The Plimoth settlers, 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. “Pilgrims’ Progress” traces the Plimoth colonists' journey from turbulent England to religious refuge in the Netherlands and on to their new lives on the unfamiliar shores of New England. 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 aloud in Original Pronunciation, the English of Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth I--and the Pilgrims!

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Take a tour of 17th-century London’s taverns, markets and well-appointed homes with music for the consort-of-six, a favored ensemble during Elizabeth I’s reign. Works include virtuosic settings from Thomas Morley’s First Booke of Consort Lessons; a generous helping of country dance tunes; and our own arrangements of broadside ballads about epic battles, musicians making trouble, and that most perennial of all subjects...beer.

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Some of the finest composers of 17th-century England spent most of their career in other countries. For some, this was a professional consideration, while others were avoiding religious discrimination or the long arm of the law! The most famous is John Dowland, the melancholy lutenist who became England’s foremost musical ambassador to Northern Europe, but there were many others such as violinist Thomas Simpson, Catholic organist Peter Phillips, and viol player/mercenary soldier Tobias Hume. Their work informed a whole generation of Continental composers. This program features music of these talented expatriates, including our original arrangements of keyboard works by John Bull.

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We explore the unique crossroads of 18th-century Scottish folk and classical traditions. In 1707, the nation’s Union with England sparked a patriotic surge of interest in Scotland’s own music tradition. As the Scottish Enlightenment swept the nation, Edinburgh became a hotbed of concerts, dances, and patronage of the arts. Professional musicians and country fiddlers crossed paths at coffeehouses and music salons, while local composers produced masterful settings of familiar folk tunes. You’ll hear traditional tunes for fiddle and pipes; virtuosic variations by Oswald, McGibbon, and Bremner; songs of love, mourning and patriotism by revered poet Robert Burns; and jigs, reels, and strathspeys to set your toes tapping. We include selections from the Balcarres lute book, the Dixon bagpipe manuscript, and the Scots Musical Museum. We’ll pay homage to 18th-century Scottish drawing rooms and dance halls where the only difference between a fiddler and a violinist was the music in front of him!

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“Fair Phoenix” tells the remarkable story of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia. Born in Scotland in 1596, Elizabeth later married Frederick V of the Palatinate, who ascended to the throne of Bohemia in 1619 only to be deposed the following year. Elizabeth’s brief reign earned her the nickname “The Winter Queen.” We follow The Winter Queen’s tumultuous life story with celebratory music from England on the occasion of her wedding in 1613, music borne of religious anguish during the Thirty Years’ War, and finally music of mourning and hope following Elizabeth’s exile from Bohemia and eventual return home in the first years of the Restoration.

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Visit a time of perhaps familiar political unrest–the English Civil War and Interregnum. This tumultuous era (1640-1660) produced music that resonated deeply for both commoners and nobility throughout the British Isles. The royalist Cavaliers and Cromwell’s “roundheads” both produced songs that satirized the opposition and promoted their own views or glorified martial heroes. Charles I’s court contained many notable musicians, including viol player and composer William Lawes; he gave his life for the Royalist cause, but not before composing some of the most sublime and bizarre consort music of the 17th century. The program features music by Lawes, Jenkins, Tomkins and Locke, selections from The English Dancing Master, and our own settings of Civil War ballads from both sides!

London's Inns of Court, where lawyers have trained for centuries, held lavish winter festivities during Queen Elizabeth I's reign. Nightly revels gave law students a welcome break from their studies, offering the chance to act, sing, dance and drink alongside the public and nobility alike! Masques with ornate sets and fantastical costumes spared no expense and concluded with rambunctious country dances for all. Our program includes comic and dramatic songs by Campion, Dowland, and Robert Johnson; masquing tunes by Coperario and Morley; and the old measures, or ceremonial court dances, in our own arrangements for broken consort.

Queen Elizabeth I's reign from 1558-1603 saw a time of relative peace, numerous voyages of discovery, triumph over the Spanish Armada, and an outpouring of music, poetry and plays. In this program, we present restorations of works from the Cambridge Consort Books of 1595 as well as music of the Elizabethan court and theater, songs of city life and maritime adventure, and high-spirited catches and country dances. Includes works by Dowland, Morley, Ravenscroft, Hume and Byrd, broadside ballads, and choice selections from the English Dancing Master.

Take a musical tour of the American colonies, from the first settlers at Plimoth to their descendants on the eve of the Revolution and victory at Yorktown. We present music of 1620-1780 such as refined English consorts, early shapenote hymns, songs of liberty and taxation, wartime laments, and some of George Washington's favorite dance tunes! Includes music of Dowland, Ravenscroft, Arne, Billings and others.