I only started listening to John Dowland's music three or four years ago, which makes me pause and wonder why it took so long for me to discover this incredible composer. His lute compositions are particularly enchanting and tinged with just the right amount of meloncholia. Sometimes I let his music play endlessly for hours as I go about my daily routine at the university or when I am at home working at my desk. The internet is full of "music for reading and relaxing" compilations, but if you want some soothing music that helps you focus, none compare to Dowland's lute pieces, as far as I'm concerned.
Many of Dowland's lute compositions have been recorded and are readily available online via You Tube. My favorite recordings feature the brilliant and masterful lutenist Paul O'Dette. If you have never listened to Dowland's music, O'Dette's playing, or lute music in general, I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Some information courtesy of Infogalactic:
John Dowland[1] (1563 – buried 20 February 1626) was an English Renaissance composer, lutenist, and singer. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as "Come, heavy sleep" (the basis for Benjamin Britten's Nocturnal), "Come again", "Flow my tears", "I saw my Lady weepe" and "In darkness let me dwell", but his instrumental music has undergone a major revival, and with the 20th century's Early music revival has been a continuing source of repertoire for lutenists and classical guitarists.
Paul R. O'Dette (born February 2, 1954, Columbus, Ohio, United States) is an American lutenist, conductor, and musicologist specializing in early music.
O'Dette began playing the electric guitar in a rock band in Columbus, Ohio, where he grew up. Eventually this led him into playing guitar transcriptions of lute music, and not long after that he opted for the lute (as well as the related archlute, theorbo, and Baroque guitar) as his primary instruments, and now he specializes in the performance of Renaissance and Baroque music. He has made more than 120 recordings, earning five Grammy nominations and numerous other awards. In addition to his activities as a performer, Paul O'Dette is an avid researcher, having worked extensively on the performance and sources of seventeenth-century Italian and English solo song, continuo practices and lute technique.
And finally, the music . . .
Many of Dowland's lute compositions have been recorded and are readily available online via You Tube. My favorite recordings feature the brilliant and masterful lutenist Paul O'Dette. If you have never listened to Dowland's music, O'Dette's playing, or lute music in general, I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Some information courtesy of Infogalactic:
John Dowland[1] (1563 – buried 20 February 1626) was an English Renaissance composer, lutenist, and singer. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as "Come, heavy sleep" (the basis for Benjamin Britten's Nocturnal), "Come again", "Flow my tears", "I saw my Lady weepe" and "In darkness let me dwell", but his instrumental music has undergone a major revival, and with the 20th century's Early music revival has been a continuing source of repertoire for lutenists and classical guitarists.
Paul R. O'Dette (born February 2, 1954, Columbus, Ohio, United States) is an American lutenist, conductor, and musicologist specializing in early music.
O'Dette began playing the electric guitar in a rock band in Columbus, Ohio, where he grew up. Eventually this led him into playing guitar transcriptions of lute music, and not long after that he opted for the lute (as well as the related archlute, theorbo, and Baroque guitar) as his primary instruments, and now he specializes in the performance of Renaissance and Baroque music. He has made more than 120 recordings, earning five Grammy nominations and numerous other awards. In addition to his activities as a performer, Paul O'Dette is an avid researcher, having worked extensively on the performance and sources of seventeenth-century Italian and English solo song, continuo practices and lute technique.
And finally, the music . . .
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