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But when she pronunces her real name, the extremely difficult Eithne Ni
Bhraonain, her face enlightens with a wonderful smile: and it almost
seems that centuries over centuries of national history melt in those
phoneme so icicly far from normal comprehensibility.
But she is the first to admit that if she had kept her authentical data
she would hardly have reached the worldwide success she's acclaimed of.
Just for this reason, a dacade a go, when she left the Clannad - her
previous band, as to say one of the most famous of the Emerald Island -
Eithne Ni Bhraonain decided to re-name herself Enya:" a much easier name
to pronounce, for all those who are not used to our mysterious language".
No
doubt, she has a mysterious charm. Even if she sold millions of records
and if she is known and appreciated in every part of the globe, from
Alaska to China, she rearely leaves her beloved places: those dizzy
cliffs that fall into the Atlantic ocean, the moon-like stone-quarries
of Connemara, the sleepy quiet of Dublin, the "dirty old town " she
moved to some years ago. But a part from this, many songs of hers,
recently grouped in a charming collection called "Paint the sky with
stars" speak about far and esotic worlds: "Orinoco Flow", "Carabbean
Blue", "China Roses", "Storms in Africa"......
She smiles once again
towards the unmistakable obviety of this consideration, and then , very
simply, she answers:" It's not necessary to visit the places we want to
describe. We can also reach them with our fantasy, with our minds, with
our souls. A better way can be music: having ourselves transported with
the inner strength of melody."
Therefore,
it's not a matter of visualisation. Even if Enya is an interpreter deeply
connected to the New Era philosophy, she is not prone to using all the
technical equipment of the New Age. It's barely a musical matter. "Melody is
the soul of any song" she said firmly.
"A beautiful voice, an efficent arrangment, a precise orchestration are all
important elements of a composition. But they are small additions to a
already existing central point which is fundamental: melody. It is the only
thing able to lead you to any place and time, able to establish the grade of
communication of a song. It's the melody that imposes a sign and a magic to
the lyrics. Actually, if the melody is strong enough., if "it works", as we
say, words flow from the deep with extreme ease. It's just by this osmosis
that imaginary travels of my songs are born. "Besides, there 's obviously a
calm, peaceful lifestyle, in perfect harmony with her own Self, and close to
Nature.
"That's perhaps because I'm
Irish" continues Enya "and everybody knows that Celtic people have
always considered Nature as a magic reign, populated by gods.Or maybe
because of my melancholic soul. That doesn't mean that it's sad but full
of of that spleen which my country is related to. It's a fact that the
emotions that fill my songs are simply a part of me that flows away
freely. I feel exactly the same when by night, I listen to my favourite
composers: Rachmaninov and Satie. And I feel them when I sketch melodies
on my piano and I let myself fly toward faraway worlds. It's a wonderful
sensation, trust me."
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