The Delight of Solitariness: The Lute Songs of John Dowland

Featuring

Donna Stewart
Ron Andrico
Duo Mignarda
John Dowland
Anonymous

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Compositional Technique

Dowland's original publications of lute songs included not only parts for solo voice and lute, but also four or more vocal parts, ingeniously formatted for an ensemble seated around a table.

Performer Biography

Mezzo-soprano Donna Stewart's understanding of historical sacred music stems from two decades with a schola cantorum providing liturgical music for a weekly Latin Tridentine Mass.

Recording & Production

Mignarda chose to create their own label and handle their own distribution for their first album in 2005, despite an offer from the Naxos label.

Compositional Technique

Dowland's writing for the lute employed characteristic plucked-string techniques like cross-string suspensions, rhythmic syncopations, and running passages interspersed with expressive chordal events.

Performer Biography

Lutenist Ron Andrico edited and published the original lute solos of virtuoso lutenist Ronn McFarlane and collaborated with noted Harvard musicologist John Ward.

Composition History

John Dowland's lute songs represent the pinnacle of a musical form and tradition that was evident throughout Europe for at least 100 years before his First Booke of Songes or Ayres was published in 1597.

Album & Artwork

The album title, 'The Delight of Solitariness,' is drawn from the song 'O sweet woods, the delight of solitariness,' which is adapted from Sir Philip Sidney's posthumously published Arcadia.