Historical Dictionary of Renaissance

DOWLAND, JOHN

(1562—1626)
Dowland andThomas Campionrank as the leading English composers of songs for the lute. Dowland is noted for his subtle melody and for the verse that he wrote for the vocal part of the performance. His airFlow,My Tearswas his best-known song in the reign ofElizabeth Iand led him to compose a whole series ofLachrymae/Tears(1605) that conveys the spirit of melancholy that the composer wished to express.

  1. dowland, john—John Dowland was the foremost composer of English lute music. From an artisan family the seventeenyearold Dowland went to Paris in the service of the ambassador to France...Renaissance and Reformation 1500-1620_ A Biographical Dictionary