Lachrimae (1604)
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"Flow, my tears" (originally ) is a
lute song The term lute song is given to a music style from the late 16th century to early 17th century, late Renaissance music, Renaissance to early Baroque music, Baroque, that was predominantly in England and France. Lute songs were generally in stroph ...
(specifically, an "
ayre Ayre ( ; ) is one of the six sheadings of the Isle of Man. It is located in the north of the island (part of the traditional ''North Side'' division) and consists of the three historic parishes of Andreas, Bride and (Kirk Christ) Lezayre. T ...
") by the accomplished
lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lu ...
nist and composer
John Dowland John Dowland ( – 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", " Come again", " Flow my tears", " I saw my Lady weepe", " N ...
(1563–1626). Originally composed as an
instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...
under the name "Lachrimae pavane" in 1596, it is Dowland's most famous ayre, and became his signature song, literally as well as metaphorically: he would occasionally sign his name "Jo: dolandi de Lachrimae".


Details

Like others of Dowland's lute songs, the piece's
musical form In music, ''form'' refers to the structure of a musical composition or musical improvisation, performance. In his book, ''Worlds of Music'', Jeff Todd Titon suggests that a number of organizational elements may determine the formal structure of a ...
and style are based on a dance, in this case the pavan. It was first published in '' The Second Booke of Songs or Ayres of 2, 4 and 5 parts'' (London, 1600). The song begins with a falling tear motif, starting on an A and descending to an E by step on the text "Flow, my tears". This may have been borrowed from an
Orlando di Lasso Orlando di Lasso ( various other names; probably – 14 June 1594) was a composer of the late Renaissance. The chief representative of the mature polyphonic style in the Franco-Flemish school, Lassus stands with William Byrd, Giovanni Pierlui ...
motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the preeminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to the Eng ...
or
Luca Marenzio Luca Marenzio (also Marentio; October 18, 1553 or 1554 – August 22, 1599) was an Italian composer and singer of the late Renaissance. He was one of the most renowned composers of madrigals, and wrote some of the most famous examples of the f ...
madrigal A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance (15th–16th centuries) and early Baroque (1580–1650) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The polyphonic madrigal is unaccompanied, and the ...
(this type of motif was common in Elizabethan music to signify grief), in addition to other borrowings in the piece. Anthony Boden calls the song "probably the most widely known English song of the early 17th century."


Variants

There have been many instrumental versions of this song, most entitled "Lachrimae" (or "Lachrymae", literally "tears"). In this case the instrumental version was written first, as "Lachrimae pavane" in 1596, and
lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, ...
were later added. It is believed that the text was written specifically for the music, and may have been written by Dowland himself. The English musicologist
Peter Holman Peter Kenneth Holman MBE (born 19 October 1946, in London) is an English conductor and musicologist best known for reviving the music of Purcell and his English contemporaries. Holman, with the ensemble The Parley of Instruments made many of the ...
claims that the first pavan of "Lachrimae" (called "Lachrimae Antiquae", or the "Old Tears") is "perhaps the single most popular and widely distributed instrumental piece of the period". According to Holman, it exists in around 100 manuscripts and printings across Europe including England, Scotland, The Netherlands, France, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, and Italy, in different arrangements for ensemble and solo. The "Lachrimae" tend to be much more abstract than later music (such as Bach and Chopin) and there is no "definitive" version of the piece. Dowland and his contemporaries supposedly played their own versions in a semi-improvised fashion, like jazz musicians today. Holman argues that the popularity of "Lachrimae" came from its rich melodic and motivic nature. Other English composers in the period generally gave only one or two ideas per strain and padded them out with dull, diffusive
contrapuntal In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous Part (music), musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and Pitch contour, melodic contour. The term ...
writing. In contrast, Dowland's "Lachrimae" provide a variety of strikingly melodic ideas and furthermore they are tightly and tactfully interconnected. Instrumental versions by Dowland include "Lachrimae" for lute, "
Galliard The ''galliard'' (; ; ) was a form of Renaissance dance and Renaissance music, music popular all over Europe in the 16th century. It is mentioned in dance manuals from England, Portugal, France, Spain, Germany, and Italy. Dance form The ''gal ...
to Lachrimae" for lute and "Lachrimae antiquae" (1604) for
consort __NOTOC__ Consort may refer to: Music * "The Consort" (Rufus Wainwright song), from the 2000 album ''Poses'' * Consort of instruments, term for instrumental ensembles * Consort song (musical), a characteristic English song form, late 16th–earl ...
. Dowland also published ''
Lachrimae, or Seaven Teares ''Lachrimæ or seaven teares figured in seaven passionate Pavane, pavans, with divers other pavans, galliards and allemande, allemands, set forth for the lute, viols, or violons, in five parts'' is a collection of instrumental music composed by ...
'' (London, 1604), a collection of consort music which included a cycle of seven "Lachrimae" pavans based on the falling tear motif.
Thomas Morley Thomas Morley (1557 – early October 1602) was an English composer, music theory, theorist, singer and organist of late Renaissance music. He was one of the foremost members of the English Madrigal School. Referring to the strong Italian inf ...
set the "Lachrimae Pauin" for the six instruments of a
broken consort In English early Baroque music, a broken consort is an ensemble featuring instruments from more than one family, for example a group featuring both string and wind instruments. A consort consisting entirely of instruments of the same family, on th ...
in his ''First Booke of Consort Lessons'' (London, 1599). Other composers have written pieces based on the work, including
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck ( ; April or May, 1562 – 16 October 1621) was a Dutch composer, organist, and pedagogue whose work straddled the end of the Renaissance and beginning of the Baroque eras. He was among the first major keyboard comp ...
,
Thomas Tomkins Thomas Tomkins (1572 – 9 June 1656) was a Welsh-born composer of the late Tudor and early Stuart period. In addition to being one of the prominent members of the English Madrigal School, he was a skilled composer of keyboard and consort mu ...
, and
Tobias Hume Tobias Hume (possibly 1579 – 16 April 1645) was a Scottish composer, viol player and soldier. Little is known of his life. Some have suggested that he was born in 1579 because he was admitted to the London Charterhouse in 1629, a prerequisite ...
's ''What Greater Griefe'', while
John Danyel John Danyel or John Daniel (Baptized 6 November 1564 – c. 1626) was an English lute player and songwriter. He was born in Wellow, Somerset, and was the younger brother of poet Samuel Daniel. His surviving works include "Coy Daphne Fled", about ...
's ''Eyes, look no more'' pays clear homage to the piece, as does John Bennet's " Weep, o mine eyes". In the 20th century, American composer and conductor
Victoria Bond Victoria Ellen Bond (born 6 May 1945) is an American conductor and composer in New York City. Early life Victoria Bond was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of operatic bass and medical doctor Philip Bond (a vocalist with the New York ...
wrote ''Old New Borrowed Blues (Variations on Flow my Tears)''.
Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...
quotes the incipit of "Flow, my tears" in his ''Lachrymae'' for viola, a set of variations on Dowland's ayre "If my complaints could passions move". In 2006, the British
electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...
group
Banco de Gaia Banco de Gaia is an English electronic music project, formed in 1989 by Toby Marks (born 1964, South London, England). The music of Banco de Gaia is mostly categorized as ambient dub and downtempo. Marks works to cross genres, often using Ara ...
produced a vocoded version called "Flow my Dreams, the Android Wept".Banco de Gaia – Farewell Ferengistan CD
– review on swapacd.com


Lyrics


In other media

Lines 8–10 are quoted in the 1974 Philip K. Dick novel '' Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said'', the title of which is also an allusion to the song.


Footnotes


Sources

* * * * Facsimile edition of the original manuscript M2DOW. * * * * *


Further reading

* *


External links

*
Sheet music for "Flow, my tears"
* , Valeria Mignaco, soprano, and Alfonso Marin, lute * , sung by countertenor
Andreas Scholl Andreas Scholl (born 10 November 1967) is a German countertenor, a male classical singer in the alto vocal range, specialising in Baroque music. Born into a family of singers, Scholl was enrolled at the age of seven into the Kiedricher Chorbube ...
{{Authority control Compositions by John Dowland Lute songs 1600 works The Second Book of Songs