With her blend of folk melodies, synthesized backdrops and classical motifs1, Enya created adistinctive style that more closely resembled the new age 2 than the folk music that providedher initial influences.

　　Enya was born on May 17, 1961 in Ireland. Enya was born into a musical family.

　　Her father, Leo Brennan, was the leader of a popular Irish show band; her mother was anamateur musician. Most important to Enya's career were her siblings, who formed Clannad in1976 with several of their uncles. She left her hometown in 1980 to join Clannad.

　　She stayed with Clannad for two years. In 1982, she left Clannad, claiming that she wasuninterested in following the pop direction the group had begun to pursue.

　　She hooked up with producer Nicky Ryan and lyricist Roma Ryan, with whom she recorded filmand television scores3. The result was a successful album of TV music for the BBC. Thesoundtrack was released in 1986 as her eponymous solo album. Enya didn't receive muchnotice, but Enya and the Ryans' second effort, Watermark, became a surprise hit upon itsrelease in 1988. It featured her distinctive, flowing music and multi overdubbed trancelikesinging; the album sold four million copies world wide. Watermark established Enya as aninternational star and launched a successful career that lasted well into the'90s.

　　"Orinoco Flow", the first single, became a number one hit in Britain, helping the albumeventually sell eight million copies worldwide. Enya spent the years following the success ofWatermark rather quietly; her most notable appearance was a cameo on Sinead O'Connor's IDo Not Want What I Haven't Got. She finally released Shepherd Moons, her follow-up toWatermark, in 1991. Shepherd Moons was even more successful than its predecessor,eventually selling over ten million copies worldwide; it entered the U.S.

　　Charts at number 17 and remained in the Top 200 for almost four years. Again, Enya was slowto follow up on the success of Shepherd Moons, spending nearly four years working on herfourth album. The record, entitled Memory of Trees, was released in December of 1995.Memory of Trees entered the U.S. charts at number nine and sold over two million copies withinits first year of release. 1997 saw the release of a greatest-hits collection, Paint the Sky withStars: The Best of Enya, which featured two new songs. Enya's first album of new material infive years, Day Without Rain, was released in late 2000.

　　練習題：

　　Ⅰ. Translate the following Chinese words or phrases into English :

　　1. 她的同名獨唱專輯

　　2. 她的同胞兄弟姐妹

　　3. 一段小品

　　4. 打進美國排行榜第二名

　　Ⅱ. Question:

　　Why did Enya leave the group named Clannad?

　　Ⅰ. 1. her eponymous solo album

　　2. her siblings

　　3. a cameo

　　4. enter the U. S. charts at number two

　　Ⅱ. Because others are interested in pop music , which she dislikes.

　　愛爾蘭國寶———恩雅

　　恩雅的音樂風格獨樹一幟, 她把民間音樂的旋律、多重和聲的背景音樂和經典的主題融合在一起。雖然在事業初期影響她的是民間音樂, 但她創作的音樂風格卻與新時代音樂更加相似。

　　恩雅1961年5月17日生于愛爾蘭的一個音樂之家。她的父親利奧·布倫南是愛爾蘭一支很受歡迎的表演樂隊的隊長, 母親是位業余音樂工作者。對恩雅事業影響最大的要算她的兄弟姐妹們, 1976 年他們和自己的幾個叔伯組成了克蘭納德樂隊。1980 年, 恩雅離開家鄉加入了這支樂隊。兩年后, 即1982年, 恩雅又離開了這支樂隊。她說當時樂隊的風格已經開始轉向流行音樂, 而她對此毫無興趣。

　　恩雅開始與制片人尼基·瑞安和歌詞作者羅馬·瑞安合作, 錄制電影電視配樂。結果他們成功地為英國廣播公司推出了一張電視音樂專輯。1986 年這些電視配樂作為獨唱專輯發行時就叫《恩雅》。恩雅并沒有得到人們太多的注意, 但他們三人第二次合作的成果《水印》卻在1988年發行時出人意料地轟動一時。恩雅獨特的、縹緲的音樂和她那經過多重配樂的令人神迷的演唱風格在這張專輯中得以體現, 專輯在全世界的銷量達到400 萬張。《水印》確立了恩雅的國際明星地位, 此后直至90年代, 她的事業一直十分成功。

　　《水印》中的第一支單曲《奧里諾科河的奔流》在英國打到排行榜首, 并使得這專輯終在全世界的銷量達到800萬張。《水印》成功之后的幾年中, 恩雅一直悄無聲息人注意的一次亮相就是參與合作西尼德· 奧康納的《無所奢求》。終于在1991 年, 恩雅發行了她《水印》的續篇《牧羊人之月》。這張新專輯比《水印》更加成功, 最終在全世界的銷量達到一千多萬張。專輯進入了美國音樂排行榜, 名列第十七, 并在幾乎四年的時間里始終保持在前200 名。這次恩雅又像以前一樣, 沒有在《牧羊人之月》成功后很快推出新作,而是在此后差不多四年的時間里準備她的第四張專輯。1995 年12 月, 這張《樹的記憶》發行了。它進入美國音樂排行榜, 排名第九, 并在發行的第一年就獲得200 多萬張的銷量。

　　1997 年, 恩雅的精選集《以星綴穹——恩雅精選》發行了, 其中還包括兩支新歌。2000 年末, 恩雅又推出了五年后第一張充滿新內容的專輯《雨過天晴》。

　　1. motif n. ( 藝術作品的) 主題, 要點, 特色, 動機, 主旨。英語常用的書面詞是theme( 文章、討論等的)主題, 論題, 話題, 主題, 主旋律。口頭常說main idea。

　　2. 新時代音樂, 即用現代電聲樂器來演奏一些古典、特別是民謠和民間音樂的音樂形式。在這個領域比較出色的音樂人有希臘的雅尼、日本的喜多郎( 著有《絲綢之路》系列) , 當然還有恩雅。國內公認的出色作品有朱哲琴的《阿姐鼓》。一般這類音樂作品是年齡較大的樂迷的最愛, 當然現在有很多二十來歲的人也喜歡新時代音樂。

　　3. score n. ( 音樂) 總譜, 樂譜, ( 電影歌舞等的) 配樂。這個詞一般我們看到或者用到的意思是“成績, 分數”, 如: a clean score ( 全勝得分) ; a team score ( 團體分) ; win by a score of 10 to 9 ( 以十比九得勝) 。還有一個常用的意思是“ 二十, 二十人, 二十磅重”, 如: five score of herring ( 一捆鯡魚[ 100 尾] ) ;score( s) of times ( 幾十次, 屢次) ; score( s) of years ago ( 幾十年前) 。還能做動詞, 表示“( 在體育比賽中) 得分”, 如: score a game / goal /point ( 勝一局/ 進一球/ 得一分) 。