The Songs of Dowland

The Songs of Dowland
Author(s): Edmund H. Fellowes

Source: Proceedings of the Musical Association , 1929 - 1930, 56th Sess. (1929 - 1930), pp.
1-26
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of the Royal Musical Association
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NOVEMBER 5, 1929.
E. J. DENT, ESQ., M.A., Mus.B.,

PRESIDENT,
IN THE CHAIR.
THE SONGS OF DOWLAND
BY REV. EDMUND H. FELLOWES, M.A., Mus.D.
MY purpose this afternoon is not to attempt to say much

that is new or original about this great English composer,
but rather to introduce him to you as a song-writer and to
let you hear some of his songs. For, strange as it may seem,
Dowland is still in the position of requiring an introduction
even to English musicians. His name is certainly rather
more widely known than it was ten or twenty years ago,
yet his songs are far too rarely to be found in concert
programmes, and few singers seem to know more than
about half a dozen of them. And apart from singers, a
large section of the English musical world still remains in
complete ignorance as to the value of his work. If anyone
should dispute this statement let him turn to a certain
important work of reference recently published where he
will find Dowland briefly described as "an old English
composer of considerable note in his time." And it was
my own experience only last month to be told by one of our
leading English musicians that he " had a grudge against
Dowland" for the reason that he started the fashion of
writing part-songs for four voices and thus lowered the taste
of singers and composers, alienating them from the cult of
the madrigal. I granted at once that if Dowland had
contributed nothing to music besides part-songs for four
voices, beautiful though some of these are (and he probably
was acquainted with nothing beyond " Now, O now" and
"Awake, sweet love "), that contribution would not
perhaps have immortalized his name; but I then elicited
that my friend was absolutely and entirely ignorant of the
bare fact that Dowland was a composer of solo songs!
I may add that in the article on "Song" in the new
edition of " Grove," Dowland's work claims no more than
a passing notice.

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Yet there are a few musicians who have discerned the
outstanding merit of the songs of this great Elizabethan,
who ranks as a star of the first magnitude in that brilliant
constellation which included Byrd, Morley, Weelkes, Wilbye
and Orlando Gibbons, all of whom were living and working
at the turn of the sixteenth to the seventeenth century.
For example, Ernest Newman some years ago made the
statement that Dowland not only out-shone all his contem-
poraries as a song-writer, but is fairly to be placed among
half a dozen of the world's greatest song-writers. The
exact grading of any class of composers on the lines of
American lawn-tennis champions is ticklish work, but there
are several prominent musicians who cordially endorse the
opinion of Mr. Newman in so far as it indicates that
Dowland's songs are of the very highest quality; and this
is all the more noteworthy when we realize that, historically
speaking, he was by far the earliest composer in the world
to reach first-class rank in the realm of Art-song.
Such is the man whom it is my purpose this afternoon
to introduce to you, and not to you only, but I hope also to
many outside this room, and to those in foreign countries
whom the Association's Proceedings may reach. And I
may add that as the whole of Dowland's songs have now
been published with their original accompaniments there is
no excuse for continued ignorance of them.
Let me begin by stating briefly the position of Song before
the days of Dowland. Song in a sense is as old as the human
race; and that branch of it which we call Folk-song goes back
to the days of primitive man. For thousands of years
Song remained purely monodic, and accompaniment, when
employed, simply duplicated the melody; it was not until
mediaeval times that any form of independent instrumental
accompaniment was attempted. When first such accom-
paniments were introduced they were extemporized.according
to the fancy of the singer who accompanied himself on a
lute or other such instrument. This was the ordinary
experience in dealing either with a folk-song or a composed
melody. Anyone to-day may provide an original accompani-
ment to a folk-song according to his fancy. The Art-song
differs from this class of song in that not only the melody
but also the instrumental accompaniment is the precise and
considered work of the composer. No one would dream of
substituting an accompaniment of his own for a song by
Schubert or Brahms.
The earliest known songs that conform to these conditions
are those of Luis Milan, a Spanish composer who published

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The Songs of Dowland 3
a volume entitled " El Maestro" in Valencia in I536. The

accompanying instrument was the Vihuela; Mr. J. B.
Trend commenting on Milan's work says he "has a real
instrumental style and shows considerable variety in his
methods of accompaniment." These songs are definite
Art-songs or "Lieder," and not mere transcriptions of
polyphonic music.
Little advance upon these, if any, was made during the
next half century, but in I597 Dowland, building upon
this same foundation, gave to the world his " First Booke of
Ayres" and thus opened an entirely new chapter in the
history of Song. Dowland published no madrigals. He
belonged to a group of musicians who held the opinion
that madrigal-form, owing to the complexity involved in the
contrapuntal principles of construction, rendered the words
obscure and unintelligible to the listener. For this reason
something simpler was aimed at which should assign the
principal melody, or "Ayre," to the treble voice, the other
voice-parts being subordinate, and designed with the limited
purpose of supporting the melody with suitable harmony.
In carrying out this aim much variety of treatment was
shown by the different composers in this group of lutenists.
Many of them worked almost exclusively upon a homo-
phonic basis, but others did make occasional use, to a mild
extent, of the contrapuntal style. And Dowland was one
of these latter.
The lutenists wrote their part-songs almost without
exception for four voices, i.e., treble, alto, tenor, and bass.
Having evolved this very effective form of part-song, they
proceeded further to an extremely important step in the
history of musical development, leading in fact directly
to the Art-song. This was brought about by the substitu-
tion of the lute in the place of the Alto, Tenor and Bass
voices as an alternative method of supporting or accom-
panying the melody of the top voice, thus turning the part-
song into solo-song with instrumental accompaniment.
A large proportion of the lutenist's Ayres were printed in
both forms, but it is the solo-song alone which we are to
consider to-day.
The lute is an instrument of very limited scope, and
although a sweeping chord across the six strings can easily
be played with effect, it is not ordinarily practicable to aim
at a representation of more than three voice-parts at a
time, and not always as much. For this reason the lute-
part is, as a rule, a somewhat imperfect transcription of the
three lower voices though the bass-part is always completely

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4 The Songs of Dowland
represented. Occasionally the melody does also appear in

fragments in the tenor register below the alto. This seems
to suggest that the composers had a man's voice in mind
for the solo part, and Campian definitely says this was so.
But when this has been said it must be added that numbers
of these songs may effectively be sung by women. It will be
obvious in these circumstances that the harmonies of the
lute-part are often incomplete and that the third of th
chord when it occurs in the melody is seldom duplicated in
the lute-part. As regards the construction of the lute-song
it only remains to mention that the bass-part, exactly
duplicating that of the lute-part (with the occasional
variation of an octave here and there), was generally printe
in ordinary notation in addition to the tablature, so that a
bass viol might reinforce the lute, but the viol was in no way
essential to the performance.
It is not always recognized how important a contribution
the song-writers thus made in an accidental kind of way,
both in England and abroad, to the great development
which gave birth to instrumental solo-music at the close of
the sixteenth century. A branch of solo-music, namely
that for keyboard instruments, and also the lute, had been
evolved earlier in the century. Beginning with arrange-
ments and adaptations of polyphonic music, the composers
in course of time had developed a definite keyboard
technique, and original composition soon superseded mere
arrangements and additions. But there were at this date
no such things as instrumental solos for string or wind
instruments accompanied by keyboard instruments.
When the song-writers had created the solo-song by the

process of substituting instrumental for vocal accompaniment,
it only remained to substitute a solo instrument, such as
a violin or a flute, for the solo voice, and the path of progress
then led straight to the violin sonata and all forms of
instrumental solo music.
But to return to the Art-song, and more particularly to

the songs of Dowland. It will be convenient to discuss these
by considering his publications one by one. Dowland pro-
duced four books. The first three were published respec-
tively in the years 1597, i6oo and I603, and a fourth book,
entitled "A Pilgrime's Solace," was issued in 1612. These
four books contain altogether eighty-four songs, and three
more were printed in "A Musicall Banquet," edited by
Dowland's son Robert and published in I6Io.

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I shall comment on certain features of the songs in

connection with the several examples that will be brought
forward, but a word or two about Form and Rhythm and
Tempo must be said here in a general way.
A very large proportion of the songs of the English
lutenists were constructed on a very simple and unpretentious
design. Thus, if each stanza of the words consisted of eight
lines, a single short musical phrase, sung twice, served for
the first four lines, and the second half of the verse was
similarly set; so that two brief phrases of music sufficed
for the entire song. The concluding section was very
commonly marked to be repeated even when this involved
a repetition of the same couplet of the words. A great
many of the songs of Campian and Jones follow this simple
plan of construction, for example, Campian's fascinating
little song " Jack and Joan." But it is noteworthy that
Dowland was very rarely content, even in his earlier manner,
with such a limited scope for expression. Yet when he did
employ this simple design he nevertheless succeeded, by
the beauty of his phrasing and melodic outline, in producing
the finest quality of Art.
The following example will serve as an illustration:-
SLEEP, WAYWARD THOUGHTS
[This was sung by the lecturer, accompanying

himself on the lute]
And just a word about Rhythm. The subtlety and

poetical imagination with which these song-writers varied
their rhythms are among the most characteristic features
of their work. It is indeed strange that in what may be
termed the "all-square" developments of musical com-
position in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries this
feature should have become almost wholly neglected; for
irregularity and variety of rhythm, as introduced by the
English lutenists, are the means of securing an amazing
degree of flexibility to the musical settings of the poems.
And none of the other lutenists approached Dowland's
exceptional skill and taste in this matter. Although fresh
time-signatures were seldom inserted to indicate such
changes, rhythms of four pulses were often interspersed
with triple measures, either in accordance with the varieties
of natural speech-rhythm or under the influence of the
thought or feeling suggested by the words. In triple measure

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the possibilities of variety are immense: thus, if the normal

flow is three minims in a bar, that measure can be either
multiplied by two or divided by two; and the combinations
and permutations are innumerable. The following table
will show some of the available varieties:
o d I . iJ
i.?l|j J J| J-d J. J
o o o
d d Id d Ijd d
In the first line of the song just sung there i

example of rhythmic treatment which was al
vention with Dowland:
i ci c o clo o d di 1o I
Sleep, wayward thoughts, and rest you with
But a more striking example of variety
"Can she excuse my wrongs ?" (Book
very first phrase of this song three differen
measure are employed:-
d d d Cd. J d J d dci c I
Can she ex - cuse my wrongs with Virtue's cl
J: : lo J I d d lo
Shall I call her good when she proves un-kind
In the third section the rhythm is varied with
of emphasizing the humour of the words, and h
of the composer adds much to that of the poet. I
connection the composer has recourse to a de
this date was an absolute novelty, anticipating t
the lieder-writers of two centuries later: the voic
to a single note for three lines and the melodic
transferred to the accompaniment. The melody
into the accompaniment at this point was that o
" Shall I go walk the woods so wild," the tune o
so well known that it would have been instantly
its subject thus forms an obvious comment on t

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feelings as he utters the words with their forceful varied

rhythms:-
Voice
I ' =:I-,-S #- I - 1- - - - I - -
9 * - Iri - * 4-.L ----
Wilt thou be thus ab - us - ed still, See - ing that she can
Lute X__J I I A a I I, t
Lu OJ - - '
^- ^- _ ,<3-,J- Q ----- P- 4--. -- S ------- --L--" -.
I?: . .- - +--1 . . .... . -- : .. 1
(Shall I go walk the woods so wild).
right thee ne - ver? If thou canst not o'er-come her will, Thy
- - - __-1- . -' _ : _ - j I
^==:m_ _ _ _ . _^= =
g- _-- - - _ =D--- -- ---==-- _-_-_--J
I I
_-1.
i-= - - 40- I -
co-
tJ love will be evthus fruit-less
ver
- r
_--
_ r.
---r- -
__ __gC_p 1 --4-
^ ^ --.-_
_ I--
T - --_l-g'--
-
[The lecturer sang these two co

As to Tempo: Like the Tudor C
madrigals, the songs have been misu
and robbed of much of their beauty
I recently heard a gramophone recor
Dowland's "Awake, sweet love" (Bo
the tempo of a slow hymn-tune, an
grace-notes added to redeem it from
There are no rules handed down to us on the subject,
nor has any trace of tradition survived (as it admittedly has
with the songs of slightly later date when ornaments and
grace-notes were inserted freely). It is therefore impossible
to dogmatize about tempo, but it seems reasonable to believe
that as the joys, sorrows, love-makings and every other
kind of sentiment must have been the same to Elizabethan
people as they are to us, their ideas of expression in song
3 Vol. 56

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cannot have been greatly different. And this fact should

serve as convincing indication as to the most suitable tempo
at which to perform these songs.
Some songs of course will go slower in accordance with
the mood of the poem; for example, " Come, heavy sleep"
(Book I, No. 20).
A word of warning may however be given seeing that
there is a tendency now to go to the opposite extreme and
to sing certain madrigals and ballets too fast.
I have already mentioned that Dowland published four
books of songs. It will be convenient to consider these in
chronological order.
The first book was published a year before he went to live
at Elsinore as lutenist to the King of Denmark in 1598;
but Dowland had already travelled much on the continent,
and his earlier work must have been considerably influenced
by this experience. In Italy he had enjoyed the friendship
of Luca Marenzio, the madrigalist, and his great popularity
led to tempting offers of permanent appointments in Rome
with a large pension from the Pope, and the further induce-
ment that " his Holiness and all the Cardinals would make
wonderful much of him." Italian influence no doubt left
its mark on Dowland's work. In Germany the Duke of
Brunswick had welcomed him with costly gifts and a promi
" to give him as much as any prince in the world if he wou
enter his service." He had also visited " the chiefest par
of France, a nation furnisht with great variety of musicke
-to quote his own words. No other English musician of
his time travelled to such a wide extent. It was a
marvelously expanding experience for a musician
gifted as Dowland was, and his style seems to hav
something from the best influences of all the nat
which he came into touch.
Incidentally, it seems bewildering that this English

musician, the idol of musical Europe in his day, his genius
acclaimed and applauded in all lands, should have been so
completely neglected, as he has been, by his own countrymen
for nearly three centuries, and should be still so far from being
recognized and known as he deserves.
But to return to this first book of songs. The popularity
of this volume, containing twenty-one songs (each with its
alternative part-song version), was unprecedented. It
quickly ran through five editions. Nor is this altogether
surprising; the world was over-ripe for solo-songs of this
order, for the instinct that leads to self-expression in solo-

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song was growing ever stronger and stronger among skilled

singers who could find no outlet for such expression in the
motet or the madrigal, seeing that the performance of these
calls for self-repression rather than self-expression. Dowland,
and the other lutenists who followed his lead, supplied the
very thing which was so ardently desired, and he gave it
with the fullest measure of beauty and supreme Art.
The very first song in the book (" Unquiet thoughts")
demonstrates how Dowland was giving to the world some-
thing that was quite new at that date. He had not yet got
beyond the convention of setting his words line by line
without a break, but the outline of the melody is far freer
than that of a folk song or a ballad. The verbal phrases
are perfectly expressed with the rise and fall of the music,
and there are small touches, characteristic of all this great
master's work, which arrest the attention when one looks
closely into the mind of the composer as he illustrates the
words-whether the little hammer-stroke in the accompani-
ment " that makes the hammer strike," or the two minims
following a crotchet rest, set to the words " Be still." The
break into triple rhythm at the words "and wrap your
wrongs within a pensive heart," and again at " my tongue
that makes my mouth a mint," together with some slightly-
halting syncopated phrases, go to build up the whole
structure of the song with a flexibility and breadth of
expression that make for perfection in design.
And wrap your wrongs with - in a pen - sive heart
And you, my tongue that makes my mouth a mint
The I597 book is so full of lovely songs that it is difficult

to know what to omit for the purposes of comment and
illustration. Two or three are well known: for instance
"Come again, sweet love doth now invite," "Awake, sweet
love" and " Now, O now, I needs must part." These last
two are more familiar in their four-part version, and in that
form they are frequently performed too slowly in the manner
of hymn-tunes. "Now, O now," was adapted by Dowland
from an old melody known as " The Frog Galliard."
Time to-day will not permit the singing of "If my
complaints" (No. 4) with its lovely tunes, its beautiful

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I0 The Songs of Dowland
key-contrasts and its melodious accompaniment, showing

how a definite instrumental technique was already beginning
to develop. Other beautiful songs which must also be passed
over are " Whoever thinks or hopes of love for love" (No.
2); "My thoughts are winged with hope " (No. 3), with
its perfect flow of melody and an exquisite phrase to the
words:
- - .--
Hope oft doth hang the head, and Trust shed tears.
"Burst forth, my tears" (No. 8) is a song of passiona

expression, unlike anything heard before this date altho
Dowland was soon to reach greater heights in this direct
The single example I have chosen for illustration is " Co
heavy sleep" (No. 20). This song strikes a deeper n
than anything else in the first book and points the
towards Dowland's greatest work. The subject of the s
is an appeal to Sleep to come and release the tired soul f
Care. No less beautiful in melody than some of the ot
songs, it is more profound in treatment, and the emoti
passages are illustrated with consummate art. No
especially the agitation of the phrase, with the interchan
of rhythm, at the words "And tears my heart with Sorr
sigh-swollen cries." This phrase closes in G major. T
follows the chord of B major with very telling effect, an
phrase of surpassing loveliness " Come and possess my t
thought-worn soul." The long-sustained note at the
of the song suggests the intense yearning for sleep.
lute accompaniment, with its little figure of quavers fr
quently repeated, foreshadows something of the methods
more modern song-writers.
COME, HEAVY SLEEP
[Sung by Mr. H. A. Haworth.]
Dowland's second book appeared in i6oo. It was
published in England although he was then living at Elsinore
in the service of the King of Denmark. Only one English-
man, Michael Cavendish, had in the meanwhile followed
Dowland's lead in publishing a group of "Ayres."
The publication of this second book must have created
quite a sensation among musicians of that time, and indeed
at the present date one cannot examine these songs without
feelings of amazement that the art of song-writing should
have advanced so far by the year I60o. Eastland, the

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The Songs of Dowland II
publisher of the book, prepared his public for something

unexpected by an announcement, which, after an allusion
to Dowland's already great reputation as a composer, stated
that this was no ordinary publication. To the Elizabethans
he must have appeared as an ultra-modernist.
The first eight songs in the book were in themselves a
novelty in having no alternative version for four voices;
they were designed exclusively as solo-songs with instrumental
accompaniment; the Art-song had therefore come to full
maturity and had acquired an independent existence.
These eight songs therefore occupy a position of great
importance in the history of Song, quite apart from their
artistic value.
" I saw my lady weep," the first number in the volume,
is regarded by some as being among the most beautiful of
all English songs. The originality and independence of the
accompaniment is proclaimed in the opening bars; hitherto
it had not been the practice to dissociate the accompaniment
from the voice or to let it enter independently. In this and
in other ways Dowland shows a marked advance on his
former work. This song may fairly be said to be typical of
his second manner. The lines of the poem are still treated
one by one in a detached way with little repetition of the
words, but there is far greater freedom of design, especially
in the final couplet, such as is not found in the first book.
The variety of rhythm in this song causes less surprise after
the earlier songs have been studied, yet even Dowland never
set words to measured music with more flexibility or subtle
skill than he showed here. As an instance of this, observe
the short triplet at the words " than mirth can do "; and
in the second stanza his musical phrase exactly suggests
the quickening of the heart-beats at the words:-
Verse 1. Than Mirth can do with her, with her en - tic - ing parts.
Verse 2. As made my heart, my heart at once both grieve and love.
The chromatic character of the harmonies employed in

this song provides a further subject for study, and this
feature alone must have caused a flutter in the dove cot
of the older fashioned theorists in i60o. It is notewor
that it was in this same year that Weelkes published
madrigal " O Care, thou wilt despatch me " with its start
chromatic passages. In this song Dowland, with fine
artistry, builds up his harmonic scheme gradually as regards

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I2 The Songs of Dowland
chromatic detail. Apart from one or two daring (at that

date) suspensions nothing unusual is introduced before the
words " in those fair eyes." From that point the emotional
effect is steadily intensified; these four words are repeated
accompanied by a series of chords in a sequence involving
more than one so-called false relation; and then, as if to
stress the feelings of admiration and worship at the words
"where all perfections keep," the chord of the Neapolitan
sixth is introduced-a very novel effect at the time. The
passage closes with a cadence in D with the bare fifth. The
voice is then left to enter alone at the words " her face was
full of woe," the lute following two beats later with the
chord of B major (a remote key in those days); and the
next very impassioned lines are emphasized at two points
with chromatic chords that have a dramatic and strangely
moder effect. The song having begun in A minor ends on
the chord of E major.
I SAW MY LADY WEEP
I can only comment briefly, for lack of time, on the othe
songs in this book. The second number is the famou
Lacrimae-Flow, my tears-sombre, pathetic and dramati
and full of beautiful melody.
Flow my tears, fall from yourspringsl Ex-iled for ev-er, let me mourn; where
d X,1-- * 1_
night's black-bird her sad in - fa - my
(Originally in notes of double th
[The lecturer sang the opening
The third song in the book wi

stay." It is designed on an ext
paniment for the lute is as
independent; even when exactly
on the pianoforte it makes quite
in the closing section. Anoth
noticed in this song is the wi
note-values employed, a featu

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The Songs of Dowland I3
for flexibility and variety in setting words to music.

SORROW, STAY
[Sung here by Mr. H. A. Haworth.]
" Mourn, mourn I Day is with darkness fled" (No. 5) is in
this group of eight songs. A very beautiful and original
feature of this song is the setting of the two opening words.
The voice begins by itself with two semibreves, the tonic
falling to the dominant for the repeated word " mourn," and
the lute enters half way through the first note with the
chord of D major which is sustained throughout the phrase.
Four lines of the poem follow in the key of D major in a
fairly regular triple-measure, which is then broken by the
repetition of the opening phrase, but with the chord of D
minor in contrast. The effect is exceptionally beautiful.
Another example of Dowland's originality is provided in
this volume by "Time's eldest son, Old Age" (Nos. 6-8).
It may in a sense be regarded as the earliest known example
of a song-cycle, for it consists of three songs, each separately
numbered but following consecutively in a poem of three
stanzas. There is a curious vein of wit and humour running
through this song, which appears to be a sort of skit on
certain intoned phrases borrowed from the Latin Liturgy.
The final phrase with the rolling Amens is a glorious bit of
vocal writing.
to say A . men, A- - - -
-men, when thou doet pray so well.
The opening of this song is strangely reminiscent (alth

in a square measure as contrasted with a triple) of Dow
setting of " His golden locks" (Book I, No. i8); the t
of the words is also somewhat similar.
Among other songs in this remarkable volume are the
well-known " Fine knacks for ladies " (No. 12), the melodious
" Shall I sue ?" (No. I9) and " Clear or cloudy" (No. 2I)
with its fascinating words, perfectly matched to music.
The lecturer sang the opening four lines:-
Clear or cloudy, sweet as April showering,
Smooth or frowning, so is her face to me.
Pleased or smiling, like mild May all flowering,
When skies blue silk and meadows carpets be.

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r4 The Songs of Dowland
The last number in this second book shows Dowland's
originality displayed in yet another direction. It takes the
form of a dialogue for treble and bass voice, each of the
three verses ending with a duet to the same refrain. From
an artistic point of view this falls very far short of Dowland's
other work.
There was again an interval of three years before another
book of songs was issued by Dowland. This was published
in I603 and described by the composer as his " last book."
Dowland was still almost alone in the field, although during
these three years two volumes by Robert Jones, one by
Thomas Morley and the Rosseter-Campian volume had been
published. The first four numbers in this book were written
as solo-songs without any alternative version for unaccom-
panied voices in combination, and the last number was a
dialogue, with an accompaniment for two lutes and a refrain
set for a chorus of five voices. Here we may see the choral
cantata in embryo, though the work is of trivial value in
itself. In this third book are Dowland's superb settings of
" Weep you no more, sad fountains " (No. 15) and the some-
what similar, and almost equally beautiful, " Flow not so
fast, ye fountains" (No. 8); and here are two excellent
songs of the lighter kind " Me, me, and none but me " (No.
5), and " Say, love, if ever thou didst find" (No. 7). This
last is original in character, with what might almost be
described as a " jazz " rhythm, quite unlike the conventional
ideas which have usually been associated with Elizabethan
music. [It was sung at the conclusion of this paper.]
Otherwise there are few outstanding songs in this book,
which seems to fall below the level of the first two.
WEEP YOU NO MORE, SAD FOUNTAINS
Nine years elapsed before Dowland's fourth book
appeared under the title of "A Pilgrime's Solace." After a
long absence from England he had now returned to find
himself opposed by cliques of jealous musicians, some of
whom accused him of being old-fashioned in his style-a
strange charge, as it seems to us when we examine his songs.
But possibly this taunt may have stirred him to write in a
more ultra-modern vein than heretofore, and in this book,
and in "A Musicall Banquet," several songs may be said to
be in his third manner.
Meanwhile by this date (I612), although the whole period
covers no more than fifteen years, the entire output of the
English lutenists had been published with the exception of

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The Songs of Dowland I5
the two last books of Campian and the belated and un-
important book of Attey.
Fourteen of the twenty-one songs in "A Pilgrime's Solace"
were written with the usual two alternative versions. This
is certainly the most remarkable of Dowland's four books,
not because the songs themselves are greater than those of
the earlier books, for on that point opinions will vary, but
because there is here to be found a wonderful break with
conventionality.
The method of matching each complete line of a poem
with a concise musical phrase is now largely laid aside,
and a style is adopted by him that is even freer and more
extended than that found in the great songs of the second
book. There is also to be noticed a growing tendency to
write florid or melismatic vocal phrases, for example, in
('Tell me, true love" (No. 8), "Welcome, black Night"
'No. 20) and " Cease these false sports " (No. 2I).
From "Tell me, true love " :
4--4
e. Why doth this - - - age ex - pel thee
From "Cease these false sports" :-
Good .night I
Rhythmic variety is e
heretofore; thus "Wer
a song in which the dr
swings the subject along
Such a love de-serves moregrace Than a tru - er heart that hath
.h-i2r^-==^_-;==r - L._-=t-
m-r I_ Z______F
no con - ceit To make use both of time and place When a
J) wit hath need of all his sleight.

(In the original edition the notes are of twice these values but the
song should be sung as if they were again halved.)

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l6 The Songs of Dowland
Further novel experiments in rhythmic and harmonic effects

abound throughout the volume.
Three of the songs in this book are written for an
altogether novel kind of accompaniment, which has its
modem equivalent in a pianoforte trio : the lute representing
the pianoforte, while the independent parts for treble and
bass viols correspond to the violin and violoncello. The
three songs are " Go, nightly cares" (No. 9), " From silent
night" (No. Io), and " Lasso vita mia" (No. ii). These
songs are of very great interest for they are unique in the
early history of Song. Each of them is developed to very
considerable length and the string parts are characteristically
written for the instruments with much independence and
individuality.
Time unfortunately will not allow me to comment in

much detail on these songs, although they alone could
provide enough material for an hour's lecture. I can do
little more than invite you to study them for yourselves;
but Mr. Haworth will presently sing the first of the three,
"Go, nightly cares." This song is constructed in three
sections. It opens with the instruments alone and the lines
of the poem are treated in a disjointed style; phrases are
broken up and repeated with remarkable freedom of diction.
In the second section the principal melodic interest is supplied
by the treble viol in a galliard measure of 3/2 6/4 while the
voice-part recites on a single low note in detached sentences,
concluding with a short melodic phrase while the treble
viol in turn takes up the single reiterated note. In this
section Dowland may fairly be said to have anticipated the
device employed by Schubert in " Tod und das Madchen."
A four-crotchet measure announces the opening of the third
section, and the voice in free dramatic style declaims the
line " Welcome, sweet death, O life, no life, a hell! " The
flame suddenly dies down, and in detached notes on a
monotone the singer, almost as if in a dying struggle for
breath, recites the concluding line "Then thus and thus I
bid the world farewell," while such thematic material as is
required to sustain the interest is once more supplied by the
treble viol.
We can only contemplate this song with feelings of

amazement when we consider the date at which it was
written, and we cannot but express our admiration of the
genius of Dowland, whose conception of the possibilities of
vocal expression was so greatly in advance of his time, and

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The Songs of Dowland I7x?
also, in a sense, in advance of the resources available in his

time for giving expression to his ideas.
GO, NIGHTLY CARES
[Sung by Mr. H. A. Haworth, the violin (viol) part being
played by the lecturer and the pianoforte (lute) part by the
Rev. A. Ramsbotham; the 'cello part was unavoidably
omitted.]
"From silent night" is scarcely less remarkable than
"Go, nightly cares." Many striking features in this song
must be passed over for want of time, but among the daring
and original uses of chromatic harmony attention must be
directed to one detail, namely that Dowland modulates far
enough to bring into use the note At.*
The rise of a semitone on a single syllable as found in
this song, was a very novel device at this date. For
example:
my wail - ing Muse

and again:
but sor - - - row, grief
"Lasso vita mia," remarkable though it is, mu

passed by with a single comment on the wide range of
values employed, extending from quavers and even
quavers to semibreves and minims, dotted semibreves,
in one instance a dotted breve lengthened by an addit
crotchet.
Although shorter and rather simpler in style than the
three songs just mentioned, " If that a sinner's sighs" (No.
I3) is typical of Dowland's later manner, and the final
*The use of A$ was a very rare and remote experience in
modulation at that date. It is not found elsewhere in Dowland's
Ayres although he appears to advance one degree further in his
beautiful "Sweet, stay awhile" (Book IV, No. 2) where he used an
E$ in the voice part; but this is merely a passing note and should
be explained as F4 following FS and succeeded by E". The only
other examples of the use of A$ in the works of the English
madrigalists and lutenists are to be found in Weelkes's "O Care,
thou wilt despatch me" (x60o), Danyel's "Can doleful notes"
(second section) (I606) and Bateson's "Come, sorrow, help me to
lament" (x618).

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passage is especially interesting as being one of the very

early examples of a composer giving dramatic expression
to the " bitter weeping " of St. Peter in the manner employed
by Bach and other composers of Passion Music.
This poem was also set by Byrd in his I588 volume, and
by John Milton, the poet's father, in Leighton's "Teares
and Lamentations" ; but this latter was published two
years after Dowland's " Pilgrime's Solace."
"Thou mighty God" is another noteworthy example of
a song-cycle. It treats of the subject of Patience in refer-
ence to Job, David, and the cripple at the Pool of Siloam;
the first two lines of the poem are treated as a sort of Pro-
logue, thus forming a preliminary section:-
Thou mighty God, that rightest every wrong,
Listen to patience in a dying song.
And the song ends with an epilogue summing up the three
episodes with the words:-
No David, Job, nor cripple in more grief;
Christ, grant me patience and my hopes relief.
There are consequently five separate sections in this
song-cycle. Dr. Whittaker, who has made a special study
of these songs, regards this as one of the finest songs in the
English language. It should be carefully studied with
reference to construction, harmonic treatment, and dramatic
expression. With reference to this last feature I will only
draw attention to the contrast between the passage in which
the cripple lay " full many years in misery and pain " and
the firm tread of the minims in a rising scale after the miracle
of healing had been performed: " and he was well."
The volume ends with what may be described as three
miniature cantatas for solo voices and chorus. The first
is a sea-song; and here it must be admitted that, as in an
earlier example of this nature, Dowland lapses into common-
place. The other two are "epithalamia "; the solo-parts
are written in very free style and there are some curious
melismatic passages foreshadowing the operatic style;
however, the interest of these compositions is historic rather
than artistic.
Three more songs of Dowland were included by his son
Robert in a volume entitled "A Musicall Banquet," which
was published in I9IO, two years before "A Pilgrime's
Solace." .These three songs are also written in Dowland's
later and riper manner, and as solo songs without the alterna-
tive arrangement for four voices. The third is by far the

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finest of the three, and it illustrates how far Dowland had

advanced beyond the square setting of poetry line for line,
with an accompaniment closely adhering to the vocal
outline. The lute plays alone for nearly four bars, and
then the voice enters with prolonged notes and a profound
feeling of mystery-" In darkness let me dwell" ; then
comes a sudden burst of emotional expression-" the ground
shall sorrow be." The lute announces the next phrase alone,
and the voice enters to express, to the accompaniment of
remarkable harmonies, a sense of black despair, culminating
in a divinely inspired phrase-" shall weep, still shall weep."
As the song will now be sung, I will leave further details to
be revealed in the performance, only drawing your attention
firstly, to Dowland's device, already noticed in reference
to other songs, of employing notes ranging from the longest
to the shortest in value as a means of securing immense
variety and flexibility of verbal expression in music; and
secondly, to the dramatic force of the repetition of the
opening passage at the conclusion of the song. This is the
only instance, as far as I know, in any of the songs of the
English lutenists, or indeed in any song until a much later
period, in which this feature is to be found. No such
repetition is indicated in the poem. It was a complete
novelty at the time and a wonderful stroke of genius.
Mr. Haworth will now sing
IN DARKNESS LET ME DWELL
and follow this with
SAY, LOVE, IF EVER THOU DIDST FIND
as an example of a lighter type of song, to which allusion

has already been made.
CONCLUSION.
In conclusion I have to thank Mr. Haworth most warmly

for his delightful singing and also Mr. Ramsbotham, who,
as you know is a great expert in Tudor music, for accom-
panying the songs. I am deeply grateful to them both.
I will only add my earnest hope that what I have
attempted to say about Dowland's songs may lead to a
more general study of them so that they may take the place
that they deserve in the programmes of English singers,
and that Dowland himself may no longer be without due
honour among his own countrymen.

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DISCUSSION.
THE CHAIRMAN: Ladies and Gentlemen, we have had to-
a paper which upholds the traditions of our Association
the highest possible way. We have the pleasure this aft
noon of welcoming to our meeting two distinguishe
American scholars, and I hope that they will contribute
the discussion.
Mr. FRANK HOWES: I would like to express gratitude to

Dr. Fellowes for his paper, and to say how much we owe to
him for introducing many into a field very little known to
us, and a field in which very few others have worked. He
has said many things this afternoon which provoke trains
of thought, which it would be profitable to carry further.
All sorts of small points have occurred to me that I should
like to discuss: the balance of tone, for instance, in a trio
accompaniment of lute, violin and 'cello, how did it work?
and topics such as always occur to one in studying the
Tudor music. How was it that this art appeared almost full-
blown at once, and on the other hand how was it that so
much that is embryonic in further developments is found
in it ? These and a dozen other questions of the same kind
have been evoked by Dr. Fellowes' interesting lecture.
The personality of Dowland I find fascinating. This
brilliant musician who appeared to be the darling of the Courts
of Europe came home and was disappointed at his reception
here, what manner of man was he ? That sort of semi-
psychological interest is not apposite to the subject of the
paper, which is the songs of Dowland. My question stands
half-way between those two interests-the man and his
songs.
Dr. Fellowes, did Dowland ever give expression in one of
his prefaces to the opinion which you mentioned, the
opinion that the words suffer in madrigalian settings ?
Was there any school of thought among musicians in
England at that time which we might call anti-madrigalian ?
I believe that Pepys a century or so later expressed that.
Is there any thing in the writings of Dowland, or is there
anything known of Dowland having ever taken an anti-
madrigalian point of view?
Dr. FELLOWES: I am not able precisely to give chapter
and verse to Mr. Howes off-hand, but I think it was Campian
who gave expression to the idea that the madrigal was too
complex, and aimed at something simpler.

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Mr. BARR: One question I rather wanted to ask Dr.

Fellowes. His lecture naturally came as a great revelation
to me, because in common with a great many other people
I have always rather imagined that the Elizabethan music
was almost entirely by the madrigalian school, and have
been very much astonished at this view this afternoon.
It further occurred to me, if you read any text-book on
the subject of the Polyphonic school and how the instrumental
style and operatic songs came in, they lay extreme stress
on the activity of the Florentine school, and it is made
apparent that the whole business was due to the Florentines.
This view seems rather to under-value the work of a man like
Dowland, passing him over as an influence. It is true to
say that a man like Monteverdi was not only an innovator
in the sense of bringing in the opera; he was also a
harmonic innovator. I wonder if that is an example of the
general injustice done to Dowland, or whether there is a
reason for passing him over ?
Dr. FELLOWES: That is very interesting. I remember
very well when Sir Hubert Parry was reading a paper to this
Association on the subject of Monteverdi, I asked him
afterwards whether he could say if Monteverdi's work would
have been known to Weelkes, and he said he did not
suppose it was.
I think we are justified, we English-speaking people who
look back to the Elizabethans as our common ancestors, in
saying that he did work independently of Monteverdi and
the Italians, but on the same lines. The credit of experi-
menting with harmonic innovations has been entirely given
to Monteverdi and the rest, but the English should have
some share of the credit. They did not carry their experi-
ments so far. For some reason or another the whole
movement in England came to an end; and the wav
genius expended its force early in the seventeenth ce
But I think the credit of some sowing of the seed is cer
due to people like Dowland and Weelkes and other
England.
Mr. SPREGG SMITH: In America we sing Elizabethan
music a great deal more generally than you do over here.
As far as the discussion goes in connection with Dowland
and Italy, I think as a general rule the Italian tradition in
music in England through Monteverdi is due to the fact
that we know that the poetry practically all comes from
Italy. Many Elizabethan songs were really translated from
the Italian. We know that Dowland studied in Italy, and

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it may be that he received a great deal of the Italian.

Unquestionably I think at the end of the sixteenth century
and beginning of the seventeenth century the general
tendency was from South to North in musical circles. I
would like to ask you whether you think there is anything
in that. It is merely a conjecture.
Dr. FELLOWES: I would rather the President should
answer that; for he is far more competent to deal w
this particular question than I am. It has taken so much
my time to do what work I have done on the English Sc
that I am sorry to confess that my ignorance of the for
schools of that date is greater than I could wish. It is t
that some of the madrigalists borrowed their ideas fro
the Italians, but there is certainly a very great deal of q
independent literature that is purely and absolutely Eng
I should say that the great bulk of the poetry as collec
in my volume of "English Madrigal Verse" is of pu
English origin. There is a small, but quite small, proport
of translations from Italian poetry. Shakespeare, Sid
Marlowe, Ben Jonson, and most of the great poets a
dramatists are represented in the poetry set to music by
English Madrigalists and Lutenists; and as all of it appe
anonymously in the song-books it is probable that a lar
number of these beautiful English lyrics are the original wo
of men whose names are in the first rank.
Mr. SMITH: The collection of I6IO, which Robert Dowland

published, had several Spanish songs.
Dr. FELLOWES: Yes, but that set of songs is a unique
production, it is a collection of songs by various composers
some of whom were foreigners.
Mr. SMITH: I meant that there we have an actual refer-
ence to Spanish songs, and in other cases we have perhaps
only a mention indirectly.
Dr. FELLOWES: Yes; but for the reason that I think,
as I have just said, that if you study the poems quite apart
from the music as a whole, you will find that a very large
proportion of them are intensely English in origin. I admit
that it is true that Dowland, having travelled so much all
over Europe, was influenced in the different countries he
visited, especially Italy. That cannot be denied, but the
poetry he set was almost exclusively English. I can only
refer you to "English Madrigal Verse " for fuller information
upon this subject.

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Mr. F. GILBERT WEBB: I have an interesting old book

here. It is called "The Dictionary of Musicians from the
Earliest Days to the Present Time" (1884). It upholds
the Lecturer's statement that Dowland was much neglected,
and says that Dowland was born in the year 1562, and
at the age of twenty-six was admitted to the degree of
Bachelor of Music at Oxford. It gives the publication date
of his " First Book of Airs in four parts" as 1595, not 1597,
and adds, "They are full of elegance, taste and feeling."
Also that " he died in Denmark, as it is supposed, in the year
1615."
Dr. FROGGATT: The lecturer in commencing spoke of the
general ignorance of Dowland's work in high places. Some
of the younger members of the Musical Association may
possibly not be aware that that well-known madrigal
"Awake, sweet love" was published many years ago by
Novello to the words "Come, Holy Ghost." A phrase was
interpolated after the first four or five bars. The key was
put down half a tone. The final cadence was altered, and
there were two or three other improvements. I do not
know who was responsible for it; I hope not dear old
Vincent Novello. It is still to be had, I believe. At least,
in my copy of the Extracts from the Lamentations published
by Sir William Leighton, edited by Sir Frederick Bridge a
few years before his death, I find that this "Come, Holy
Ghost" by John Dowland is advertised.
There is one point. I should like to ask Dr. Fellowes,
who has given us a most valuable and interesting lecture,
whether he considers that Dowland preferred the rendering
of these songs or airs with instrumental accompaniment, or
whether he preferred the vocal accompaniment, that is to
say the quartet or quintet and so on, because I have here
an extract from the title page of the " First Book of Airs,"
which runs, " So made that all parts together, or either of
them severally, may be sung to the Lute, Orpherion, or
Viola de Gambo." Is there anything to show which the
composer preferred.
I cannot help thinking myself that, effective as many of
them are, given in that form, the vocal performance in four or
five parts would have been more interesting and effective,
at least from the moder point of view.
What the lecturer said with regard to the great variety of
rhythmic effects was very interesting. One of those (I
call them madrigals), in the first book, "Can she excuse,"
has one or two bars in which it seems to me, time them as
you will, with any time signature you like, it is impossible
4 Vol. 56

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to get the musical and the verbal accent to synchronise.

I am not surprised that it should be so, because there is a
great deal of music written where you find that the musical
and verbal accent are fighting one another.
Dr. FELLOWES: First of all, it is a pure matter of taste
as to whether you like the four-part version or the solo
song better. Both are the composer's work, and in most
instances both are beautiful. The fact that I have myself
edited and published a large number in the four-part version
is evidence of my own opinion of their beauty.
Dr. FROGGATT: But whether the composer has ever said
which he preferred ?
Dr. FELLOWES: Dowland was a lutenist, and therefore
he must have had a great regard for his solo versions with
lute accompaniment. But the fact that he opened his second
book of Ayres with eight songs that had no four-part alterna-
tive setting but were purely solo songs (an enormous advance
in the principles of song-writing), seems to show I think,
that he cared about solo song a great deal, without dis-
regarding the undoubted beauties of his four-part settings,
which he continued to compose.
With reference to " Can she excuse," this Ayre provided
an exceptionally interesting example of varied rhythmic
treatment. If properly understood it will be found that the
verbal and musical accents correspond perfectly.
As regards some of the facts quoted about dates by Mr.
Webb, I think we have advanced a little bit in our know-
ledge perhaps since I884, and some of those facts are not
borne out now.
THE CHAIRMAN: Dr. Fellowes asked me to say something

about the relation of Dowland to the Continental music
generally at that time. We must remember that the book
on musical history have given us often a very false idea
the general state of things in the sixteenth and seventeen
centuries, and we owe a very great debt to Dr. Fellowes
and some other researchers for bringing us down to the
real facts, which are a very different matter. The usual
view of what has been called the " transition period" was
that there was a great deal of current music in the sixteenth
century which people were all composing on their knees,
and that all this was upset by those dreadful revolutionaries
and amateurs from Florence who started the opera. A
transition period is always interesting to study, but you
can take any period of music as a transition period, and if

154.59.125.36 on Sat, 30 Dec 2023 22:16:43 +00:00
The Songs of Do'wland 25
you care to call a certain period a transition period, you can

look at it from two points of view: either you can emphasise
the revolution and the change, or you can look at it from
the other side and try to see how much continuity there is
going on in the background. There was a great deal of
continuity in that century from I550 to I650.
Dowland was by no means the first person who started
solo songs to a lute; not the first person in England even.
People were singing madrigals all over Italy constantly as
solos accompanied by a lute. We have positive evidence of
that on many occasions. As regards England: Byrd, as
Dr. Fellowes has already shown us in his edition of the
"Songs of Sadness and Pietie " says himself in the preface
that many of these songs were originally composed for a
solo voice. But the solo voice is very often not the top
part; it may be the second voice or even the third. We
ought not to call these compositions of Byrd madrigals,
because they are really songs with accompaniments for the
viols. The parts are slightly modified afterwards by the
addition of words; but they are in the same form as these
Dowland songs and differ entirely from the Italian
madrigals. The important thing about the later Italian
madrigals is not the introduction of strange discords and
harmonies; it is that they became more and more literary.
Composers were trying harder and harder to express the
sense of the words. You will find in Monteverdi's madrigals
the most extraordinary new rhythms, derived from the
words. That is what broke the madrigal down. It became
so literary that it was obliged to lapse into the Florentine
type of declamatory solo.
This change was taking place quite gradually. If you
look at the so-called " madrigals " of Byrd, you will find that
right down to the end of Byrd's latest publications, he still
pursues that constructive principle of a simple song. It
may be of four lines or eight lines, or more; but one of the
voices has simply a song to sing with rests in between the
lines, while the other voices treat motives of it in counter-
point, in much the same way as the quartet of viols might
do.
Byrd was totally unliterary. His inspiration is entirely

musical. He is never led away by a desire to illustrate words
and to get the exact declamatory expression of words. Byrd
is the obvious forerunner of Dowland in all those things,
and what Dowland did, so far as I can judge from what we
heard this afternoon, was to develop what the Englishman

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had handed down. Byrd had handed down this si

of English song. Dowland elaborates it in the mo
ful way and pays more attention to the nic
pronunciation. Harmonic changes result from q
rhythms, from more elaborate and accentuated
and more elaborate musical form.
I venture to suggest that Dowland might possibly, when

in the North, have come into contact with some of the
Northern composers, people like Schiitz and the Protestant
composers who were liberated by Protestantism to the free
musical expression of the word. But all that is a very com-
plicated problem which I hope someone will work out later
-the influence of English music on the Continent and of
the Continent on English music.
I want to express the gratitude of the Association to Dr.
Fellowes for his wonderful paper, and also to Mr. Haworth
and Mr. Ramsbotham for their very kind collaboration,
and I beg to propose a hearty vote of thanks to them.
The vote of thanks was carried by acclamation.

154.59.125.36 on Sat, 30 Dec 2023 22:16:43 +00:00

The Songs of Dowland

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