John Dowland tunes

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From Wikipedia:

John Dowland (1563 – buried 20 February 1626) was an English Renaissance composer, lutenist, and singer. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as "Come, heavy sleep" (the basis of Benjamin Britten's 1963 composition for guitar solo, Nocturnal after John Dowland), "Come again", "Flow my tears", "I saw my Lady weepe" and "In darkness let me dwell", but his instrumental music has undergone a major revival, and with the 20th century's early music revival, has been a continuing source of repertoire for lutenists and classical guitarists.

In Darkness Let Me Dwell

In darkness let me dwell; the ground shall sorrow be,
The roof despair, to bar all cheerful light from me;
The walls of marble black, that moist’ned still shall weep;
My music, hellish jarring sounds, to banish friendly sleep.
Thus, wedded to my woes, and bedded in my tomb,
O let me living die, till death doth come, till death doth come.

Sting discusses this piece and covers it...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBJkb5wrw-Q


As more typically heard...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBVIJnqtYfs

Flow, My Tears

Flow, my tears, fall from your springs!
Exiled for ever, let me mourn;
Where night’s black bird her sad infamy sings,
There let me live forlorn.

Down vain lights, shine you no more!
No nights are dark enough for those
That in despair their last fortunes deplore.
Light doth but shame disclose.

Never may my woes be relieved,
Since pity is fled;
And tears and sighs and groans my weary days, my weary days
Of all joys have deprived.

From the highest spire of contentment
My fortune is thrown;
And fear and grief and pain for my deserts, for my deserts
Are my hopes, since hope is gone.

Hark! you shadows that in darkness dwell,
Learn to contemn light
Happy, happy they that in hell
Feel not the world’s despite.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3clX2CJqzs

[catfish1957]

Dang, my eyes are getting old. All I saw was join Downloaded Tunes.   

[Suppressed]

Dang, my eyes are getting old. All I saw was join Downloaded Tunes.   

HA!   

Well, I imagine they can be downloaded....

[Wingnut]

Dang, my eyes are getting old. All I saw was join Downloaded Tunes.   

 

[The_Reader_David]

As they used to say, "Semper Dowland, semper dolens."

Great composer.

Back before the internet, I bought CDs of his complete works.  Now they take up a great deal of room in my iTunes library.

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As they used to say, "Semper Dowland, semper dolens."

Yes, quite a sense of humour!

Great composer.

Back before the internet, I bought CDs of his complete works.  Now they take up a great deal of room in my iTunes library.

Excellent!

Have any favourites?

[The_Reader_David]

Yes, quite a sense of humour!


Excellent!

Have any favourites?

"I saw my lady weep", and any of his pavanes and galliards.

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"I saw my lady weep", and any of his pavanes and galliards.

There's something about those pavanes and galliards that puts me at ease.

[The_Reader_David]

Prompted by this thread, I went to find my collected works CD again (even though its content is now in my computer) and found that Sting is really fond of Dowland:  a sticker indicating a special price for the set includes a quote from him,  "He [Dowland] was really the first singer/songwriter we know of, so a lot of us owe our living to this man."

[Suppressed]

Prompted by this thread, I went to find my collected works CD again (even though its content is now in my computer) and found that Sting is really fond of Dowland:  a sticker indicating a special price for the set includes a quote from him,  "He [Dowland] was really the first singer/songwriter we know of, so a lot of us owe our living to this man."

Yup.  I've heard him do a few pieces.

What is the collection you have? 

[The_Reader_David]

John Dowland, The Collected Works, a 12 CD set put out by L'Oiseau-Lyre.  The cover indicates the performer(s) as The Consort of Music directed by Anthony Rooley, but some of the CDs are performed by various lutenists and keyboardists.