Story behind the Songs:

Woodland Opus

Woodland Opus is written about the trees, the woodlands, and the meadows I have loved throughout my life. Many of the songs have also been written about my husband's art. He has generously incorporated me within his masterful works. I am the harp faerie in his Woodland Opus and the creation faerie in his Nascence: The Celebration. Seasons of the Faeries is also about his work. See: www.legendarycreations.com

Woodland Opus The woodland faerie plays the spider web strings of the magical woodland harp that grows forth from the earth. She serenades the creatures of the forest - the forest dwellers.

Medley: Song of the Willows / Bonnie Portmore When I was a child, I often played beneath the great willow trees that grew at the forest's edge. In summer, their long lacey branches would catch the wind and whisper gently as they brushed against the earth grasses below. In autumn, their leaves turned brilliant sun-fire gold. Their weeping branches formed great circular rooms with swaying walls; secret rooms, through which the eyes of a child could not see. Years later I went back home to visit the willows. They had been cut down and destroyed, along with the forest behind them. The great oak of Portmore was felled during a windstorm in the mid 1700's. The oak was said to have measured more than 40 feet in circumference. It's lower branches spread 25 feet above the earth. The tiny seed from which the great oak grew found root in the rich Irish soil of Loch Beg during the late 1500's.

March of the Forest Dwellers All forest creatures, the great and the small, march to the rhythm of nature's heartbeat.

Prayer For the Birchwood The storm rumbled in from the northwest, slashing the earth with pelting hail, high winds and destruction. Within a storm's moment, straight-line winds felled our giant spruce, maples, and elms. When the morning sun awakened, the old birch tree was still standing strong. Several days after the storm, I sat with my harp beneath the old birch and wrote Prayer For the Birchwood.

Eleanor Plunkett Turlough O'Carolan wrote Eleanor Plunkett in the 1700's. O'Carolan is the legendary blind harper of Ireland. He made his living writing songs for and about people. No one knows who Eleanor Plunkett is.

Morning Meadow Northern wildflowers and knee-deep grasses bend before the winds of the approaching storm. The song of thunder is magnificent and the rain is gentle as it falls upon the meadow. I had many secret places in which to hide as a child. The hidden meadow was one of my favorites. It exists to this day, surrounded by tall black fir, white birch and wild raspberrys. In the center of the meadow stands a giant white pine, its lofty branches sweeping skyward. Here was my secret place for childhood dreaming. Here is my sacred place to which I can always return by simply closing my eyes and remembering.

Sentinel The great spruce protected the earth and sky creatures that dwelled within and under its sumptuous branches. It stood watch over the graves of beloved pets buried beneath. Straight-line winds felled the great tree in the spring of 2003. The Sentinel was the first tree to fall in the storm. Its thick, billowy branches cushioned our rooftop against the maples and elms that fell on top of it. Our home was buried beneath fallen trees, but there was no damage; the Sentinel watched over and protected even in its death.

The Elms of St. Ardmore Many of the majestic elms of Ardmore have been felled by straight-line windstorms and by Dutch Elm Disease. Years after the destruction, the reflection of the elms can still be seen against the sky to the eye that can see into another world.

Medley: The Trees They Grow High / Star of the County Down / Greensleeves The Trees They Grow High is an English ballad thought to be about the tragic marriage of Elizabeth Innis, the daughter of Sir Robert Innis, to young Lord Craigston in 1631. The ballad depicts Elizabeth's prearranged marriage to a man-child much younger than she. It was a marriage intended to secure the properties and finances of both parties involved. Elizabeth waited many years for her prospective husband to grow from childhood, only to have him die a young death, leaving her with a son in arms. The County Down is in Northern Ireland. Star of the County Down is a ballad about a man's love for a young Irish maiden. Lady Green Sleeves may well have been a promiscuous young woman of her time. The reference to her sleeves being green suggests grass stains from a recent roll-in-the-grass with her lover.

The Harpmaker's Song During the summer of 2004, I visited several harp maker studios. The Harpmaker's Song is in honor of all harp crafters whose magical hands create the beautiful harp from the very trees of the woodland. Without the harp maker, there would be no harp song. If you listen carefully, you will hear the sounds of the harp shop: the tapping of mallets, the fine-tuning of strings by use of fifths and harmonics, and the final arpeggio of a finished harp.

Seasons of the Faeries Visit the imaginary garden of the faeries. There you will find all four season's faeries. The spring faerie sits upon apple blossoms, stretching, awakening from a long winter's sleep. Summer's faerie gently caresses a blooming rose. The faerie of autumn rests upon the leaf of a grape ivy. And, winter's faerie is surrounded by pine and cedar branches. Magical sounds of the 'little people' are heard in the garden.

Searching for Lambs Traditional - Ireland

Nascence: The Celebration In Nascence, I touched upon the feeling of my husband's marvelous creation, Nascence: The Celebration. He used me as his model for this particular work. It was his first work of fantasy and I was honored to be the model for the elegant mother image creating young forest faeries.

Artist's Dream

Artist's Dream is created about the people and pets, the rivers and 'sea' waters, and the animals I have loved in my life. Soulmate and Wolf Song are written about my husband's magnificent artwork. See: www.legendarycreations.com

Artist's Dream (Steven's Song) An artist's dreams never end. They are dreams that carry and produce life of their own. They are dreams that bear a rainbow of color, an orchestra of sound. From such dreams come the artistic endeavors that bring beauty for all earth creatures to enjoy. To my husband, with love. Your dreams have encouraged my own.

Wolf Song There is no sound more mystical than the howling of the wolf pack on a still winter's night when the moon casts blue light across the expanses of snow. I remember, as a child, being thrilled at seeing the wolf packs run across the frozen ice flows of lake Superior.

Medley: Eleanor Plunkett / Sky Boat Song / The Great Silkie Turlough O'Carolan wrote Eleanor Plunkett in the 1700's. O'Carolan is the legendary blind harper of Ireland. He made his living writing songs for and about people. No one knows exactly who Eleanor Plunkett is. Skye Boat Song is about the escape of Prince Charlie after the unsuccessful Stuart uprising. The bonnie prince was only a child and was spirited away to the Isle of Skye after defeat at Culloden in 1746.

"Speed bonnie boat like a bird on the wing

Onward the sailors cry

Carry the lad that's born to be king

Over the sea to Skye."

Silkies are supernatural beings that live in the sea. They cover themselves with sealskins as they swim through the water. They shed the sealskins when upon land. If a silkie should loose his sealskin, he becomes vulnerable. In one version of this beautiful ballad, a young maiden hides the silkie's sealskin. As a result, the silkie is killed.

Miss Mollie McMurphy She fast-steps to the music of life. She is a spirited nymph of the forest; a gentle woodland creature. Who is the elusive Miss Mollie McMurphy?

Dance of the River Faerie I grew up on the Black River in Northern Wisconsin where the 165-foot Manitou Falls roars over the traprock gorge at Pattison State Park. Its rootbeer-colored waters create riotous rapids at the base of the falls. Here is where the river faerie dances the white caps, the partially submerged rocks, and the rocky shores of the canyon.

Gabbie's Song My husband and I rescued a retired greyhound - Gabbie Dodge. She is beautiful. She is elegant. I love to sit beside her and enjoy her quiet, gentle spirit. And, I love to play with her at the park, to watch her suddenly burst into cheetah-like action, gracefully covering the ground at incredible greyhound racing speed. In this song I tried to capture her very special and unique greyhound moments. Gabbie's Song is from Gabbie and me to all rescued greyhounds - and to those noble hounds still on the track.

Timmie Cat Jig This is a fun song I wrote on a playful afternoon. Timmie, our rambunctious feline, was doing crazy little cat things amongst the autumn leaves that were tossing about in the wind. What better title than Timmie Cat Jig.

Soulmate This gentle melody drifts back and forth between high and low octaves. I wrote this song inspired by the beauty of my husband's artwork Mates Forever. In his work, Steven Paul Carlson has captured the very essence of these beautiful wolf creatures.

Timothy Skies If you know and love felines, you'll enjoy the unique syncopation and broken timing of Timothy Skies. Timmie is gone now. But, I know he is doing funny little cat things while he patiently waits for us at the Rainbow Bridge. This one is for Timmie who taught me all there is to know about the magnificence of cats.

Jessica's Lullaby A Love Lullaby for Three Sons. For Jessica, my special niece.

Harvest Dance of the Celtic Moon Harvest Dance was a difficult song for me to write. Many times I put the song on the 'back burner' with thoughts of giving up on it. One day the song just seemed to fall into place. I visualized Celtic dancers leaping and spinning around a great bonfire, celebrating an abundant harvest at summer's end. The song came together and was easily finished within a few hours time. Harvest Dance of the Celtic Moon portrays the joyous celebration of abundance and good things happening to the people of the earth.

Reflections The morning sun reflects off the waves of Gitchee Gummi's restless waters. The crystal bells of harp harmonics, the gentle flight of the flute, and the exotic echoes of wind chimes waft over the surface of Big Sea Shining Waters... Lake Superior.