"Scarborough Fair" is a traditional English ballad. The song lists a number of impossible tasks given to a former lover who lives in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. The "Scarborough/Whittingham Fair" variant was most common in Yorkshire and Northumbria, where it was sung to various melodies, often using Dorian mode, with refrains resembling "parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme" and "Then she'll be a true love of mine." It appears in Traditional Tunes by Frank Kidson published in 1891, who claims to have collected it from Whitby.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) is an American rock band founded in 1996 by producer, composer, and lyricist Paul O'Neill, who brought together Jon Oliva and Al Pitrelli and keyboardist and co-producer Robert Kinkel to form the core of the creative team. The band gained in popularity when they began touring in 1999 after completing their second album, The Christmas Attic, the year previous. In 2007, the Washington Post referred to them as "an arena-rock juggernaut" and described their music as "Pink Floyd meets Yes and the Who at Radio City Music Hall." TSO has sold more than 10 million concert tickets and over 10 million albums. The band has released a series of rock operas: Christmas Eve and Other Stories, The Christmas Attic, Beethoven's Last Night, The Lost Christmas Eve, their two-disc Night Castle and Letters From the Labyrinth. Trans-Siberian Orchestra is also known for their extensive charity work and elaborate concerts, which include a string section, a light show, lasers, moving trusses, video screens, and effects synchronized to music.
"Carol of the Bells" is a popular Christmas carol which is based on the Ukrainian song called "Shchedryk". The "Carol of the Bells" uses the original melody from "Shchedryk," written by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych in 1914.
Nox Arcana is the American neoclassical dark wave, dark ambient musical project of Joseph Vargo. It was founded in 2003 as a duo with William Piotrowski, who left in 2008 to pursue a career in film score composing but still acts as its studio engineer whereas Vargo continued on as a solo act under the name. According to the Nox Arcana biography, the name is derived from two Latin words that roughly translate to "mysteries of the night."
Winter's Knight is the third album by gothic duo Nox Arcana. The album peaked at #8 on Billboard Magazine's Music Charts for Top Holiday Albums of 2006 and 2007.
Carnival of Lost Souls is the fifth album by Dark ambient musical duo Nox Arcana, loosely based on the novel Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. On this album, Nox Arcana performs a style of music that is indicative of a late 19th-early 20th century circus or Vaudeville act, albeit with a darker, more sinister tone and effect.
Shadow of the Raven is the eighth album by gothic duo Nox Arcana. This time the composers Joseph Vargo and William Piotrowski honor Edgar Allan Poe, the author of "The Masque of the Red Death", "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", "The Fall of the House of Usher, "The Tell-Tale Heart" and other tales of suspense and horror, as well as the famous poem "The Raven". Nox Arcana's Shadow of the Raven was cited in the academic book Handbook of Intermediality: Literature - Image - Sound - Music in reference to the vast legacy of Poe's works in music.
Grimm Tales is the ninth studio album by gothic musical duo Nox Arcana. Like several of their other albums, this music is also inspired by classic literature. In this case, the folktales of the Brothers Grimm. Instrumentation includes piano, violin, cello, acoustic guitar, glockenspiel, and various wind and percussive instruments, which serve to establish the intended theme. In keeping with the dark fairy tale theme, ominous narrations from a "Witch Queen" and the deep, resonant voice of her male counterpart are featured on several tracks, as well as the raspy voice of an aging Crone as she invokes a magical spell.
Michelle Belanger is an American author who has authored over two dozen nonfiction books on paranormal and occult topics, has appeared in television documentaries about magic and modern occultism. She has performed as a vocalist and worked as a writer with Nox Arcana.
Winter's Eve is the thirteenth studio album and second Christmas-themed album by Nox Arcana. It was released in 2009 on Monolith Graphics. Apart from traditional music for the Christmas season, the theme of this album evokes a medieval or pagan Yuletide celebration typical of the winter solstice.
The Dark Tower is the sixteenth concept album by Nox Arcana, released as the soundtrack for The Dark Tower book series by Joseph Vargo.
Winter's Majesty is the seventeenth album by Nox Arcana, concluding their winter-themed trilogy, which also includes Winter's Knight (2005) and Winter's Eve (2009).
Legion of Shadows is the eighteenth album by Nox Arcana, marking their 10-year anniversary. The album was announced as a dedication to their fans, and was one of two albums that Nox Arcana released in 2013 on Halloween — the second being Crimson Winter , William Piotrowski's first solo project and score for the vampire film Crimson Winter.
Ebonshire - Volume 2 is the 21st album released by Nox Arcana. It is the second in a series of winter holiday EPs inspired by Nox Arcana's holiday music trilogy: Winter's Knight (2005), Winter's Eve (2009), and Winter's Majesty (2012), which are each set in a fantasy realm called Ebonshire.
Gothic is the 22nd concept album by Nox Arcana. The album opens with an introductory narration, describing terms of an inheritance of an old gothic mansion called Grimstone Manor. The story described in narrative form and in the liner notes contains elements of danger and romance like that of a 19th-century Gothic novel. Musically, the album features Nox Arcana's brand of dark ambient music, with the use of pipe organ, violins, harpsichord, piano, choirs, and other instrumentation, representing a musical journey through the haunted mansion.
Ebonshire - Volume 3 is the 23rd album released by Nox Arcana. It is the third in a series of winter holiday EPs inspired by Nox Arcana's holiday music trilogy: Winter's Knight (2005), Winter's Eve (2009), and Winter's Majesty (2012), which are each set in a fantasy realm called Ebonshire.
Ebonshire - Volume 4 is the 24th album released by Nox Arcana. It is the fourth in a series of winter holiday EPs inspired by Nox Arcana's holiday music trilogy: Winter's Knight (2005), Winter's Eve (2009), and Winter's Majesty (2012), which are each set in a fantasy realm called Ebonshire.
Season of the Witch is the 25th album released by Nox Arcana on October 1, 2017. The theme centers around a coven of witches that gather each Halloween night at place called "Raven's Hollow", which is a setting mentioned in the book series The Dark Tower by Joseph Vargo. The first track features a narration that sounds like an old woman casting a spell, which continues later in the bonus track. The music features piano, harpsichord, drums, symbols, tolling bells and violins, with vocal choirs.
Ebonshire - Volume 5 is the 26th album released by Nox Arcana. It is the fifth in a series of winter holiday EPs inspired by Nox Arcana's holiday music trilogy: Winter's Knight (2005), Winter's Eve (2009), and Winter's Majesty (2012), which are each set in a fantasy realm called Ebonshire.
Ebonshire - Volume 1 is the 20th album released by Nox Arcana. It is the first in a series of winter holiday EPs inspired by Nox Arcana's holiday music trilogy: Winter's Knight (2005), Winter's Eve (2009), and Winter's Majesty (2012), which are each set in a fantasy realm called Ebonshire.
