Hello, here is some info that I think you will find interesting about this instrumental piece. I also informed loreena's team about this last year.
I read the liner notes of hers about the instrumental, but felt need to also update a bit the info on that song. The melody lines in SS is IDENTICAL to the one of the Serbian traditional song "Ruse Kose" (Black Hair), which is usually sung by a female and a male. It is a love song, where a man asks the girl whether she regrets giving her beauty and youth to him, and she ensures him that she regrets nothing, and gives herself to him willingly.
What is more interesting about this song, is that there are, besides Serbian, also Bulgarian, Turkish, Macedonian, Albanian and Bosnian versions of the tune. Each version carries a specific touch of the culture that cherished it. A couple of years ago I saw a TV documentary about this very song, where people from various cultures were asked which ethnicity first came up with "Ruse Kose" melody, and each one strongly stated it was his nation who invented the song. Some of the arguments were even finished in physical conflict! The conclusion of the show was that.....there is no answer to this question, yet!
I just found astounding how one single melody intermingles through so many cultural and civilisational levels and atmospheres, and hearing this song in Loreena's interpretation was a dream-come-true for me, as Ruse kose is my favourite Serbian (or, better-say, pan-Balcan?) folk song.
Here you can see some (weird though, couldn't find better one on youtube) version in Serbian language:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Xz6RjpGZ1-MCheers!
