Riverdance: Music from the Show


Riverdance: Music from the Show is an album of the music composed by Bill Whelan for the Riverdance theatrical show, and performed by the show's own musicians and singers.

Background

The recording was engineered and mixed at Windmill Lane Studios in 1995. In 1997, it won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album for 1996. The album was released five times: in 1995, 1997, 2003, 2005 and 2020, each time with a different cover, sometimes different versions or mixes of the songs, and a slightly different track list. Notably, the "Cloudsong" and "Riverdance" segments are placed under one track going by the name of the latter.

Track listing

Track listing from the original release in 1995:
  1. "Reel Around the Sun" - 8:40
  2. "The Heart's Cry" - 2:26
  3. "The Countess Cathleen/Women of the Sidhe" - 5:42
  4. "Firedance" - 6:02
  5. "Caoineadh Cú Chulainn" - 4:09
  6. "Slip into Spring" - 3:44
  7. "Riverdance" - 5:42
  8. "Lift the Wings" - 4:58
  9. "Freedom" - 3:40
  10. "Andalucía" - 4:19
  11. "Macedonian Morning" - 2:56
  12. "Marta's Dance"/"The Russian Dervish" - 6:03
  13. "Hope To The Suffering" - 4:52

Re-releases

The album was re-released four times, with a different cover and a slightly different track list each time.

1997 release

Track listing from the second release, in 1997:
  1. "Reel Around the Sun" - 8:40
  2. "The Heart's Cry" - 2:26
  3. "The Countess Cathleen/Women of the Sidhe" - 5:42
  4. "Caoineadh Cú Chulainn" - 4:09
  5. "Shivna" - 3:38
  6. "Firedance" - 6:02
  7. "Slip into Spring" - 3:44
  8. "Riverdance" - 5:42
  9. "American Wake" - 3:07
  10. "Lift the Wings" - 4:58
  11. "Macedonian Morning" - 2:56
  12. "Marta's Dance"/"The Russian Dervish" - 6:03
  13. "Andalucía" - 4:19
  14. "Home and the Heartland" - 3:25
  15. "The Harvest" - 3:38
  16. "Riverdance" - 3:47

2003 release

Track listing from the third release, in 2003, which was the Japanese version and included two bonus tracks:
  1. "Reel Around the Sun" - 8:40
  2. "The Heart's Cry" - 2:26
  3. "The Countess Cathleen/Women of the Sidhe" - 5:42
  4. "Caoineadh Cú Chulainn" - 4:09
  5. "Shivna" - 3:38
  6. "Firedance" - 6:02
  7. "Slip into Spring" - 3:44
  8. "Riverdance" - 5:42
  9. "American Wake" - 3:07
  10. "Lift the Wings" - 4:58
  11. "Macedonian Morning" - 2:56
  12. "Marta's Dance"/"The Russian Dervish" - 6:03
  13. "Andalucía" - 4:19
  14. "Home and the Heartland" - 3:25
  15. "The Harvest" - 3:38
  16. "Riverdance" - 3:47
  17. "I Will Set You Free" - 3:45
  18. "Endless Journey" - 4:42

2005 release

Track listing from the fourth release, in 2005, labelled as "10th Anniversary Edition, with newly recorded music":
  1. "Reel Around the Sun" - 8:42
  2. "The Heart's Cry" - 2:26
  3. "The Countess Cathleen/Women of the Sidhe" - 5:44
  4. "Caoineadh Cú Chulainn" - 4:11
  5. "Shivna" - 4:05
  6. "Firedance" - 6:04
  7. "Slip into Spring"/"The Harvest" - 5:01
  8. "Riverdance" - 5:45
  9. "American Wake" - 3:07
  10. "Lift the Wings" - 3:00
  11. "Heal Their Hearts"/"Freedom" - 6:26
  12. "Macedonian Morning" - 2:56
  13. "Marta's Dance"/"The Russian Dervish" - 6:04
  14. "Andalucía" - 4:22
  15. "Riverdance" - 4:32

Personnel

The recording included the following performers and production team:

Musicians

Singers

Irish dancers

Production

  • Andrew Boland – engineer, mixing, remixing
  • Ciaran Cahill – assistant engineer
  • Conan Doyle – assistant engineer
  • Nick Ingman – orchestration
  • Rob Kirwan – assistant engineer
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering
  • Willie Mannion – assistant engineer
  • Conal Markey – assistant engineer
  • Alastair McMillian – assistant engineer
  • Bill Whelan – arranger, composer, orchestration, producer, remixing