Life
John Dowland was an English composer, lutenist, and singer born in 1563, probably in Westminster, London, who died on 21 January 1626. After receiving a bachelor of music degree from Oxford in 1588, his conversion to Roman Catholicism cost him a hoped-for court post, prompting years of travel through European courts before he became lutenist to King Christian IV of Denmark in 1598. John Dowland eventually returned to England and was appointed a court lutenist to James I in 1612. Renowned for his melancholy songs and solo lute works, he composed around ninety lute pieces and published influential song collections, most famously the 1604 set Lachrimae, or Seaven Teares.
Impact
Dowland was the leading composer of lute song in Elizabethan and Jacobean England, elevating the solo song and consort music through his uniquely melancholic, expressive style tied to the era’s fascination with grief and longing. His pavan “Flow my tears” became one of the most widely circulated and arranged melodies of the period, and his instrumental writing shaped the English viol consort tradition for decades.
Repertoire
Flow, my tears (Lachrimae), 1600
Dowland’s most famous song, a setting of his own melancholic pavan melody that became one of the best-known pieces of the entire era.
Andreas Scholl sings ‘Flow, my tears’ by John Dowland — Performed by Andreas Scholl · Countertenor and lute
John Dowland – Flow my tears – Emma Kirkby & David Thomas — Performed by Emma Kirkby & David Thomas · Voice and consort performance
Lachrimae Antiquae Pavan, 1604
The opening pavan of Dowland’s Lachrimae, or Seaven Teares collection for viol consort and lute, built from the same melancholic theme as his famous song.
Fretwork – Pavan Lachrimae Antiquae (John Dowland) — Performed by Fretwork · Viol consort performance