Sunday morning music

Maddy Prior is a legend in her own lifetime to English folk music enthusiasts.  Lead vocalist for Steeleye Span, a solo artist with a prolific output, and performer with many other individuals and groups (including Mike Oldfield, Strawbs, and many others), she's a modern icon of the field.  I have a lot of her music, solo and with others, and enjoy it very much.

Back in 1999, she released her solo album "Ravenchild".  Among more traditional music, it contains a six-song cycle about ravens.  For those of you who have never read about the bird, it repays attention.  When I was courting Miss D. in Alaska, we both marveled at the aerial acrobatics of the birds (particularly considering their very large size), and their uncommon intelligence.  They've fascinated musicians, writers and poets down the centuries.  In particular, they're a symbol of the Morrigan, the mythological Celtic goddess-queen of battle.

For my pleasure as much as yours, here's the full six-song cycle.  In order, they are:

• In the Company of Ravens
• Young Bloods
• The Masts of Morrigan
• Rich Pickings
• Ravenchild
• Dance on the Wind

Lovely stuff!

Peter