Dowland: Selected Lute Music

Featuring

Jakob Lindberg
John Dowland

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Performer Biography

Jakob Lindberg is the first lutenist to have recorded the complete solo lute music by John Dowland, and his recording of Bach's music for solo lute is considered a significant interpretation.

Compositional Technique

Dowland's solo lute music is exceptionally varied, ranging from light, frivolous pieces to profound works expressing deep melancholy.

Compositional Technique

Dowland was a master of writing divisions, particularly evident in his pavans where varied repeats are full of invention, decorating the music with scale passages and arpeggiated figures.

Composition History

Dowland was disappointed in 1594 when his application for the vacant post of court lutenist to Queen Elizabeth was rejected, which he believed was due to his religion.

Instruments

The recording features an 8-course lute and an 8-course orpharion, a wire-strung instrument with a flat back that was tuned like a lute, making their music interchangeable.

Compositional Technique

Many of Dowland's lute solos were given texts to become lute songs, including his famous pavan Lachrima, which he published as Flow my teares.

Composer Biography

John Dowland, a lutenist and composer, converted to Catholicism in his late teens while serving as a servant to Sir Henry Cobham, Ambassador to the King of France, in Paris.