Pilgrims' Progress: Music of the Plimoth Colony Settlers

The Plimoth colonists, or “Pilgrims” as they were later called, were a diverse group of Separatists and Anglicans, religious zealots and irreverent opportunists. They brought with them music experiences as varied as their reasons for coming to the New World, and the Plimoth Colony heard not just solemn English psalms, but also catches, ballads, and dance tunes. Our program features music of Morley and Dowland, catches by Ravenscroft, and selections from the Dutch ‘t Uitnement Kabinet, the Ainsworth Psalter, and John Playford’s English Dancing Master. You’ll also hear fictional “diary entries” read in Original Pronunciation, the English of Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth I–and the Pilgrims!

Join Seven Times Salt in Shirley’s beautiful 1773 meetinghouse as they trace the colonists’ journey from turbulent England to religious refuge in the Netherlands and on to their challenging, yet fulfilling, new lives on the unfamiliar shores of New England.

Karen Burciaga – baroque violin, treble viol, guitar, percussion, voice
Dan Meyers – recorder, flute, bagpipes, percussion, voice
Josh Schreiber Shalem – bass viol, voice
Matthew Wright – lute, bandora, voice

Presented by The Shirley Meeting House