(first published at www.concertonet.com)
John Dowland’s Lachrimae, for viol consort and lute, is a
collection of dances (pavans, galliards and allemandes) published in
London in 1604. Dowland (1563-1626) was court lutenist to Christian IV
of Denmark at the time, ample reason, perhaps, for the work’s melancholy
tone, since he had formerly sought the same post at the court of Queen
Elizabeth and been rejected.
In fact, however, Dowland’s customary affect was melancholy, and he
composed one of the era’s most popular songs in just that vein, Flow my tears, whose opening motif became the basis for Lachrimae. Cincinnati’s early music ensemble Catacoustic Consort closed its 2012-2013 season with Lachrimae
and it was more than just a performance. It was an event. The concert
took place at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, a century-old parish in the
northern suburbs of Cincinnati, under circumstances calculated to turn
back the clock. The church was illumined by candlelight (aided, for
safety’s sake, by subdued electric lighting) and the acoustic was the
stone walls of the church. A capacity crowd was in attendance, spilling
over into the balcony. It was quite a sight with the viols (treble to
bass) and lute arrayed at the head of the nave, lit by candelabra.
Players came from as far as San Francisco (Julie Jeffrey and Lynn
Tetenbaum) and New York City (Lawrence Lipnik) to participate in the
event.
Lachrimae, subtitled “seaven teares figured in seaven passionate
pavans, with divers other pavans, galliards and allemands, set forth for
lute, viols, or violons, in five parts,” comprises seven pavans (the Lachrimae).
Catacoustic paired each with one of the “divers other” dances in the
set, each named for a personage of the time, including Robert Devereux,
the second Earl of Essex (favorite of Queen Elizabeth, later executed
for treason), the Danish king himself and even a pirate, Captain Digorie
Piper. These offered a welcome contrast to the prevailing sorrow of the
Lachrimae proper.
Giving the program even greater ambience were readings of Elizabethan
poetry by actor Jeremy Dubin of the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company.
There was Shakespeare, of course, also Christopher Marlowe, Thomas
Wilson, Thomas Wyatt and John Donne. Many of the verses dealt with
unrequited or ill-fated love. Translations of Roman poet Ovid, Amores, Book III, Elegy III, preceded the first two pavans, Lachrimae Antiquae (“Old Tears”) and Lachrimae Antiquae Novae
(“Old Tears Renewed”). The poet’s lamentations over a faithless girl
were echoed plangently by the consort, led by Catacoustic artistic
director Annalisa Pappano on treble viol. The King of Denmark’s Galliard and The Earle of Essex Galliard, which followed, were quite jolly by comparison.
Shakespeare’s Sonnet VIII, “Music to hear, why hear’st thou music sadly?” preceded Lachrimae Gementes (“Singing Tears”) and M. Nicholas Gryffith his Galliard, both of which received precise and nuanced renditions by the consort. Actor Dubin, who spoke from the pulpit, introduced Lachrimae Tristes (“Sad Tears”) with Thomas Wilson’s “The Teares of Fancie, or Love Disdained”.
The poet’s capitulation - “I to tyrannizing love must yield me” -
seemed the perfect setup for the cheerful galliard that followed, Sir John Souch his Galliard. Similarly, poet Thomas Wyatt’s “Farewell Love” (“go trouble younger hearts”) seemed a fitting sentiment for Lachrimae Coactae (“Forced Tears”) and M. Giles Hobies Galliard, which, with a break for intermission, brought a temporary respite from all the weeping.
Lutenist David Walker (of Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky) began the second half with an exquisite performance of Semper Dowland semper dolens, the composer’s punning acknowledgement of his “doleful” nature. Dubin was back on board with John Donne’s “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”, introducing Lachrimae Amantis (“Lover’s Tears”), whose far-reaching harmonies evinced genuine suffering. Poetry and music were reversed for Lachrimae Verae (“True Tears”), which set the scene for Dubin’s reading of Donne’s A Valediction of Weeping. The consort responded with M. Buctons Galliard, and as if to say “no more tears,” brought the evening to a close with Mr. John Langston’s Pavan, followed by Mistress Nichol’s Almand and M. George Whitehead his Almand, which out rang bright and optimistic in the darkened church.