Dowland, John (1563–1626)

English composer and lutenist known for the expressively moody, downcast style of his music. Dowland was born in London and studied musical composition at the University of Oxford. He became a lute player for the English ambassador to France, where Dowland converted to the Catholic faith. Later he performed at the court of Queen Elizabeth I but failed to win an appointment from the queen because of his loyalty to Catholicism, a snub that in the opinion of some historians brought about his embittered and melancholy musical style. He journeyed later to Denmark, where he became court lutenist to the Danish king Christian IV. He won an appointment as official court lutenist by King James I. He began publishing collections of pieces for voice and lute in 1597, eventually publishing four books of more than eighty songs. His most famous works are melancholy songs that set the subjects of death and loss to beautifully flowing and balanced melodies, and accenting these melodies with strikingly dissonant notes and chords. Dowland's personal motto was “Dowland, Semper Dolens,” a pun in Latin that means “Dowland, Always Doleful,” taken from the name of one of his songs. Flow My Tears, his best-known piece, became one of the most commonly performed works of Renaissance music in modern times. He also wrote complex polyphonic suites, dance music, and sets of variations for the solo lute, as well as Seaven Teares Figured in Seaven Passionate Pavans, a piece based on Flow My Tears written for lute and five viols.

See Also: Byrd, William; music