Secret Garden

Storyteller is the first new studio album in over five years from Norwegian/Irish duo Secret Garden.
On the day of release (26 April 2019), Fionnuala Sherry and Rolf Løvland have this to say in their newsletter:
“Even though we had great success and response to our “Just the Two of US” album (one of our favourites ), “Live at Kilden” and “You Raise Me Up: The Collection”; “Storyteller” is very special and means so much to us both. From the initial concept of the album to the final mix, its been a truly wonderful journey of writing, arranging, recording, producing and working with some of the most wonderful incredible artists including the incredible Czech National Symphony Orchestra. We have traveled between Norway, Ireland, the UK and the Czech Republic to produce “Storyteller”…

According to pianist Rolf Løvland, Irish-Norwegian neo-classical duo Secret Garden's seventh studio album, Winter Poem, was inspired by the "darkness that surrounds the Scandinavian winter." While there's a genuine sense of melancholy laced throughout its largely instrumental 11 tracks, fans of their luscious new age sound needn't fear a new gothic reinvention, as there's very little here likely to find its way onto a horror movie soundtrack. Indeed, the stately piano chords and sweeping string arrangements (courtesy of the Czech National Symphony Orchestra) of opener "Make a Wish" feel more suited to a Downton Abbey-esque costume drama, while elsewhere the lilting "Anticipation" recalls the emotive ivory-tinkling of Ludovico Einaudi's understated scores, the more uptempo "Fionnuala's Cookie Jar" is a highly percussive Irish jig packed with Celtic fiddles and tin whistles…

Introducing the first new Secret Garden collection in 18 years. Secret Garden features Norwegian composer-keyboard artist Rolf Løvland and Irish violinist Fionnuala Sherry. The band first came to international prominence when they won the 1995 Eurovision Song Contest with the song ‘Nocturne’, which features on this collection.

Secret Garden, the Irish-Norwegian band specialist in new instrumental music is one of the world’s most successful duos with more than 3 billion streams and 5 million physical albums sold. Their upcoming 12th studio album “Songs in the Circle of Time”, is an enchanting blend of dreamy melodies and powerful arrangements, transporting listeners to a world of beauty and timeless elegance. The sources of inspiration are many and feel timeless, from 17th century baroque – classical music and contemporary melting into their own style.

Secret Garden is Norwegian composer Rolf Loveland (piano, keyboards) and Irish violinist Fionnula Sherry. The album, however, offers much more than this duo; it is awash in orchestral strings (real ones), a choir (real one), and as many percussionists, harps, fiddles, keyboards, and whistles as are needed. Songs from a Secret Garden, a chart-topper in Europe, is unabashedly romantic, absolutely gorgeous. "Sigma," featuring boy soprano Rhonan Sugrue and the Irish National Choir, is very pensive, like dried flowers left, an expected return disappointed. The lyrics begin, "I search for the sign that will set my soul free." Although Celtic music fans will find many moments of bittersweet nostalgia between the violin, pipes, and pennywhistles, the album's closest musical relation might just be the intimate works of Maurice Ravel, particularly his "Pavanne for a Dead Princess"…

Known for their lush and atmospheric, largely instrumental music, the Irish/Norwegian duo Secret Garden rose to fame in the mid-'90s and have since won an international following for their gentle but emotionally evocative sounds, dominated by violin and keyboards and combining notes of Celtic and Norwegian folk, pop, and new age styles. The duo first came together to write and perform the song "Nocturne," which became Norway's winning entry in the Eurovision Song Contest. While they would dabble in vocal music on 2007's Inside I'm Singing and pare back their arrangements on 2013's Just the Two of Us, the sizable majority of their releases saw them remaining loyal to their trademark sound, playing music that touched the hearts and soothed the souls of their many fans around the world.

This is the first time Secret Garden has made a Christmas album. The recording is a collaboration with Cathrine Iversen, who is the soloist on all songs. The Christmas songs are new, original songs by Rolf Løvland, except the 500-year old “I Know a Rose Tree”.

Secret Garden, the Irish-Norwegian band specialist in new instrumental music is one of the world’s most successful duos with more than 3 billion streams and 5 million physical albums sold. Their upcoming 12th studio album “Songs in the Circle of Time”, is an enchanting blend of dreamy melodies and powerful arrangements, transporting listeners to a world of beauty and timeless elegance. The sources of inspiration are many and feel timeless, from 17th century baroque – classical music and contemporary melting into their own style.