The Blossom and The Rain

Cornelius Lyons (Artist), Brian (composer) Peters (Artist), Cornish Traditional (Artist), English Traditional (Artist), Irish Traditional (Artist), Scottish Traditional (Artist), Carol Thompson (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 15, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Dorian Recordings
• ASIN: B00004BZ0M
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #199,693 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a new favorite, June 22, 2000

By 

NotATameLion (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Blossom and The Rain (Audio CD)

The Lord has blessed Carol Thompson's fingers in unimaginable ways. I first fell in love with Mrs. Thompson's music on her previous recording, "Carolan's Welcome"; which has ever since been one of my most prized CDs. This new recording, "The Blossom and the Rain" is even better. Such beauty is rarely found. Splendor streams forth from every song. These songs are raised to life by Mrs. Thompson; A glowing, almost spiritual life. "The Wild Rose of the Mountain" and "Scot's Lamentation" are now two of my favorite tunes of all time. So is this disc. If you have the chance, buy it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, tranquil, soothing, April 7, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Blossom and The Rain (Audio CD)

This cd fully lived up to my expectations. It is melodious and artistically executed. Even a baby would enjoy it as lullaby music! It reminds me of shimmering water...

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As good as this music comes, February 15, 2000

By 

F. Behrens "Frank Behrens" (Keene, NH USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Blossom and The Rain (Audio CD)

Perhaps some day Dorian Recordings will turn out a poor CD, but that is unlikely, considering one of their latest releases is yet another 5-star offering. It features harpist Carol Thompson and is titled <The Blossom and the Rain> (DOR-90273). This fifth entry in a series of such music by this artist gives us 21 selections, played on the Celtic harp, that last 67 minutes and are drawn from the traditional music of Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall, and Wales. Personally I find it difficult on occasion to tell one from the other--except for the omnipresent "Derry Air" without the "Danny Boy" vocal part and the lovely "Salley Gardens"--and this can possibly become a problem for one who decides to sit down and give a close hearing. This is not because of the solo instrument, since I find similar programs with ensembles have a certain cloying effect that suggests the CD be heard a bit at a time the first time through and then as radiant ambient music thereafter.

By the way, Ms. Thompson was born in this country of Anglo-Welsh-Irish background (as the copywriter tells us). Part of her technique is to let her ornamentation come out of the melody rather than merely appending it, and to execute her chords with a "downward roll" rather than an upward as in classical harp playing.

Included in the program are "Foggy Dew," "Watching the Wheat," "Pull Down the Shade," and "Cailin O Chois tSure Me" ("Cailin" means "girl" from which the Irish begat "colleen"; and that fourth word is not a typo!), which is mentioned by Shakespeare in "Henry V" in a garbled form and which is sung by Alfred Deller on an old set of Shakespeare songs. On the whole as good an account of this material as you will ever hear. Notes about each individual song are thoughtfully provided as well as general comments on the music.