John Dowland

John Dowland (1563-1626) is one of the most brilliant British composers of the Renaissance, one of the best songwriters of all time -including Henry Purcell-, and one of the most outstanding artists during the reign of Elizabeth I of England. Among his artistic production, his voluminous corpus of songs is invaluable, as well as his excellent collection of works for lute, in such a way that he shines with his own light among his contemporaries, among whom are composers and lutenists of the importance of William Byrd, Josquin des Près, Jacob Obrecht, Adrian Willaert, Adrian Le Roy, Alfonso Ferrabosco the Younger, Thomas Campion or Luca Marenzio. His complex and depressive personality marked his artistic creation, and his Catholic origin was an obstacle to achieving a position at court, given the prevailing Calvinism in English society, at a time when Catholics began to be persecuted and sentenced to death. . The prevailing puritanism nurtured a certain fascination with the idea of ??melancholy, with the darkest and most intimate part of life, which can be seen in many of his pieces. The simplicity, melodic purity and perfection of the verbal phrasing of Dowland's songs have established him as an unsurpassed virtuoso of the lute, being the favorite composer of important female lutenists of the time: Queen Elizabeth I herself, Lady Mary Wroth, Lady Isabella Rich or Anne Clifford.