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Seven Times Salt

Pilgrims' Progress: Music of the Plimoth Colony Settlers 1590-1650

Contrary to what the history books tell us, the Plimoth colonists or “Pilgrims” were a highly diverse, sometimes fractious group of Separatists and Anglicans, religious zealots and irreverent opportunists ---   many of whom lived in the Netherlands prior to emigrating, and some of whom were Dutch. They brought with them experiences of music as varied as their reasons for coming to the New World. This program follows the settlers from their homes in England’s cities and countryside, to religious refuge in the Netherlands, and onward to their challenging though fulfilling life in Plimoth Colony. The colonists worked hard and worshipped, but found time to entertain themselves with singing and games. You'll hear music of the Elizabethan tavern and theater; spirited catches by Thomas Ravenscroft; selections from the Dutch ‘t Uitnement Kabinet, stirring psalms from Sternhold & Hopkins’ Whole Booke of Psalmes, and vigorous tunes from Playford's The English Dancing Master performed on period instruments.

Seven Times Salt is a Boston-based early music ensemble specializing in repertoire of the 16th and 17th centuries. Praised for its creative programming and an “impeccably balanced sound,” the group has performed since 2003 at venues throughout New England including Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Plimoth Plantation, the New England Folk Festival, and WGBH radio. They have also researched and presented original programs for the Amherst, Bloomington, and Boston Early Music Festivals (Fringe), the Society for Historically Informed Performance, and their own self-produced concert series. They delight in blurring the lines between art music and folk tunes, and feel at ease performing in the concert hall, the dance hall, or the beer hall!  The members of Seven Times Salt are: Karen Burciaga, violin, voice; Dan Meyers, recorder, flute, percussion, voice; Josh Schreiber Shalem, bass viol, voice; Matthew Wright, lute, voice.