Background
John was born on 20 February in 1563 in London, England.
(John Dowlands gifts as an exceptional melodist are eviden...)
John Dowlands gifts as an exceptional melodist are evident throughout Lachrimae or Seven Tears, an artistic achievement which has cast a remarkable spell on early music. Summing up the Renaissance preoccupation with melancholy, this extraordinary collection of dance music for viols and lute includes Dowlands signature piece, Semper Dowland semper Dolens. Dowland reveals a personal world of sublime sadness, grief, anger and melancholy mollified by moments of joy and gladness. A skilled lutenist, Dowlands intricately-worked parts demand perfect synchronicity between Phantasm and Elizabeth Kenny, who rise to the technical and tempi challenges of marrying their instruments. The popularity of Dowlands music in his own lifetime continued through the centuries with Lawes, Jenkins and Gibbons all paying homage to Dowlands Tears. Although freed from lyric constraints poetic images linger prompting Phantasms Laurence Dreyfus to describe this as the most sensuously tuneful hour of music ever written. Phantasm has been widely acclaimed for its previous recordings: its 2015 recording of Lawes was named Limelights Chamber Recording of the Year, its 2011 recording of Byrd was named Disc of the Month by BBC Music, and it won a 2004 Gramophone Award for its recording of Viol Consorts by Gibbons. Critics have described the ensemble and its recordings as intoxicating, revelatory, electrifying and interpretations pervaded by a truly burning spirit. The award-winning ensemble has been applauded across the globe for its moving performances and is recognised as the most exciting viol consort active on the world scene today. Phantasms international members (from Britain, Finland and the US) have toured extensively across Europe, North America and East Asia.
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(Now revered as a titan of the lute and one of today's pre...)
Now revered as a titan of the lute and one of today's pre-eminent early music scholars, it may come as a surprise that Paul O'Dette began his musical career playing electric guitar in a rock band in Columbus, Ohio. After exploring guitar transcriptions of lute music he opted to focus solely on the lute and music of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. In addition to a catalog of more than 120 recordings, O'Dette has garnered five GRAMMY nominations and numerous other awards. The music of John Dowland has long been one of O'Dette's specialties. This selection presents excerpts from his recording of Dowland's complete music for lute for harmonia mundi.
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John was born on 20 February in 1563 in London, England.
Nothing is known of his early training. In 1588 Dowland received his bachelor of arts degree at Christ Church, Oxford. In 1597 Dowland received a degree from Cambridge.
From about 1580 until sometime before July 1584 he served as a musician to Sir Henry Cobham, the English ambassador in Paris, and his successor, Sir Edward Stafford. Unable to obtain employment in England, possibly because he had been converted to Roman Catholicism in Paris, he visited the courts of Brunswick and Hesse and then traveled to Venice and Florence.
He still could find no employment in England, so he took a position at the court of Christian IV of Denmark, whom he served from 1598 until 1607. Apparently released for unsatisfactory service, he returned to England, where it seems that his renunciation of Catholicism opened doors formerly closed to him. He entered the service of Lord Walden. At last, in 1612, he was appointed a King's Musician for the Lutes at the court of James I. He held this position until his death in 1626 and was succeeded by his son, Robert.
Such songs as "Come again, sweet love" and "Lady if you so spite me" exhibit his skill in the merry vein. A diametrically opposite character is to be found in the pathetic melancholy songs for which he is better known. The most expressive of these, such as "Sorrow stay, " "I saw my lady weep, " and "Flow my tears, " relate in literary content as in melodic substance to Dowland's instrumental collection, Lachrimae, or Seaven Teares Figured in Seaven Passionate Pavans (1605). The gently descending "Lachrimae" motive established its own tradition and was imitated not only by Dowland's contemporaries, but also by composers in the late 17th century.
(Now revered as a titan of the lute and one of today's pre...)
(John Dowlands gifts as an exceptional melodist are eviden...)
He had converted to Catholicism during a Protestant reign. He became a Roman Catholic around 1580.
Dowland's melancholic lyrics and music have often been described as his attempts to develop an "artistic persona" though he was actually a cheerful person.
Quotes from others about the person
The poet Richard Barnfield wrote that Dowland's "heavenly touch upon the lute doth ravish human sense. "
John Dowland was married and had children. His son Robert Dowland was also a musician, working for some time in the service of the first Earl of Devonshire, and taking over his father's position of lutenist at court when John died.