Lecture: John Dowlands 'Court pieces' for voices and instruments

At least a dozen of Dowland's songs, typically with a verse and chorus format and parts for instruments other than a single lute in G, clearly come from court masques or progress entertainments. One actually refers to being 'in the presence of a queen'; others are documented as having been performed on specific occasions – such as the retirement of Sir Henry Lee, the self-styled Queen's Champion, at an affair of great ceremony in 1590.

In this talk, Matthew Spring, a leading expert on the history of the lute in Britain, who will shortly publish an edition of these songs with realised parts for lute band, will discuss these pieces, their origins, and how they should be realised.