Dowland: Clear or cloudy

Dowland dedicated his song From Silent Night “To my loving countryman, Mr. John Forster the younger, merchant of Dublin, in Ireland”, revealing his possible Irish origins. Working closely with the American tenor Michael Slattery, La Nef gives Dowland’s Ayres a simple celtic flavour. “…a talented and serious artist.” Gramophone.

In this programme, the madrigals chosen illustrate the role of women in the age of Elizabeth I. Works by Byrd, Dowland, Tomkins and Hume are included. Ensemble Mikado was The Bank Austria Artist of the Year in 2008.

John Dowland, born in London around 1563, was the most renowned lutenist in Europe. As a composer, he captured perfectly the fashionable melancholy of the Elizabethan age.

For her new album In Darkness Let Me Dwell, viola da gamba virtuoso Hille Perl has selected some of Downland’s songs, coupled with instrumental pieces from his famous collection Lachrimae, or Seven Tears (1604). Together with her viola da gamba ensemble The Sirius Viols, the Amercian lutenist Lee Santana and the soprano Dorothee Mields Hille Perl eloquently portrays the melancholy spirit of Dowland’s music. In the songs, the solo lute pieces, the gaillards and pavanes for viola da gamba consort this melancholy is infinitely touching, and highly expressive.

For this recording, The Sirius Viols was able to use copies of original instruments from the workshop of renowned instrument maker Tilman Muthesius from Potsdam.