Mike Oldfield - Incantations (2LP) (1978) - €20,00

Incantations is the fourth record album by Mike Oldfield, released in late 1978 on Virgin Records.

Originally released as a double album, it is Oldfield's second longest album after Light + Shade. Despite the length, much of the album can be described as being compositionally minimalist, including melodic lines played by only a few instruments at a time.
The album as a whole is unusual in that it makes extensive use of the circle of fifths as an accompaniment to many of the musical ideas. Since this musical structure requires that each idea be modulated through twelve keys, before the next is introduced, more time is required to develop each idea, so that each section unfolds more slowly than is usual in Oldfield's work. A byproduct of this musical structure is that most of the album is not in any one key, but cycles continuously through them all.

Incantations was recorded at Througham, Mike Oldfield's home after he completed Ommadawn. It was during the creation of Incantations that Mike Oldfield underwent the assertiveness training course Exegesis, and almost immediately thereafter Oldfield went on his first solo live tour around Europe with Incantations.
Along with some other pieces of Oldfield's work, a different version of "Part Four" was used for the soundtrack of Tony Palmer's The Space Movie; the lyrics there are from Kathleen Raine's "A Spell for Creation".

The lyrics in "Part One" simply repeat the names of the goddesses Diana, Luna, and Lucina.

The lyrics in "Part Two" are taken from the beginnings of chapter XXII and XII (in that order) of Longfellow's "The Song of Hiawatha".

The lyrics in "Part Four" are Ben Jonson's "Ode to Cynthia" from Cynthia's Revels, but adjusted again to match the music.

The cover was once again done by Trevor Key. The beach in the cover photograph is Cala Pregonda, in Menorca.

Side A
A1.  Part 1 (19:08)

Side B
B1.  Part 2 (19:36)

Side C
C1.  Part 3 (16:58)

Side D
D1.  Part 4 (17:01)

Notes

Release: 1978

Format:  2LP
Genre:  Instrumental, Prog Rock
Label:  Virgin Records
Catalog#  300191
Prijs:   €20,00

Vinyl:  VG
Cover:  VG 

Prijs: €20,00