Life
Robert Dowland was an English lutenist and composer, born around 1591 as the son of the celebrated lutenist-composer John Dowland. Raised partly amid his father’s service at the Danish royal court, he grew up surrounded by leading musicians of the day. In 1610 he published two important collections, A Varietie of Lute Lessons and A Musicall Banquet, gathering works by leading English and continental lutenists alongside a handful of his own compositions and a translated treatise on lute technique. He performed in a court masque in 1613 and later traveled in Europe with an acting troupe during the 1620s. Following his father’s death in 1626, Robert Dowland succeeded him as one of the King’s Lutes, a royal post he held until his own death in 1641.
Impact
Robert Dowland’s lasting importance lies less in his own modest compositional output — only a handful of pieces are securely attributed to him — than in his work as an editor and anthologist. A Varietie of Lute Lessons and A Musicall Banquet preserved and transmitted lute repertoire by his father and by leading French, Italian, and English composers, including a rare printed lute-playing treatise, making them indispensable primary sources for understanding early seventeenth-century lute technique and repertoire across Europe.
Repertoire
Pavan (from A Varietie of Lute Lessons), 1610
One of Robert Dowland’s rare original compositions, included in his 1610 anthology dedicated to Sir Thomas Monson.
Pavan from Robert Dowland’s “A Varietie of Lute Lessons” — Performed by Betho Davezac · lute
The Right Honourable the Lord Viscount Lisle, His Galliard, 1610
A galliard from Robert Dowland’s A Musicall Banquet (1610), his celebrated anthology of English, French, Spanish and Italian lute ayres.
From Robert Dowland, a Musicall Banquet: The Right Honourable the Lord Viscount Lisle, His… — Performed by Jakob Lindberg · lute
Almande (from the Margaret Board Lute Book), c. 1620
A stately almain attributed to Robert Dowland, surviving in the Margaret Board Lute Book manuscript.
Robert Dowland – Almande – Lute – Luth — Performed by Luthval · lute
Robert Dowland – Allemande (Jacobean lute) — Performed by Yair Avidor · Jacobean lute