The Binghamton University Music Department will celebrate the 400th anniversary of composer John Dowland’s death with a concert of his music on Sunday, November 1.
Guitarist Paul Sweeny, who will perform at the concert, says Dowland’s music reflects the late Renaissance fascination with melancholy. “Melancholy was sort of a fad, a fashion, a pose, if you will, and he excelled,” Sweeny told WSKG’s Arts in Depth. Songs such as “Flow My Tears” and “In Darkness Let Me Dwell” explore the darker emotions, although Dowland also wrote cheerful music.
Much about Dowland’s life remains a mystery. Historians do not know where he was born, though some evidence points to Ireland. Sweeny says Dowland converted to Catholicism and may have been passed over for a position at Queen Elizabeth I’s court because of his religious beliefs.
Dowland spent much of his career traveling and working at European courts, including an extended period in Denmark. His experiences abroad brought new influences into his music, which bridges the late Renaissance and the emerging Baroque era.
“He lived at the time at the very late Renaissance, and his life extends into the beginning of what we call the Baroque period,” Sweeny said. He points to Dowland’s expressive melodies, beautiful poetry and increasingly adventurous harmonies as some of the music’s enduring attractions.
At the concert, Sweeny will perform solo works originally written for the lute, using an eight-string guitar that allows him to play the additional bass notes required by much of Dowland’s music. He will also collaborate with soprano Christina Taylor, who will perform ten songs throughout the program.
The musicians will be joined for one particularly distinctive work, Lasso vita mia (“Leave my life, it makes me die”), by cellist Andrew Walkling and recorder player Barbara Kaufman. Sweeny describes the piece as a striking example of Dowland’s engagement with the newer Italian musical style. The song also contains musical puns based on the syllables of its Italian text.
The anniversary has inspired other regional performances this year, including programs by NYS Baroque and the Southern Tier Singers Collective. Dowland died in late January 1626.
The concert takes place Sunday, November 1, at 4 p.m. in Casadesus Recital Hall in the Fine Arts Building on the Binghamton University campus. More information is available through the Binghamton University events calendar.