One of the few English musicians whose fame as a composer spread throughout Europe during his lifetime, John Dowland (1563-1626) was also unsurpassed in his day as a lute virtuoso. The composer of 88 lute songs, Dowland had twice applied for the position of lutenist at the court of Elizabeth I and was rejected both times -- for religious reasons, it was thought. (He had converted to Catholicism during a Protestant reign.) His talents, however, were welcomed at courts in Germany, Venice, Florence, and Denmark. Since the ...
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One of the few English musicians whose fame as a composer spread throughout Europe during his lifetime, John Dowland (1563-1626) was also unsurpassed in his day as a lute virtuoso. The composer of 88 lute songs, Dowland had twice applied for the position of lutenist at the court of Elizabeth I and was rejected both times -- for religious reasons, it was thought. (He had converted to Catholicism during a Protestant reign.) His talents, however, were welcomed at courts in Germany, Venice, Florence, and Denmark. Since the early 20th century, Dowland's excellence as a song writer has been well established; and many of his compositions for lute -- long shrouded in obscurity -- have become well known. This collection of 45 songs includes all the works in his original Third Booke of Songs or Aires ; in A Pilgrime's Solace (his fourth collection); three contributions to his son Robert's A Musicall Banquet ; plus a lovely galliard -- a dance for solo guitar. Together with Nadal's Lute Songs of John Dowland (First and Second Books) , published in 1997, this compilation completes Dover's newly edited and engraved editions of Dowland's lute songs -- a rich oeuvre sure to be studied and enjoyed by singers, guitarists, and music lovers alike.
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