Album Notes

An INDIE finalist for "Best Seasonal Album of the Year"! Ancient carols, Renaissance rhythms and haunting medieval hymns bring to life images of desert landscapes, stone monasteries and the origins of Chrismas. Maggie Sansone on hammered dulcimer with members of Ensemble Galilei: Marcia Diehl on recorder, bowed psaltery and pennywhistle; Jim Brooks on recorder and concertina; Sue Richards on Celtic harp; Carolyn Surrick on treble viol & bass viola da gamba; and special guests Bonnie Rideout on Scottish fiddle, Zan McLeod on cittern and guitar and Ben Harms on hand drums and medieval tambourine. Includes: Basque and Galician carols from Spain, medieval Dutch & French carols, and Renaissance tunes by 16th century master Tilman Susato.========Founded in 1990, Ensemble Galilei specializes in the performance of Celtic music, Early music and new compositions. Featuring Celtic harp, fiddle, Scottish small pipes, oboe, recorders, penny-whistle, viola da gamba and percussion, the repertoire ranges from instrumental arrangements of chant by Hildegard von Bingen, to Renaissance dance music, to chaconnes from the Baroque, to Irish jigs and reels, to music composed by the performers in the traditional style to music celebrating the Holiday season.Excerpts of their performances have been heard on NPR's Performance Today twenty times since 1990, including Christmas Day 1997, and the group has done two in-studio 30-minute concerts there. Ben Roe of Performance Today has said, "There's an ease about the way they play that seems to break down the barriers that normally exist between the audience and the performer. The repertoire is very engaging and the audience is clearly enthusiastic." They have been interviewed by Robert Siegel on All Things Considered and have performed and been interviewed on the Diane Rehm Show. The idea of Celtic/Early music crossover was a happy accident. Ensemble Galilei was founded on the premise that for us, it was the music making that was most important, rather than the genre. Each of the musicians brings to the group her personal strengths, and it happens that our backgrounds are Celtic and Early music. Sue Richards is a four-time U.S. National Scottish Harp Champion, and Carolyn Anderson Surrick, who has an MA in musicology, has performed early music on the viola da gamba for 22 years. Liz Knowles, the featured Irish fiddler on the Michael Collins soundtrack, also toured with Riverdance (and is equally at home playing Bach), and Sarah Weiner won the 1996 Indiana University Early Music Institute Concerto Competition on Baroque oboe. "What we share is a passion for music, and for making music together," says Ensemble Galilei director, C.Surrick.The group has two recordings on the Maggie's Music label still available through national distribution. The first, Music in the Great Hall, was recorded live at St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland and released in 1992. The second is Ancient Noels, released in 1993, is an INDIE award winner "Seasonal Album" from AFIM (Association for Independent Music).Both albums have sold over 45,000 copies each and are still available in retail stores and through worldwide distribution. * "Virtuoso technique, and instinctive feeling for the idiom, and the courage to improvise...they play with energy, splendid ensemble, good humor and imagination."-The Washington Post* "The songs are filled with quiet passion and a lot of strength. If music is the food of the gods, this disc comes from their private stock."-Stereophile Magazine