Dowland's dedication for Lachrimæ notes that music can express tears of joy, happiness, and relief, not just despair and sadness.
Compositional Technique
Dowland's use of the lute in the Lachrimæ pavans is unique, acting as both a continuo instrument and a solo concerto, stretching the instrument's possibilities.
Composition History
John Dowland's Lachrimæ or Seven Teares was conceived in Denmark while he was a musician at the Danish court and finished during a visit to England.
Performer Biography
Emma Kirkby, the soprano on this album, was awarded a DBE in 2007 and the Queen's Medal for Music in 2011 for her contributions to music.
Composer Biography
John Dowland, the composer, converted to Catholicism in Paris as a young man and became involved with Catholic plotters seeking to depose Elizabeth I, which may have hindered his court appointments.
Cultural Impact
The Lachrimæ Pavan, later known as 'Flow my tears', inspired hundreds of other settings throughout the 17th century by composers like William Byrd and Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck.
Instruments
The Chelys Consort of Viols plays on reproductions of 17th-century viols strung entirely in gut, which gives the group a distinctive sound.
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