One thing I have noticed from the last 2 cds to feature this lineup is a lack of new a cappella songs. Yes, VOA featured a beautiful new arrangement of Danny Boy but technically it wasn't a cappella cuz there was the light orchestration in the background. This vocal lineup has all the major players! Two sopranos of different styles and an alto who has such depth.
That being said, what's your opinion on the a cappella songs? And what song would you like to hear Celtic Woman cover? I'm going for The Fields Of Athenry and Bette Midler's The Rose.
I thought the a cappella songs (particularly Danny Boy and Somewhere) were very pretty.
As the girls have so eloquently stated (Mairead Carlin in particular in their post-grammy-nomination Facebook stream), it's a moment in an album or show where the rest of the world and all its troubles fall away and there's just the girls and their beautiful music.
A cappella I think worked even better with 4 singers than with 3, but the 3-singer lineups still did an incredible job with those songs.
Destiny opted for light orchestration to begin with and I think it would have been a bit risky to do an a cappella at that point:
- It was their first album / DVD without David Downes
- Eabha was pretty much brand new at the time and her voice is something they've never had before
I think it takes a lot of work to get the harmony and balance just right for an a cappella with voices that are that different. Maybe they just needed some time to get it sounding perfect. It sounded incredible on tour!
In Voices of Angels, the orchestration was a huge part of the album. That said, I think an a cappella on that album would have created an interesting contrast from the other songs.
I think they'll certainly continue to do them on tour and the very least and likely on future albums as well.
