News of Norway, issue 7, 1998
Though, in all fairness, it has to be said that being used for an American soap is not exactly what the Irish-Norwegian music group, Secret Garden, is most known for.
Secret Garden began with a chance meeting between Rolf Løvland and Fionnuala Sherry at the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin. Løvland was there as the composer of the Norwegian entry and Sherry was performing with the national orchestra hosting the event.
"Both discovered immediately that there was an instant musical bond and decided to work on a project together," Løvland said. Within the next six months, Løvland and Sherry had released their first album, "Songs From Secret Garden."
One of the songs appearing on the album, "Nocturne," was an entry in the 1995 Eurovision Song Contest. A year after Løvland and Sherry met in Dublin, the duo brought home the coveted prize for Norway.
"Songs From Secret Garden" became a bigger hit than expected. According to Yngve Næss, export manager in PolyGram Records, Norway, Secret Garden was not a so called international band. "It was developed through a fantastic enthusiasm and commitment among PolyGram and Philips Classics staff on a local level," he explained. "Nobody was dictated to work with this project."
The album has been released in more than 60 countries around the world and the group has sold more than 1 million copies, including platinum awards both in Norway and Korea. "Songs From Secret Garden" also stayed on the Billboard New Age chart here in the U.S. for 101 weeks (the maximum time limit), and it was the best selling Philips Classics album in the U.S. in 1996.
Secret Garden's music is a fusion of Celtic and Norwegian impressions. With a few exceptions, most of the music is instrumental. Many record store owners have had difficulty labeling the music. Hence, Secret Garden has been placed in categories ranging from New Age to main stream pop labels.
"As far as we are concerned, we don't really mind what people label us," Løvland said. "We prefer to think of our music as honest, straight from the heart, where the melody tells a simple beautiful story that can be understood no matter what language or what culture one has. We don't have any role models to follow or guide except our own hearts and our shared passion and drive for our music."
Løvland grew up in Kristiansand in Norway. As a child it soon became evident that Løvland was a multi-talented musician. He began playing drums, formed his own band at age 9, moved on to guitar, piano, keyboard, flute and even cello. He studied at the Music Conservatory in his home town and later at the Norwegian Institute of Music in Oslo. Løvland has been classically trained but spent most of his musical career in the contemporary pop-music genre. Over the years, he has recorded more than 60 number one hits in Norway, two of which won titles at the International Eurovision Song Contest: "La Det Swinge" and, of course, "Nocturne."
Sherry was born and raised in a very musical family in Ireland. She started playing the piano at age 5 and violin at age 8. Her passion for music would take her to Dublin, where she studied at Trinity College. Later, she was employed by the RTE Concert Orchestra. In addition to doing classical symphonic and opera repertoire, Sherry has recorded with a number of Irish artists such as Sinaed O'Conner, Van Morrison, Chris de Burg, Chieftains, Bono and Wet Wet Wet. Her work also includes recordings form film scores, such as "The River Runs Through It" and "The Mask."
The group chose the name Secret Garden because it describes their musical feelings. "The secret garden refers to a personal intimate musical idea and something natural and organic, something that comes from the heart," Sherry said. "It's a place within all of us where we need to go to find balance and peace of mind and listen to the inner voice of our hearts."
The second CD by Secret Garden called "White Stones" was released last year. As on the first album, all the music is composed and produced by Løvland. The title, according to Løvland, was taken from the Grimm fairy tale, Hansel and Grettel.
In the story, the two children are abandoned in the forest by their father and stepmother. But the children drop white stones behind them, leaving a trail, which at night is illuminated by the moon. The trail of white stones lead them safely out of the darkness and back home. "I think it symbolizes something beautiful, and we hope that our songs can each be a 'white stone,'" Løvland said.
Sherry explains: "We believe the communication factor has to do with the melodic simplicity of the music and maybe the emotional input it has for us. We see that people respond very personal to it because maybe it is able to speak to people's hearts. In this era, people all over the world seek balance; maybe our type of music can be like 'white stones' leading them into their own hearts?"
Secret Garden has said that they see their second album as a continuation of the first one. "We see our two first albums as chapter one and two of the same book," Løvland said. "The story unfolds naturally, and we believe the continuation of our work will be natural steps forward, one at a time."
The next chapter will be available next spring. In the mean time, U.S. fans will have a chance to see Secret Garden in concert at the end of November and in December.
MORE INFO
To view Secret Garden's concert schedule or listen to a music clip, visit
www.secretgarden.no