Osterfestival: Seven Passionate Pavans
John Dowland's Lachrimæ, or Seaven Teares figured in seaven passionate pavans are among the most impressive musical examples of penetrating melancholy from the Renaissance. Particularly unusual for their time are the dissonances and the unexpected harmonic turns, which is why the Lachrimæ continue to exert a special attraction today. The starting point is the famous Lachrimæ-motif from his song Flow, my tears: a descending melodic figure, a musical symbol of lamentation and weeping. Dowland unfolds a coherent study of human sorrow over it, which goes far beyond mere variations of a musical theme. He shows seven different emotional states: from dignified, reserved (Lachrimæ Antiquæ/old tears), dense, expressive (Lachrimæ Antiquæ Novæ/new old tears) to plaintive, downward-looking (Lachrimæ Gementes/sighing tears), particularly dark, resigned (Lachrimæ Tristes/sad tears), inwardly tense (Lachrimæ Coactæ/forced tears) to warm (Lachrimæ Amantis/tears of the lover) and finally calm, composed, almost transcendent (Lachrimæ Veræ/true tears). With Hopkinson Smith, they can be heard in an arrangement for solo lute. Dowland's music, which combines intricate polyphony with an urgent, melancholic beauty, is translated into our time with texts from the 20th and 21st centuries.
Eleonore Bürcher – Reading
Hopkinson Smith – Lute
Osterfestival Tirol
Galerie St. Barabara
6060 Hall in Tirol
+43 522353808
office@osterfestival.at
