A traditional Christmas with the Salisbury Four

SALISBURY — On Saturday, Dec. 7 at the Congregational Church of Salisbury, the Salisbury Four performed a two-hour set of traditional music and carols in an old-fashioned style. The early evening performance, which was set to a backdrop of subdued lighting, featured respectful instrumentation and gentle interpretive dance movements at times.

Featuring soprano Zahra Brown, Judith Dansker on oboe and recorder, Christopher Morrongiello on the lute, and soprano/harpist Marcia Young, the quartet began with “Da Day Dawis,” a traditional tune of the Shetland Islands which was historically played at dawn on Christmas Day, and then launched into the “Cherry Tree Carol.” Other songs included “A Glee at Christmas,” “Light of Love,” “In Dulci Jubilo” “Lo How a Rose” and standard non-secular holiday fare such as “Silent Night,” “Good King Wenceslas,” “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” and “Angels We Have Heard On High.”

The Salisbury Four are all highly accomplished musicians. Brown is an early music specialist and the co-founder of the Parnassus historical dance ensemble. Dansker is a graduate of Juilliard whose performances in baroque chamber music have earned her accolades. Morrongiello is a graduate of the Royal College of Music and Oxford University who teaches music history at Hofstra University. Young is a director of performances studies in the music department at Stern College, Yeshiva University with a resumé that includes medieval and performances at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cloisters and the San Francisco Early Music festival.