John Dowland's Lacrimae

Throughout September, the Daily Classical Music Post celebrates the music of 15th-, 16th-, and 17th-century England.


https://youtu.be/1MomSASPDP0

John Dowland (1563–buried 20 February 1626) was born a Protestant, but he apparently converted to Catholicism when he was 17 and went to France as a "servant" to the ambassador to the King of France. As he never made a big deal out of his conversion, this didn't stop him becoming favored by a member of Elizabeth I's court. Although he did spend several years in the employ of the king of Denmark, he was not subject to the penalties with which many recusants (those who remained loyal to the Roman Catholic Church and did not support the Church of England) had to deal.

His best known instrumental work, Lachrimae, or Seaven Teares, Figured in Seaven Passionate Pavans, a set of seven pavanes for five viols and lute, was based on the theme derived from his very popular lute song "Flow my tears." It became one of the best known collections of consort music in his time. Ileen Zovluck says, "Dowland complained of neglect and misuse by the musical community: nearly every collection from this period features Dowland's works, but often the composer was not acknowledged. At the time his Lachrimae was recognized from the court down to the hoi palloi, but this wide audience and sustained popularity did not satisfy Dowland."

The viol (also known as the viola da gamba) is a bowed, fretted, and stringed musical instrument developed in the mid-15th century, and were made in five sizes in the 15th to 17th centuries: treble, alto, tenor, bass, and contrabass. Viol consorts (ensembles consisting of different sizes of viols) were common in the 16th and 17th centuries. Only the treble, tenor, and bass sizes were regular members of the viol consort, which consisted of three, four, five, or six instruments. Music for consorts was very popular in England in Elizabethan times. The last music for viol consorts before their modern revival was probably written in the early 1680s by Henry Purcell.

My classical music post for today is John Dowland's Lacrimae.

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