While in Florence, Dowland became involved with a group of exiled English Catholics plotting to assassinate Queen Elizabeth, but he fled and reported the matter to the English court.
Composer Biography
John Dowland, the composer, was a restless and melancholic figure, even entitling one of his pavans "Semper Dowland, Semper Dolens" (Always Dowland, Always Grieving).
Composer Biography
Dowland converted to Roman Catholicism in Paris, which he believed caused his rejection for a lutenist's post at the English court in 1594.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Dowland's fancies make the lute 'speak as never before,' transforming it into the 'most musicall instrument,' a vision shared with his Florentine colleague Vincenzo Galilei.
Historical Context
Melancholy was a common and even fashionable illness in Elizabethan England, associated with sadness, abnormal mental states, refinement, and masculine intellect.
Compositional Technique
Dowland's solo lute music is exceptionally virtuosic and idiomatic, showing he was an incredible performer who invented new techniques and extended the instrument's limits.
Instruments
The lute used for this recording is a 'tenor' instrument, tuned a tone lower than modern standard pitch, which was common around 1600, giving it a deeper, more resonant sound.
