Music for Lute

Abstract John Dowland built his reputation as an accomplished performing lutenist. While the perception of his greatness is mentioned in a number of contemporaneous acclamations, it is only through intabulation of his compositions, as presented in dozens of primary-source manuscripts and prints, that his facility and technique on his instrument are preserved. This chapter considers Dowland’s lute music. It examines the types of improvisatory-sounding pieces, popular-song variation sets, and dances that Dowland created, and his compositional style as it fit into standards of the day. The chapter also pays close attention to associates and patrons mentioned within his dance titles. Especially important in the preservation of Dowland’s music are two particular manuscripts, the first Mathew Holmes lutebook (Cambridge University, Dd.2.11) and the Folger-Dowland lute manuscript (Washington, Folger Shakespeare Library, MS. V.b280), as demonstrative of performance techniques and pedagogical practices of the day.