Works

The most striking contrast on tonight’s program features vocal music by England’s Renaissance master, John Dowland (1563-1626), sandwiched between works written circa 1900. Dowland’s name continues to enchant as the voice of a significant era in cultural history (Elizabethan England), and his hundreds of delightful solo lute works are perhaps his signature efforts. His reputation blossomed in the early music movement of the mid-20th century, and recent recordings by Sting have made Dowland’s name a buzzword in non-classical circles. The lute was his own best instrument, and after working for many lucrative years in Denmark, this catholic musician returned to take a post as court lutenist under James I in 1612. Dowland also wrote songs (often with lute accompaniment) that draw inspiration both from the exceptional poetry of his contemporaries as well as the prevailing aesthetic mood known as “melancholy.”

(c) Jason Stell