Track Listing

1. Wexford Carol - David Agnew, David Downes
2. Cornphíopa Ciorcalach - Máire Breatnach, Seamus Brett
3. On a Cold Winter's Day/Christmas Eve - Kevin Burke, Mícheál Ó Domhnaill
4. Third Carol for Christmas Day - Dónal Lunny, Maighread Ní Dhomnaill
5. Circle of Joy - Lisa Lynne
6. Sìor-Uaine (Evergreen) - Phil Cunningham, Manus Lunny
7. Lully Lullay - Nightnoise
8. Galician Carol - Carlos Nunez,
9. King Holly, King Oak - Johnny Cunningham
10. Raven in the Snow - Brian Dunning, Jeff Johnson
11. Soillse Na Nollag (The Lights of Christmas) - Altan
12. I'll Rock You to Rest - James Galway
13. Sails of Galway - W.G. Snuffy Walden
14. On a Winter's Day - Karan Casey, Robbie Overson, Niall Vallely
15. Ga Gréine (Dart of Light) - John Fitzpatrick
16. Dove's Return - Áine Minogue
17. Angels in the Snow - David Arkenstone
18. Droichead (The Bridge) - Liam O'Flynn
19. Flow Gently Sweet Afton - William Coulter, Benjamin Verdery

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7999 in Music
• Brand: RCA
• Released on: 2004-10-26
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Amazon.com
Ten years on, there are five volumes available in Windham Hill’s hugely popular Celtic Christmas series and this collection gathers together more than 75 minutes of highlights from them. Special gems include the Irish band Altan’s lovely and ethereal Soillse Na Nollag, the late Scottish fiddler Johnny Cunningham’s King Holly, King Oak with its quote from one of the oldest lullaby carols of all, and Karan Casey’s delectable vocals wending their way through On A Winter's Day. Galician piper/flautist Carlos Núñez' frisky Galician Carol adds a welcome touch of Iberian light and joy amid what sometimes feels like unremitting reflection and restraint. The songs and carols are heard primarily in acoustic settings, from which marshmallow-like synth lines extrude from time to time. For the most part, though, the musicians lean toward organic textures even when exploring more contemporary treatments, so the overall effect is modern yet homey, warm and peaceful. --Christina Roden

Customer Reviews

You can never go wrong with Windham Hill
I recently purchased this CD and I am listening to it as I write this.There are quite a bit of tracks from Celtic Christmas Three so to me this CD feels more like a reissue of that CD, so if you already own that CD you may want to reconsider this purchase.The CD as a whole is what I'd expect from Winham Hill and they always seem to deliver the same high quality music. Although this CD is labeled as a Christmas CD it can be played throughout the entire year, yes, there are a few standard Christmas selections but a majority are original compositions. The only gripe I have is Patrick Cassidy's "Lament" has not been included on this CD,and is one of the most beatiful songs I've ever heard.
If your a Windham Hill fan, this CD is well worth the money.
Great for playing at Holiday get togethers for that added intamecy, or when your sitting in front of the fire on a cold winters night.....OR anytime during the year!
Simply magnifecent!

Good Celtic music
For the most part I liked this CD, but I almost wouldn't consider this a Holiday CD. The music was soothing & more like just regular Celtic music. It did have Altan & David Arkenstone on it, which is a major plus. I always like these artists.

Bought this last Christmas for 1 song and 1 song only...
Bought this last Christmas for 1 song and 1 song only... #7, Lully Lullay by Nightnoise. All I can say is ... WOW! The feelings that run through my body, my heart, my brain, and my soul... phenomenal!

I can't believe it's been almost a year since I bought this (December 2008) and it's almost December 2009. Just listened to it and it made me realize how much Christmas is about the spiritual feelings, rather than the gifts and sales and everything else that's been commercialized.

If you can, buy song #7... if you can't, then buy the entire CD (which is what I did) and listen to Lully Lullay by Nightnoise. The $8 price is worth just for that 1 song... can't get enough of it.

Thank you, Nightnoise!!!

-Lukas