Immortal Memory is an album by ex-Dead Can Dance

Dead Can Dance

Dead Can Dance are an ethereal neoclassical duo formed in Melbourne, Australia, in August 1981, by Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry. The band relocated to London in May 1982 and disbanded in 1998. Their 1996 album Spiritchaser reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top World Music Albums Chart...

 member Lisa Gerrard

Lisa Gerrard

Lisa Gerrard is an Australian musician, singer, and composer who rose to prominence as part of the music group Dead Can Dance with former music partner Brendan Perry....

 and Irish classical composer Patrick Cassidy

Patrick Cassidy (composer)

Patrick Cassidy is an Irish classical composer.Largely self taught, with no formal music education, he has worked in many various formats, including TV and films. In 2004, he cowrote the album Immortal Memory with Lisa Gerrard from Dead Can Dance...

, released in 2004. It was Gerrard's first studio release since 1998's Duality with Pieter Bourke

Pieter Bourke

Pieter Bourke is an Australian percussionist, composer, and audio engineer. He has collaborated with Dead Can Dance, and recorded material with ex-Dead Can Dance Lisa Gerrard. He also collaborated with Australian musician David Thrussell , first as part of the latter's band Snog, then just the two...

.

Overview

Gerrard first met Cassidy in 2000 in Los Angeles (where he lives), when she came to work on the Gladiator soundtrack, and they planned to work together one day. When they eventually found a shared two-month break, they joined at Gerrard's Australian studio for this record.

The W. B. Yeats poem "Sailing to Byzantium

Sailing to Byzantium

"Sailing to Byzantium" is a poem by William Butler Yeats, first published in the 1928 collection The Tower. It comprises four stanzas in ottava rima, each made up of eight ten-syllable lines. It uses a journey to Constantinople as a metaphor for a spiritual journey. Yeats explores his thoughts and...

" inspired the track of the same name.

The lyrics utilise three ancient languages:

• Gaelic (ancient Irish
  Irish language
  Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
  
  ) in "The Song of Amergin
  Amergin Glúingel
  Amergin Glúingel or Glúnmar is a druid, bard and judge for the Milesians in the Irish Mythological Cycle. He was appointed Chief Ollam of Ireland by his two brothers the kings of Ireland...
  
  " (based on the first song supposedly sung by a mortal on Irish
  Ireland
  Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
  
   soil).
• Aramaic in "Maranatha" (meaning "come lord, come teacher"), and "Abwoon" (meaning "our father", a rendition of the "Lord's Prayer
  Lord's Prayer
  The Lord's Prayer is a central prayer in Christianity. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the discourse on ostentation in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke, which records Jesus being approached by "one of his...
  
  " in the language of Jesus
  Jesus
  Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
  
  ).
• Latin
  Latin
  Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
  
   in "Psallit in Aure Dei" (meaning "singing in the ear of God", a dirge for Patrick Cassidy's late father).

Track listing

1. "The Song of Amergin" – 5:27
2. "Maranatha (Come Lord)" – 3:43
3. "Amergin's Invocation" – 6:19
4. "Elegy" – 6:41
5. "Sailing to Byzantium" – 5:04
6. "Abwoon (Our Father)" – 4:12
7. "Immortal Memory" – 4:28
8. "Paradise Lost" – 7:03
9. "I Asked for Love" – 5:00
10. "Psallit in Aure Dei" – 9:01

Music by Lisa Gerrard (tracks 1-9) and Patrick Cassidy (tracks 1-10).

Personnel

Musical

• Lisa Gerrard
  Lisa Gerrard
  Lisa Gerrard is an Australian musician, singer, and composer who rose to prominence as part of the music group Dead Can Dance with former music partner Brendan Perry....
  
   – arranger, vocals
• Peter Cassidy
  Patrick Cassidy (composer)
  Patrick Cassidy is an Irish classical composer.Largely self taught, with no formal music education, he has worked in many various formats, including TV and films. In 2004, he cowrote the album Immortal Memory with Lisa Gerrard from Dead Can Dance...
  
   – arranger, synthesized instruments
  Synthesizer
  A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
  
  

Technical

• Simon Bowley – mixing
• David Badrick – mixing assistance
• Don C. Tyler – mastering
• Chris Staley – mastering assistance
• Jacek Tuschewski – technical assistance

Graphical

• Jacek Tuschewski – sleeve design, paintings
• Chris Bigg – sleeve design
• Mark Magidson – sleeve photography (Uluru
  Uluru
  Uluru , also known as Ayers Rock, is a large sandstone rock formation in the southern part of the Northern Territory, central Australia. It lies south west of the nearest large town, Alice Springs; by road. Kata Tjuta and Uluru are the two major features of the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park....
  
  tree)
• Greg Barrett – sleeve photography (portraits)