as noted.

"Incantation" – 2:35
"The Gates of Istanbul" – 6:59
"Caravanserai" – 7:36
"The English Ladye and the Knight" (lyrics by Sir Walter Scott) – 6:49
"Kecharitomene" – 6:34
"Penelope's Song" – 4:21
"Sacred Shabbat" (Kâtibim arr. Loreena McKennitt) – 3:59
"Beneath a Phrygian Sky" – 9:32
"Never-ending Road (Amhrán Duit)" – 5:54

;Bonus tracks

"Raglan Road" – 6:12 – an unreleased track on a bonus disc exclusive to Barnes & Noble
"Beneath a Phrygian Sky" (Gordian version) – 9:25 – exclusive iTunes Store remix

Personnel

Tal Bergman – drums (2, 3), percussion (5, 8)
Stuart Bruce – vocal drone (1, 8), percussion (5)
Clive Deamer – drums (8)
Panos Dimitrakopoulos – kanoun (2, 3, 5, 7, 9)
Nigel Eaton – hurdy-gurdy (3, 5)
Ben Grossman – hurdy-gurdy (5)
Ed Hanley – tabla (5), udu drum (5)
Jason Hann – percussion (8)
Steáfán Hannigan – Turkish clarinet (1, 5, 8), vocal drone (1, 8), uilleann pipes (8, 9)
Brian Hughes – electric guitar (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 9), guitar synthesizer (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 9), vocal drone (1, 8), oud (2, 3, 5), Celtic bouzouki (2, 3, 5, 8), nylon string guitar (5, 8, 9)
Charlie Jones: acoustic bass (5, 6)
Manu Katché – drums (5)
Georgios Kontogiannis – Greek bouzouki (2, 3)
Tim Landers – bass (2, 3, 8)
Caroline Lavelle – cello (2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
Rick Lazar – percussion (1, 5, 8)
Annbjørg Lien – nyckelharpa (6)
Hugh Marsh – violin (3, 5, 6)
Loreena McKennitt – vocals (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9), keyboards (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9), accordion (3), harp (4), percussion (5), piano (8)
Marco Migliari – vocal drone (1, 8)
Donald Quan – viola (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9), vocal drone (1, 8)
Hossam Ramzy – percussion (2, 5)
Sokratis Sinopoulos – lyra (2, 3, 7, 8)
Haig Yazdjian – oud (2, 3, 5, 6, 7)
Choristers of Westminster Abbey; Alex Pott, Elliot Thompson and Nicholas Morris – vocals (4)

Chart performance

::data[format=table] | Chart (2006) | Peak position | |---|---| | Germany Albums Chart | 15 | | Spain Albums Chart | 26 | | Belgium Albums Chart | 46 | | France Albums Chart | 41 | | Swiss Albums Chart | 45 | | Austria Albums Chart | 59 | | Dutch Albums Chart | 11 | | Danish Albums Chart | 25 | | Canadian Albums Chart | 9 | | US Billboard 200 | 83 | ::

Certifications

References

"About.com review".
[{{AllMusic
Montague, Joe. (January 22, 2007). "Loreena McKennitt: An Ancient Muse". PopMatters.
(13 February 2007). "McKennitt To Tour U.S. And Canada". Billboard.
Katie Hasty, [http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/56552/jay-z-reclaims-his-kingdom-with-no-1-debut "Jay-Z Reclaims His 'Kingdom' With No. 1 Debut"], Billboard.com, November 29, 2006.
[{{BillboardURLbyName
based on [[Sir Walter Scott]]'s ''It was an English Ladye Bright'' ballad from ''[[The Lay of the Last Minstrel]]'' (1805)
{{lang. grc. κεχαριτωμένη, Gabriel's greeting to Mary in {{Bibleref. Luke. 1:28, translated ''gratia plena'' "[[Hail Mary. full of grace]]"
""Sacred Shabbat" | Loreena McKennitt Community".
"Musicline.de - Chartverfolgung - McKennitt,Loreena - An ancient muse". www.musicline.de.
"spanishcharts.com - Loreena McKennitt - An Ancient Muse". spanishcharts.com.
"ultratop.be - Loreena McKennitt - An Ancient Muse". www.ultratop.be.
"lescharts.com - Loreena McKennitt - An Ancient Muse". lescharts.com.
"Loreena McKennitt - An Ancient Muse - hitparade.ch". hitparade.ch.
"Loreena McKennitt - An Ancient Muse - austriancharts.at". austriancharts.at.
"dutchcharts.nl - Loreena McKennitt - An Ancient Muse". dutchcharts.nl.
"danishcharts.dk - Loreena McKennitt - An Ancient Muse". danishcharts.dk.
"An Ancient Muse - Loreena McKennitt". www.billboard.com.

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