Dowland: Lachrimae 1604

John Dowland, the finest lutenist of his age and one of England’s greatest composers, died 400 years ago in 1626.

In 1604, he published the extraordinary collection of music for viols and lute called ‘Lachrimae’. Before a series of wonderfully lively galliards, many drawn from his songs, Dowland presents a transcendental journey based on his most famous song, ‘Flow my teares’. The falling fourth emblem is subjected to intense scrutiny and transformation, with a sequence that maps a voyage from despair to hope, from falling to rising, and from minor to major.

As Dowland says in his dedication to Queen Anne of Denmark: 'And though the title doth promise teares, unfit guests in these ioyfull times, yet no doubt pleasant are the teares which Musicke weepes, neither are teares shed alwayes in sorrow, but sometime in ioy and gladnesse.'

Adrian Williams wrote Teares to Dreams in 2004 for the Cheltenham Festival. It is a beautiful and poignant reflection on Dowland’s pavans, employing the same forces, yet bringing a contemporary sensibility to the 17th century form.

Programme:
John Dowland The King of Denmark’s Galiard
The Earle of Essex’s Galiard
M John Langton’s Pavan
Sir John Souch his Galiard
Captaine Piper his Galiard
Piper’s Pavan for lute solo
M Henry Noell his Galiard
M Giles Hoby his Galiard
Sir Henry Umpton’s Funerall
Mrs Nichols Almand
Nicho. Gryffith his Galiard
Fantasia in G for lute solo
M. George Whitehead his Almand
M. Bucton his Galiard
Semper Dowland semper Dolens
Adrian Williams Teares to Dreams (2004)
John Dowland Lachrimæ Antiquæ
Lachrimæ Antiquæ Novæ
Lachrimæ Gementes
Lachrimæ Tristes
Lachrimæ Coactæ
Lachrimæ Amantis
Lachrimæ Veræ

This choral evensong will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.