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" (Bill Whelan) – 8:40
 * 2) "The Heart's Cry" (Bill Whelan) – 2:26
 * 3) "The Countess Cathleen/Women of the Sidhe" (Bill Whelan) – 5:42
 * 4) "Firedance" (Bill Whelan) – 6:02
 * 5) "Caoineadh Cú Chulainn" (Lament) (Bill Whelan) – 4:09
 * 6) "Slip into Spring" (Bill Whelan) – 3:44
 * 7) "Riverdance" (Bill Whelan) – 5:42
 * 8) "Lift the Wings" (Bill Whelan) – 4:58
 * 9) "Freedom" (Bill Whelan) – 3:40
 * 10) "Andalucía" (Bill Whelan) – 4:19
 * 11) "Macedonian Morning" (Bill Whelan) – 2:56
 * 12) "Marta's Dance"/"The Russian Dervish" (Bill Whelan) – 6:03
 * 13) "Hope To The Suffering" (Bill Whelan) – 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" (Bill Whelan) – 8:40
 * 2) "The Heart's Cry" (Bill Whelan) – 2:26
 * 3) "The Countess Cathleen/Women of the Sidhe" (Bill Whelan) – 5:42
 * 4) "Caoineadh Cú Chulainn" (Lament) (Bill Whelan) – 4:09
 * 5) "Shivna" (Bill Whelan) – 3:38
 * 6) "Firedance" (Bill Whelan) – 6:02
 * 7) "Slip into Spring" (Bill Whelan) – 3:44
 * 8) "Riverdance" (Bill Whelan) – 5:42
 * 9) "American Wake" (The Nova Scotia Set) (Bill Whelan) – 3:07
 * 10) "Lift the Wings" (Bill Whelan) – 4:58
 * 11) "Macedonian Morning" (Bill Whelan) – 2:56
 * 12) "Marta's Dance"/"The Russian Dervish" (Bill Whelan) – 6:03
 * 13) "Andalucía" (Bill Whelan) – 4:19
 * 14) "Home and the Heartland" (Bill Whelan) – 3:25
 * 15) "The Harvest" (Bill Whelan) – 3:38
 * 16) "Riverdance" (Reprise) (Bill Whelan) – 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" (Bill Whelan) – 8:40
 * 2) "The Heart's Cry" (Bill Whelan) – 2:26
 * 3) "The Countess Cathleen/Women of the Sidhe" (Bill Whelan) – 5:42
 * 4) "Caoineadh Cú Chulainn" (Lament) (Bill Whelan) – 4:09
 * 5) "Shivna" (Bill Whelan) – 3:38
 * 6) "Firedance" (Bill Whelan) – 6:02
 * 7) "Slip into Spring" (Bill Whelan) – 3:44
 * 8) "Riverdance" (Bill Whelan) – 5:42
 * 9) "American Wake" (The Nova Scotia Set) (Bill Whelan) – 3:07
 * 10) "Lift the Wings" (Bill Whelan) – 4:58
 * 11) "Macedonian Morning" (Bill Whelan) – 2:56
 * 12) "Marta's Dance"/"The Russian Dervish" (Bill Whelan) – 6:03
 * 13) "Andalucía" (Bill Whelan) – 4:19
 * 14) "Home and the Heartland" (Bill Whelan) – 3:25
 * 15) "The Harvest" (Bill Whelan) – 3:38
 * 16) "Riverdance" (Reprise) (Bill Whelan) – 3:47
 * 17) "I Will Set You Free" (Bill Whelan) – 3:45
 * 18) "Endless Journey" (Bill Whelan) – 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" (Bill Whelan) – 8:42
 * 2) "The Heart's Cry" (Bill Whelan) – 2:26
 * 3) "The Countess Cathleen/Women of the Sidhe" (Bill Whelan) – 5:44
 * 4) "Caoineadh Cú Chulainn" (Lament) (Bill Whelan) – 4:11
 * 5) "Shivna" (Bill Whelan) – 4:05
 * 6) "Firedance" (Bill Whelan) – 6:04
 * 7) "Slip into Spring"/"The Harvest" (Bill Whelan) – 5:01
 * 8) "Riverdance" (Bill Whelan) – 5:45
 * 9) "American Wake" (The Nova Scotia Set) (Bill Whelan) – 3:07
 * 10) "Lift the Wings" (Bill Whelan) – 3:00
 * 11) "Heal Their Hearts"/"Freedom" (Bill Whelan) – 6:26
 * 12) "Macedonian Morning" (Bill Whelan) – 2:56
 * 13) "Marta's Dance"/"The Russian Dervish" (Bill Whelan) – 6:04
 * 14) "Andalucía" (Bill Whelan) – 4:22
 * 15) "Riverdance" (Reprise) (Bill Whelan) – 4:32

Personnel
The recording included the following performers and production team:

Musicians

 * Cormac Breatnach – tin whistle
 * Máire Breatnach – fiddle
 * Ronan Browne – uilleann pipes
 * Robbie Casserly – bass, drums
 * Áine Uí Cheallaigh – vocals
 * Anthony Drennan – guitar
 * Noel Eccles – percussion
 * Kenneth Edge – soprano sax
 * Juan Reina Gonzalez – cantor
 * Robbie Harris – bodhrán
 * David Hayes – keyboards
 * Tom Hayes – bodhrán, spoons
 * Eileen Ivers – fiddle
 * Declan Masterson – low whistle
 * Michael McGlynn – conductor
 * Des Moore – acoustic guitar
 * Máirtín O'Connor – accordion
 * Prionsias O'Duinn – conductor
 * Eoghan O'Neill – bass guitar
 * Nikola Parov – gadulka, kaval
 * Desi Reynolds – drums, tom-tom
 * Rafael Riqueni – guitar
 * Davy Spillane – uilleann pipes, tin whistle

Singers

 * Anúna
 * Brian Dunphy
 * Lynn Hilary
 * Michael Samuels
 * The Riverdance Singers

Irish dancers

 * Jean Butler (tracks 3 and 16)
 * Michael Flatley (tracks 1, 3 and 16)
 * Riverdance Irish Dance Troupe (tracks 1, 3 and 16)

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