John Dowland

John Dowland is one of my favourite 16th cent composers, he was one of those Catholics who seem to have been swept up into Walsinghams spy ring, trying to not quite put his neck on the line. He blamed his not being appointed to the post of Queen's Lutenist on his Catholicism, though it not bar Byrd from a court position, he had to wait to the accession of James and his Catholic wife Anne for his appointment, after which he seems to have stopped composing. The beauty of Dowland's lute compositions are unquestionable, his songs have a sense of chant about them, so often using a "reciting note" which dominates the composition. I get the impression that he is a depressive, taking on the Elizabethan "dump", which seemed to have become a fashion as the old queen moved to her death. So many of his later songs are truly melancholy, a friend who used to listen to Dowland as she was dying of cancer sad that he raised sorrow to an art form.

For more look here.

I went to a concert of John Potter's Dowland Project at the Purcell Room, his recordings are rather beautiful performances, the concert which were advertised as a "prima vista" performance was rather lack lustre, a bit of a dissappointment.