Stile Antico
The Journey of the Mayflower
Available free on YouTube until 28 November 2021

This is not a review, but an alert that the excellent vocal group Stile Antico have re-released their 2020 film, The Journey of the Mayflower, on their YouTube channel. It is available free for one week until the end of 28 November 2021. In this music drama, Stile Antico explore the story of the Mayflower Pilgrims, alongside music of the period. The Mayflower Pilgrims were puritans who sailed from Plymouth in September 1620 to what would become New England, seeking a life free from religious persecution. Despite their confidence that God’s favour was with them, their journey was beset with difficulties. Their arrival also heralded an era of destruction for the native Wampanoag tribe.

Using a script written by dramatist Katharine Armitage, Stile Antico shines a light on the unheard voices of the time. The hour-long film reflects the life of the Pilgrims and the Mayflower crew. Extracts from ‘Of Plimouth Plantation’, the diary of William Bradford, the colony’s first governor, give a detailed account of the Pilgrims’ journey from the North of England, via the Low Countries, to New England. The spoken text is interspersed with some of the finest vocal music of the time.

Music in order of appearance
(with time stamps jump to individual pieces)

John Amner A Stranger here (00:00:37)
Thomas Tomkins Woe is me (00:08:29)
Orlando Gibbons O clap your hands (00:14:38)
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck Estans assis aux rives aquatiques [Psalm 137] (00:20:40)
Thomas Tomkins O God, the proud are risen against me (00:24:39)
Thomas Campion Never weather beat’n sail (00:28:51)
John Dowland Shout to Jehovah, all the earth (00:34:18)
William Byrd Praise our Lord, all ye gentiles (00:39:08)
Thomas Morley Laboravi in gemitu meo (00:46:47)
William Byrd Retire my soul (00:55:10)
Thomas Tomkins O sing unto the Lord a new song (01:02:33)