There I Long to Be Ensemble Galilei

• Isaac Alderson (b. 1983), Jesse Langen, Traditional, Turlough O’Carolan (1670 - 1738): Planxty Hewlett - The Dusty Miller - The Last Minute:
• 1 Alderson, Langen, Traditional, O’Carolan: Planxty Hewlett - The Dusty Miller - The Last Minute 06:08
• James Oxley: Come Away, Death:
• 2 Oxley: Come Away, Death 02:39
• Anonymous, Turlough O'Carolan: Lament for Owen Roe O'Neill - Allan Water - Licke potje:
• 3 Anonymous, O'Carolan: Lament for Owen Roe O'Neill - Allan Water - Licke potje 04:34
• Traditional, Giovanni da Firenze (1270 - 1350): Io son un Pellegrino - Serbian Wedding Dance:
• 4 Traditional, Firenze: Io son un Pellegrino - Serbian Wedding Dance 01:47
• Sigerson Clifford (1913 - 1985): The Boys of Barr na Sraide:
• 5 Clifford: The Boys of Barr na Sraide 03:57
• Pieter de Vois (1581 - 1654): Fantasia No. 3:
• 6 Vois: Fantasia No. 3 01:34
• John Dowland (1563 - 1626): The Second Book of Songes:
• 7 Dowland: The Second Book of Songes: No. 2, Flow My Tears 04:09
• Tobias Hume (1569 - 1645): The First Part of Ayres, French, Pollish & Others:
• 8 Hume: The First Part of Ayres, French, Pollish & Others: No. 14, Life 02:28
• Christiaen Herwich (1609 - 1663): Tweede Stuck:
• 9 Herwich: Tweede Stuck 03:18
• Anonymous: Gallarde Faraboscho:
• 10 Anonymous: Gallarde Faraboscho 01:36
• Traditional: Bruach na carraige báine:
• 11 Traditional: Bruach na carraige báine 02:55
• John Bennet (1575 - 1614): Venus Birds:
• 12 Bennet: Venus Birds 03:20
• Traditional, Carolyn Surrick (b. 1950): Gjendine's Bådlåt - Gjendine's Waltz:
• 13 Traditional, Surrick: Gjendine's Bådlåt - Gjendine's Waltz 05:32
• Traditional: Cape Clear:
• 14 Traditional: Cape Clear 04:47
• Pieter de Vois: Fantasia No. 2:
• 15 Vois: Fantasia No. 2 01:13
• Turlough O’Carolan (1670 - 1738): Loftus Jones:
• 16 O’Carolan: Loftus Jones 02:51
• Traditional: When That I Was and a Little Tiny Boy:
• 17 Traditional: When That I Was and a Little Tiny Boy 02:28
• Isaac Alderson: Waltz No. 1:
• 18 Alderson: Waltz No. 1 02:41
• Barn Dance No. 1:
• 19 Alderson: Barn Dance No. 1 03:55
• John Dowland: The First Book of Songes:
• 20 Dowland: The First Book of Songes: No. 9, Go Crystal Tears 02:54
• Anonymous: Frere Frapar - Zesde petit brande - La perichone:
• 21 Anonymous: Frere Frapar - Zesde petit brande - La perichone 03:50
• Anonymous, Turlough O’Carolan: Love Is the Cause of My Mourning - Miss Noble:
• 22 Anonymous, O’Carolan: Love Is the Cause of My Mourning - Miss Noble 04:24
• John Dowland: The First Book of Songes:
• 23 Dowland: The First Book of Songes: No. 18, His Golden Lockes 03:31
• Traditional, Pádraig Ó Miléadha (1877 - 1947): Sliabh Geal gCua - Aggie Whyte's - The Old Blackthorn Stick:
• 24 Traditional, Miléadha: Sliabh Geal gCua - Aggie Whyte's - The Old Blackthorn Stick 06:27
• Traditional: As I Roved Out:
• 25 Traditional: As I Roved Out 03:47
• Willie Ross (b. 1948): The Leaving of St. Kilda:
• 26 Ross: The Leaving of St. Kilda 03:45
• Claudin de Sermisy (1490 - 1562): 31 Chansons musicales a quatre parties:
• 27 Sermisy: 31 Chansons musicales a quatre parties: No. 7, Au joly boys 01:41
• 28 Dowland: Suzanna Galliard, P. 91 01:54
• 29 Kist: Vierde Carileen 02:01
• 30 Crecquillon: Onques amour 03:33
• 31 Anonymous: Jesus in Thy Dying Woes 01:32
• 32 Corkine: The Second Booke of Ayres: Beware Fair Maids 02:27
• 33 Anonymous: Old Simon the King 02:49
• 34 Traditional: Fair Maid of Barra - The Sporting Pitchfork - Scattery Island 04:35
• Total Runtime 01:51:02

Info for There I Long to Be

Iconic musician collective Ensemble Galilei announces its new album There I Long to Be, which will be released September 26, 2025 on Sono Luminus. This special double-album release coincides with Ensemble Galilei’s 35th anniversary and marks the group’s fourth recording with the GRAMMY®-winning label, following 2015’s From Whence We Came.

Ensemble Galilei is a small ensemble specializing in a wide range of music for their particular instrumentation, and includes Isaac Alderson (uilleann pipes, Irish flute, whistles, tenor saxophone), Jesse Langen (guitar), Kathryn Montoya (recorders, whistle, shawm), Jackie Moran (banjo, bodhrán, egg shaker; and founder Carolyn Surrick (viola da gamba). The group performs Renaissance and Baroque, Ancient and recent Celtic (including Scots, Welsh, Cornish, Breton, and Galician music), and Irish music, including some works especially written for them. The ensemble is named after Vincenzo Galilei (ca. 1520-1592), a pioneer in the Greek-inspired movement that created “opera in musica.” He is credited as both simplifying and bringing passion back into music, and was also a leading theoretician of his time. (His son, Galileo Galilei, was the great astronomer.)

Featuring 47 tunes across 34 tracks on two discs, There I Long to Be contains an abundance of jigs, reels, traditional tunes, and early music, as well as works by members of the Ensemble. In addition to the five regular Ensemble members, this recording also features Hanneke Cassel (fiddle, and Ensemble Galilei emeritus member), Tim Langen (fiddle), Ronn McFarlane (lute), and James Oxley (tenor).

The project began as two albums, on parallel paths. One was new for Ensemble Galilei – an early music, classical album. The other was in line with the approach the Ensemble had embraced in its previous recordings. As Surrick put it, “For the first time, we were going to record an early music album in a conventional classical music style. Ensemble Galilei had always been known as a crossover group, meaning that while it was true that we performed early music, traditional music was always right around the corner. We never sought to achieve a level of historical performance practice that might engage early music audiences, until now.”

Recorded over the course of two years, the music on There I Long to Be encompasses a wide range of musical styles, cultures, and time periods – a combination of the musicians’ individual interests and the group’s focus. What unites it is an artistic vision that is inspired and undeterred, and unique to Ensemble Galilei. Sono Luminus CEO Collin Rae recognized this, and suggested embracing a double-album format to showcase the Ensemble’s full scope.

The new album adds to Ensemble Galilei’s extensive discography, which has attracted millions of streams on Spotify. Surrick writes, “I looked at our Spotify page for the first time and saw that we had millions of streams. Our big cities were Paris, Seattle, and London, and our demographic was predominantly people in their late teens, twenties, and early thirties, not our usual concert audience – they were listening and sharing with friends. This was happening all over the world.”

This discovery illustrated Ensemble Gailei’s mission of deeply connecting with humanity through music. As Surrick summarizes in this album’s liner notes, “In the end, if the musicians have brought their hearts, souls, and years of mastery, if the recording team has entered into the space with wisdom, tools, patience and good will, if Lindsey Nelson, our executive producer, is saying, ‘Sure, let’s book one more session to make this the very best it can possibly be’ then the opportunity exists for the listener to hear it all — the breath, the intention, the ensemble, the soloist, the fingers on the strings, the air as it comes out of the recorder, the hands on the regulators of the uilleann pipes, the tipper as it touches the head of the bodhran, the rosin on the fiddle’s bow, and feathered end of the note on a viola da gamba. It is all there.”

There I Long to Be is Ensemble Galilei’s sixteenth recording, adding to the group’s exceptional discography, which includes Music in the Great Hall (1992, Maggie’s Music); Ancient Noels (1993, Maggie’s Music); Following the Moon (1995, Dorian Discovery); The Mystic and the Muse (1997, Dorian/NPR Classics); Come, Gentle Night (2000, Telarc); From the Isles to the Courts (2001, Telarc); A Winter’s Night (2002, Maggie’s Music); Alta (2005, EG Records); From the Edge of the World (2007, EG Records); Notes from Across the Sea (2009, self-release); A Change of Worlds (2012, Sono Luminus); Surrounded by Angels (2013, Sono Luminus); From Whence We Came (2015, Sono Luminus); Flowers of the Forest (2018, Flowerpot Productions); A Solstice Gathering (2020, Flowerpot Productions).

In the end, if the musicians have brought their hearts, souls, and years of mastery, if the recording team has entered into the space with wisdom, tools, patience and good will, if the executive producer is saying, “Sure, let’s book one more session to make this the very best it can possibly be” then the opportunity exists for the listener to hear it all — the breath, the intention, the ensemble, the soloist, the fingers on the strings, the air as it comes out of the recorder, the hands on the regulators of the uilleann pipes, the tipper as it touches the head of the bodhran, the rosin on the fiddle’s bow, and feathered end of the note on a viola da gamba. It is all there. (Carolyn Surrick)

Ensemble Galilei:
Isaac Alderson, uillean pipes & Irish flute, whistles, saxophone
Jesse Langen, guitar
Kathryn Montoya, recorders, whistle & shawm
Jackie Moran, banjo, bodhran & egg shaker
Carolyn Surrick, viola da gamba
Additional musicians:
Hanneke Cassel, fiddle (Gjendine’s Bådlåt and Gjendine’s Waltz, Boys of Barr na Sraide)
Tim Langen, fiddle (Jig Set, When That I Was and A Little Tiny Boy)
Ronn McFarlane, lute
James Oxley, tenor

Recorded, Mixed and Mastered by Robert Friedrich, Five/Four Productions, LLC
Produced by Dan Merceruio
Executive Producer: Lindsey R. Nelson

Ensemble Galilei
The spirit of the ancient music of the Celtic Isles is resurrected by Ensemble Galilei. Combining classical and folk instrumentation and incorporating a high level of improvisation, the all-woman, Washington, D.C.-based, band creates a sound that seamlessly blends the old world and modern influences. The Ensemble Galilei's unique approach to eighteenth century Irish airs, jigs and reels, Welsh songs and Breton dance tunes earned them a WAMMIE award from the Washington Area Music Association as "Best Chamber Ensemble", in 1994. "The Washington Post' praised the group for its "Virtuoso technique, an instinctive feeling for the idiom and the courage to improvise". Reviewing a peformance by the band, "The San Francisco Bay Guardian" wrote, "medieval and renaissance tunes, beautifully rendered". The Ensemble Galilei, which takes its name from 16th century composer Vincenzo Galilei, was formed by Maggie Sansone (hammered dulcimer), Carolyn Anderson Surrick (viola de gamba), Sue Richards (Celtic harp), Marcia Diehl (recorder, pennywhistle, bowed psaltery) and Jim Brooks. After numerous personnel changes, the group currently features Nancy Karpeles (percussion), Liz Knowles (fiddle), Deborah Nuse (pipes), Sarah Weiner (oboe, pennywhistles), Surrick and Richards. The Ensemble Galilei's debut album, "Music In The Great Hall" was recorded during a Washington D.C. concert. Their second album, "Ancient Noels", sold over 17,000 copies in the first three months after its release in 1994. Four years later, the group recorded, "The Mystic And The Muse", an album-length tribute to women composers of the past six centuries.

This album contains no booklet.