Captivating. Powerful. Monumentally expressive. All brilliantly displayed in the newest Christmas release from Sono Luminus, Surrounded by Angels.

From the opening unison strings of “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence” to the last note of “Silent Night”, this CD courses with the extraordinary arrangements of Ensemble Galilei, created by musicians whose musical sensibilities have been shaped by their personal histories. Each renowned in their fields – two winners of the All-Ireland Senior Championship, two winners of the U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Championship, a four-time winner of the U.S. National Scottish Harp Championship, one Fulbright Scholar – they bring phenomenal talents to bear. What comes from this wealth of experience and expertise is an astonishing recording.

A set of whimsical Irish slip jigs follows “Greensleeves”. The uillean pipes, soulful and wild, solo on the familiar “Wexford Carol”. The violin, viola and viola da gamba transform “I Wonder as I Wander”. Each track a revelation, Ensemble Galilei has made Surrounded by Angels so rich and so deep that it transcends the genres of Irish or Scottish or Early Music. So much more than the sum of its parts, this is the recording that will stand year after year as the most beloved recording for the Christmas season.

Contents:

1. Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence – Picardy, French medieval
Konvulsionslåten – Anders Norudde
The Celt – Sue Richards

2. Divinum mysterium – 13th-century plainsong
Tàladh ar Slànaigheir (Christ Child Lullabye) – Scottish Gaelic carol

3. Away in the Manger (Flow Gently, Sweet Afton) – trad. Scottish
Polonessa Spoof – (taught to Hanneke Cassel by Antti Järvelä)

4. Es ist ein Ros entsprungen (I Know a Rose Tree) – Michael Praetorius (arr. Kathryn Montoya)

5. I Wonder as I Wander – collected by John Jacob Niles

6. Greensleeves – 16th-century English

7. Quelle est cette odeur agréable (Whence is that Goodly Fragrence) – 17th-century French
Jesu Kreuz, Leiden und Pein – Melchior Vulpius (1609)

8. The Surround – trad. Irish from O’Neill’s Music of Ireland
Snowy Path – Mark Kelly
Half C – Jackie Moran

9. Une Vierge pucelle – Nicolas le Bègue/trad. French
Joseph est bien marié – Michel Corrette/trad. French

10. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen – 16th-century English
Good King Wenceslas – from Piae cantiones, pub. 1582

11. At Midnight Hour – trad. Irish from O’Neill’s Music of Ireland
Joy Be With You – trad. Irish from O’Neill’s Music of Ireland

12. Carol of the Birds – trad. Catalan

13. Winter’s Falling Light – Carolyn Surrick

14. The Wexford Carol – trad. Irish Carol
Shetland Reel – trad. Shetland

15. Brightest and Best of the Sons of the Morning – James Proctor Harding (1892)
Farewell to Goirtín – Willie Coleman

16. Silent Night – Franz Gruber

Total time: 57:35