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Two Dowland Laments by DAVID BRUCE
Description
This piece is an arrangement of two of English Renaissance composer John Dowland's laments: 'Go Crystal Tears'; and perhaps his most famous lament 'Flow my tears' (Lachrimae). They were commissioned by the Austrailian Chamber Orchestra for a series of concerts curated by New Yorker magazine music critic Alex Ross based on a theme of Chaconnes and Laments. They grew out of my previous collection of Dowland arrangements Tears, Puffes, Jumps and Galliards.
Keeping close to the original songs, I tried to arrange the works to bring out subtle shades in the accompaniment. I was particularly concerned to ensure the two songs worked successfully together. The first adds gentle trills in amongst Dowland's counterpoint, and the second adds flourishes and embellishments from various solists throughout the orchestra and begins with brief violin and cello cadenzas as a way of cleansing the palette between the two songs.
David Bruce, November 2010
Alex Ross writes:
"John Dowland, the master lutenist-composer of Elizabethan and Jacobean England. A man of innately melancholy temperament, the Hamlet of the musical scene, he named one of his pavans Semper Dowland semper Dolens (“Always Dowland, always dolorous”). Yet there is something oddly seductive in his rituals of sorrow: “Go Crystal Tears” and “Flow My Tears”, from Dowland’s First and Second Books of Songs (1597 and 1600), are luxuriously beautiful spaces in which the daily world recedes and time stops for a while. “Flow My Tears” pivots on the same four-note falling motif that occurs in so many laments across history. David Bruce has arranged the Dowland songs for voice and string orchestra, interposing brief cadenzas for solo violin and solo cello to vary the texture."
Press / Latest Reviews
The Ember / Mar 2011 Adam Rivett
Another highlight of the first session of the program were the performances (again utilizing Campbell) of two John Dowland laments. The pieces positively wept. They seemed to hover in amber, still to the point of paralysis. Dowland's reputation as an acquired melancholy taste seemed borne out by the afternoon's selections – rather than lay down lachrymose gush, they simply wept quietly, beautifully." |
whereilive.com.au / Mar 2011 Adam Rivett
Using minimal vibrato, Campbell delivered the lines of Dowland's Go crystal tears with the soft swell of a viol in David Bruce's beautiful setting. [WhereILive.com] |
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Details
for Mezzo-Soprano and String Orchestra
1 Mezzo-Soprano
Strings (5-4-4-3-2)
Duration 10mins
Composed 2011
First performance Austrailian Chamber Orchestra as part of Alex Ross's Listen to This tour March 2011
Commissioned by Austrailian Chamber Orchestra
Past Performances
- Mar 6 2011
Melbourne, Australia (Australian Chamber Orchestra,Fiona Campbell)
- Mar 8 2011
Adelaide, Australia (Australian Chamber Orchestra,Fiona Campbell)
- Mar 14 2011
Brisbane, Australia (Australian Chamber Orchestra,Fiona Campbell)
- Mar 16 2011
City Recital Hall Angel Place, Sydney , Australia (Australian Chamber Orchestra,Fiona Campbell)
- Mar 19 2011
City Recital Hall Angel Place, Sydney , Australia (Australian Chamber Orchestra,Fiona Campbell)
- Feb 23 2013
Boston Conservatory (The Boston Conservatory Hemenway Strings)
- Aug 20 2014
Ravinia Festival (Dawn Upshaw, The Knights)
- Jan 18 2015
Dance Company Nanine Linning/Theater Heidelberg (Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg)
- Jan 24 2015
Dance Company Nanine Linning/Theater Heidelberg (Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg)
- Jan 30 2015
Dance Company Nanine Linning/Theater Heidelberg (Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg)
- Feb 09 2015
Dance Company Nanine Linning/Theater Heidelberg (Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg)
- Feb 12 2015
Dance Company Nanine Linning/Theater Heidelberg (Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg)
- Feb 26 2015
Dance Company Nanine Linning/Theater Heidelberg (Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg)
- Mar 1 2015
Dance Company Nanine Linning/Theater Heidelberg (Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg)
- Mar 21 2015
Dance Company Nanine Linning/Theater Heidelberg (Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg)
- Mar 28 2015
Dance Company Nanine Linning/Theater Heidelberg (Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg)
- Apr 17 2015
Dance Company Nanine Linning/Theater Heidelberg (Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg)
- May 29 2015
Dance Company Nanine Linning/Theater Heidelberg (Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg)
- Jun 2 2015
Dance Company Nanine Linning/Theater Heidelberg (Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg)
- Jun 6 2015
Dance Company Nanine Linning/Theater Heidelberg (Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg)
- Jun 12 2015
Dance Company Nanine Linning/Theater Heidelberg (Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg)
- Jul 7 2016
Birmingham Town Hall, Music for Youth National Festival (Penzance Youth String Orchestra)
- Jul 16 2016
St Bartholomews Church, Porthleven Cornwall (Penzance Youth String Orchestra, Kerenza Hurr)
- Jul 17 2021
Wigmore Hall, London (Manchester Collection, Ruby Hughes)
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