Teares of Sorrowe and Gladnesse

In his ground-breaking set of Lachrimae, published in 1604 and dedicated to Anne of Denmark, the newly crowned Queen of England, John Dowland describes ‘teares’ as not always being shed ‘in sorrowe, but sometime in joy and gladnesse’.

The ‘Seaven Passionate Pavans’ that he based on his famous song ‘Flow my teares’ form a deeply moving sequence unique at the time they were written. Here they are heard in the context of some of Dowland’s more joyful dances for viols and lute and music by Orlande de Lassus and Alfonso Ferrabosco that might have inspired his own.