With her blend of folk melodies, synthesized backdrops and classical motifs1, Enya created a distinctive style that more closely resembled the new age 2 than the folk music that provided her 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 an amateur musician. Most important to Enya's career were her siblings, who formed Clannad in 1976 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 was uninterested 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 film and television scores3. The result was a successful album of TV music for the BBC. The soundtrack was released in 1986 as her eponymous solo album. Enya didn't receive much notice, but Enya and the Ryans' second effort, Watermark, became a surprise hit upon its release in 1988. It featured her distinctive, flowing music and multi overdubbed trancelike singing; the album sold four million copies world wide. Watermark established Enya as an international 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 album eventually sell eight million copies worldwide. Enya spent the years following the success of Watermark rather quietly; her most notable appearance was a cameo on Sinead O'Connor's I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got. She finally released Shepherd Moons, her follow-up to Watermark, 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 slow to follow up on the success of Shepherd Moons, spending nearly four years working on her fourth 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 within its first year of release. 1997 saw the release of a greatest-hits collection, Paint the Sky with Stars: The Best of Enya, which featured two new songs. Enya's first album of new material in five years, Day Without Rain, was released in late 2000.
练习题：
Ⅰ. Translate the following Chinese words or phrases into English :
1. 她的同名独唱专辑
2. 她的同胞兄弟姐妹
3. 一段小品
4. 打进美国排行榜第二名
Ⅱ. Question:
Why did Enya leave the group named Clannad?
答案：
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.
参考译文：
爱尔兰国宝———恩雅
恩雅的音乐风格独树一帜, 她把民间音乐的旋律、多重和声的背景音乐和经典的主题融合在一起。虽然在事业初期影响她的是民间音乐, 但她创作的音乐风格却与新时代音乐更加相似。
恩雅1961年5月17日生于爱尔兰的一个音乐之家。她的父亲利奥·布伦南是爱尔兰一支很受欢迎的表演乐队的队长, 母亲是位业余音乐工作者。对恩雅事业影响最大的要算她的兄弟姐妹们, 1976 年他们和自己的几个叔伯组成了克兰纳德乐队。1980 年, 恩雅离开家乡加入了这支乐队。两年后, 即1982年, 恩雅又离开了这支乐队。她说当时乐队的风格已经开始转向流行音乐, 而她对此毫无兴趣。
恩雅开始与制片人尼基·瑞安和歌词作者罗马·瑞安合作, 录制电影电视配乐。结果他们成功地为英国广播公司推出了一张电视音乐专辑。1986 年这些电视配乐作为独唱专辑发行时就叫《恩雅》。恩雅并没有得到人们太多的注意, 但他们三人第二次合作的成果《水印》却在1988年发行时出人意料地轰动一时。恩雅独特的、缥缈的音乐和她那经过多重配乐的令人神迷的演唱风格在这张专辑中得以体现, 专辑在全世界的销量达到400 万张。《水印》确立了恩雅的国际明星地位, 此后直至90年代, 她的事业一直十分成功。
《水印》中的第一支单曲《奥里诺科河的奔流》在英国打到排行榜首, 并使得这专辑终在全世界的销量达到800万张。《水印》成功之后的几年中, 恩雅一直悄无声息人注意的一次亮相就是参与合作西尼德· 奥康纳的《无所奢求》。终于在1991 年, 恩雅发行了她《水印》的续篇《牧羊人之月》。这张新专辑比《水印》更加成功, 最终在全世界的销量达到一千多万张。专辑进入了美国音乐排行榜, 名列第十七, 并在几乎四年的时间里始终保持在前200 名。这次恩雅又像以前一样, 没有在《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时间里准备她的第四张专辑。1995 年12 月, 这张《树的记忆》发行了。它进入美国音乐排行榜, 排名第九, 并在发行的第一年就获得200 多万张的销量。
1997 年, 恩雅的精选集《以星缀穹——恩雅精选》发行了, 其中还包括两支新歌。2000 年末, 恩雅又推出了五年后第一张充满新内容的专辑《雨过天晴》。
