Dowland john

The original (ancient) pronunciation of the first syllable in the word Dowland (judging by some testimonies of the 16th — 17th centuries) suggested a diphthong “oy” ^[8] (as in the word know ). In the modern English-speaking world, the pronunciation of the name through a diphthong "ay" (as in the word now ) has been established. In the future text of the article uses the modern standard.

About childhood and adolescence Dowland almost nothing is known. In 1580 he was in the service of the British ambassador in Paris; there he was baptized as a Catholic. He returned to England around 1584; in 1588 at the University of Oxford (at Christ Church College) received a bachelor of music degree. In 1594, he unsuccessfully claimed the position of a lutenist at the Elizabethan court, after which he went to Rome , where he hoped to talk with the famous composer (and lute player) Luca Marenzio . On the way to Italy, I visited a number of German aristocratic courts, in Wolfenbüttel and Kassel . Arriving in Florence, he was involved in a circle of English Catholics in exile, who were making a plot against Queen Elizabeth. Dowland wanted nothing to do with them. He abandoned the idea of ​​meeting Marenzio in Rome and immediately set off on his way back (with a stop in Nuremberg); probably in 1596 he again found himself in England. In 1597, Dowland's first compilation of essays, The First Booke of Songes, was published, on the title of which the author recommends himself as a “bachelor of music from both universities”. In 1598-1606 Dowland served as a lute player at the court of the king of Denmark, Christian IV , where he received a generous salary. In 1609 in London, the treatise “Micrologist on Practical Music” by Andreas Ornithoparhus ( lat. Musicae activae micrologus ; 1517) was translated by Dowland from Latin ^[9] . From 1612 until the end of the days, Dowland was a lute player at the court of Jacob I. From 1621 they began to refer to him as "Dr. Dowland"; however, where and under what circumstances a composer could get a degree was unclear.

Most of Dowland's music is created for the lute. These are several compilations of solo pieces (mostly with a dance base: pavans , galliards , allemands , jigs , grounds , etc., altogether more than 110), songs (“arias”) for voice and lute, consorts (including those featuring lute) . In Dowland's instrumental music, the processing of well-known (“folk”) melodies, for example, the extremely popular Une jeune fillette and Susanne un jour ^[10], are not uncommon.

The general mood of Dowland's music is sad and dreamy, even melancholic. The title of one of his plays Semper Dowland, semper dolens (lat. "Always Dowland, always grieving") is characteristic, the title is based on the paronymic closeness of the sound of Dowland and lat. dolens .

The most famous essay by Dauland Lachrimae (Latin “tears”) was created by the author in three editions - for the lute (original version), then as the song “Pour My Tears” (1600) and, finally, processed for the consort . In 1604 he published a collection of consort music called Lachrimae or Seaven Teares (21 pieces ), which opens with seven “ tearful ” paws with similar Latin headings: (1) Lachrimae antiquae (on the same theme as the song Flow my tears ), (2) Lachrimae antiquae novae , (3) Lachrimae gementes , (4) Lachrimae tristes , (5) Lachrimae coactae , (6) Lachrimae amantis , (7) Lachrimae verae .

Dowland is primarily a secular composer. Among the few spiritual compositions the collection of solo and ensemble songs ( eng. Part-songs ) “The consolation of a wanderer” ( A pilgrimes solace ; 1612) is the most interesting. The processing of the psalms (38, 100, 104, 130, 134), which are short pieces with a syllabic chant of the text in a simplified monorithmic texture, are intended for liturgical (Anglican) use. In the same style sustained the collection "Lamentations of Mr. Henry Noel" ( Mr. Henry Noell Lamentations , for vocal ensemble; 1597), which included English metric (free) arrangements of Miserere , De profundis, and other psalms.

A complete thematic and systematic catalog of Dowland's writings (as of April 2018) does not exist. Dowland's lute compositions are usually identified by Diane Poulton (for example, Melancholy Galliard , P25) ^[11] .

During the 20th century, Dowland's music experienced a second birth, both due to the general growth of interest in the musical culture of the Renaissance and Baroque, and due to the expansion of the repertoire of the academic guitar due to lute music. In 1976-1980 Dowland's complete works were recorded by Briton Anthony Ruley (Rooley) with the ensemble The Consort of Musicke, with the participation of guest musicians ^[12] .

Dowland's music has been used repeatedly by Benjamin Britten . He twice processed Dowland's famous song “Lachrimae” (for viola and piano, and for viola and orchestra). The basis of "Nocturne" (for guitar, 1963; dedicated to guitarist and lute player Julian Brim ) Britten put another song by Dowland, "Come, heavy sleep". In 2006, Sting, together with Bosnian lute player E. Karamazov, released the album Songs from the Labyrinth , the program of which was composed mainly of Dowland's lute compositions.

In honor of Dowland named crater on Mercury .

• The music of John of Dowland, ed. D. Poulton and B. Lam. London, 1974.
• John Dowland: Complete consort music, ed. E. Hunt. London, 1985.
• John Dowland: Ayres for four voices, ed. D. Greer // Musica Britannica, VI (2000).

• Olshausen U. Das lautenbegleitete Sololied in England um 1600. Frankfurt, 1963
• Ward JM A Dowland Miscellany // Journal of the Lute Society of America 10 (1977), 5-153
• Poulton D. John Dowland. 2nd revised ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982.
• Ward JM Music for Elizabethan Lutes. Oxford, 1992
• Pinto D. Dowland's Tears: Aspects of Lachrimae // The Lute, xxxvii (1997), 44-75
• Holman P. Dowland: Lachrimae (1604) (Cambridge, 1999)
• Spring M. The Lute in Britain: Music. Oxford, 2001

• John Dowland: Sheet Music at the International Music Score Library Project