John Dowland – Lachrimae Pavan (Flow My Tears) | Early Harp - Alexandra Wiener - 2026 - 4K
🎵 💧 We are delighted to introduce a new Shakespeare Network release in the series Shakespeare and the Elizabethan–Jacobean Musical Landscape: ohn Dowland’s Lachrimae Pavan (Flow My Tears), newly arranged for Early Harp and performed by Alexandra Wiener.
John Dowland
Born c. 1563; buried 20 February 1626
Early Harp: Alexandra Wiener
Arrangement: Alexandra Wiener
Published as the second song in Dowland’s Second Booke of Songs or Ayres in 1600, Flow My Tears bears the Italian title Lacrime — “tears” — in the original musical edition. The instrumental Lachrimae Pavan preceded the song, and Dowland’s surviving lute tablature preserves the work in its original plucked-string world. This release does not duplicate the vocal or lute versions: Wiener reimagines the material for Early Harp, creating a distinct instrumental realisation with its own articulation, resonance and balance of voices.
THE ART OF MELANCHOLY — SEPTEM LACHRIMAE AND THE “ELIZABETHAN SORROWS”
Alexandra Wiener’s arrangement transfers Dowland’s contrapuntal language from the original lute tradition to Early Harp. Independent lines must remain clear, suspensions retain their tension, and the harp’s natural resonance must enrich rather than obscure the counterpoint.
The instrumental colour changes; the fundamental rhetoric does not: descent, suspension, cadence and return remain at the centre of Lachrimae. The characteristic sweetness of the Early Harp does not soften the work’s deep sorrow and bitterness; instead, it draws them inward, making the lament still more introspective and melancholy.
The analytical cards follow the opening four-note descent — A–G–F–E — taking Dowland’s original lute source as the reference. The notes span a perfect fourth through TONE — TONE — SEMITONE. They belong broadly to an A-Aeolian or A-Minor field, within a language poised between Renaissance modality and emerging major–minor tonality. The final F–E semitone creates the characteristic Phrygian pull, while the Pavan unfolds through three repeated strains: A–A | B–B | C–C.
DOWLAND AND SHAKESPEARE
William Shakespeare (born April 1564; died 23 April 1616) and John Dowland lived almost exactly in parallel within late Elizabethan and early Jacobean culture. No surviving document proves that they met or collaborated, yet their historical and artistic proximity is unmistakable: London, court life, print, poetry, theatre and music formed a shared field around them.
Richard Barnfield (1574–1620) praised Dowland in “If music and sweet poetry agree”, reprinted in 1599 in The Passionate Pilgrim, a miscellany issued under Shakespeare’s name. Dowland gave musical form to inward lament; Shakespeare transformed comparable states into speech and dramatic action.
SHADOWS AND SORROWS
Although Flow My Tears was not composed as incidental music for Hamlet, it acquired a particular dramaturgical significance within Maximianno Cobra’s work. For the production of Hamlet that he directed in France in the early 2020s, Cobra created variations on and an arrangement of Dowland’s song.
Whenever Cobra conducts or plays Lachrimae, the first image to emerge in his mind is the tormented existential silhouette of the Prince of Denmark. The final card leads from Hamlet’s inwardness to the mirror scene in Richard II, where visible sorrow becomes only the shadow of the grief that “lies all within”.
🎼 This Shakespeare Network release is a newly created multimedia production: a new Early-Harp arrangement and performance by Alexandra Wiener, with original editorial cards, musical analysis, historical contextualisation and audiovisual treatment prepared specifically for this version.
🎓 Explore this video as part of the Shakespeare Network Educational Programme.
Our non-profit initiative promotes the study and performance of Shakespeare’s works through open-access resources.
Discover the full Academic Kit accompanying this video — including texts, annotated scripts, reading lists and teaching notes — entirely free of charge on our official website:
🌐 Full Academic Kit → https://www.shakespearenetwork.net/academic-kit
📚 This resource supports teachers, students, and theatre professionals interested in Renaissance literature, dramaturgy, and historical performance practice.
🗂 Related materials: - Free online courses and webinars - Research articles and curated editions - Live discussions and community projects
© Shakespeare Network, registered non-profit educational organisation.
_______________________________
Screen Adaptation - Co-Production : MISANTHROPOS – Official Website - [ LINK ]
Adapted by Maximianno Cobra, from Shakespeare's "Timon of Athens", the film exposes the timeless challenge of social hypocrisy, disillusion and annihilation against the poetics of friendship, love, and beauty.
_______________________________
Support Us - Donate Now !
Why Donate?
Donations to Shakespeare Network help sustain free knowledge and educational programs on Shakespeare Network and our ecosystem of Shakespeare Network projects. Your contributions ensure these resources remain accessible and valuable for all. Thank you.
Contact us for further info.
John Dowland
Born c. 1563; buried 20 February 1626
Early Harp: Alexandra Wiener
Arrangement: Alexandra Wiener
Published as the second song in Dowland’s Second Booke of Songs or Ayres in 1600, Flow My Tears bears the Italian title Lacrime — “tears” — in the original musical edition. The instrumental Lachrimae Pavan preceded the song, and Dowland’s surviving lute tablature preserves the work in its original plucked-string world. This release does not duplicate the vocal or lute versions: Wiener reimagines the material for Early Harp, creating a distinct instrumental realisation with its own articulation, resonance and balance of voices.
THE ART OF MELANCHOLY — SEPTEM LACHRIMAE AND THE “ELIZABETHAN SORROWS”
Alexandra Wiener’s arrangement transfers Dowland’s contrapuntal language from the original lute tradition to Early Harp. Independent lines must remain clear, suspensions retain their tension, and the harp’s natural resonance must enrich rather than obscure the counterpoint.
The instrumental colour changes; the fundamental rhetoric does not: descent, suspension, cadence and return remain at the centre of Lachrimae. The characteristic sweetness of the Early Harp does not soften the work’s deep sorrow and bitterness; instead, it draws them inward, making the lament still more introspective and melancholy.
The analytical cards follow the opening four-note descent — A–G–F–E — taking Dowland’s original lute source as the reference. The notes span a perfect fourth through TONE — TONE — SEMITONE. They belong broadly to an A-Aeolian or A-Minor field, within a language poised between Renaissance modality and emerging major–minor tonality. The final F–E semitone creates the characteristic Phrygian pull, while the Pavan unfolds through three repeated strains: A–A | B–B | C–C.
DOWLAND AND SHAKESPEARE
William Shakespeare (born April 1564; died 23 April 1616) and John Dowland lived almost exactly in parallel within late Elizabethan and early Jacobean culture. No surviving document proves that they met or collaborated, yet their historical and artistic proximity is unmistakable: London, court life, print, poetry, theatre and music formed a shared field around them.
Richard Barnfield (1574–1620) praised Dowland in “If music and sweet poetry agree”, reprinted in 1599 in The Passionate Pilgrim, a miscellany issued under Shakespeare’s name. Dowland gave musical form to inward lament; Shakespeare transformed comparable states into speech and dramatic action.
SHADOWS AND SORROWS
Although Flow My Tears was not composed as incidental music for Hamlet, it acquired a particular dramaturgical significance within Maximianno Cobra’s work. For the production of Hamlet that he directed in France in the early 2020s, Cobra created variations on and an arrangement of Dowland’s song.
Whenever Cobra conducts or plays Lachrimae, the first image to emerge in his mind is the tormented existential silhouette of the Prince of Denmark. The final card leads from Hamlet’s inwardness to the mirror scene in Richard II, where visible sorrow becomes only the shadow of the grief that “lies all within”.
🎼 This Shakespeare Network release is a newly created multimedia production: a new Early-Harp arrangement and performance by Alexandra Wiener, with original editorial cards, musical analysis, historical contextualisation and audiovisual treatment prepared specifically for this version.
🎓 Explore this video as part of the Shakespeare Network Educational Programme.
Our non-profit initiative promotes the study and performance of Shakespeare’s works through open-access resources.
Discover the full Academic Kit accompanying this video — including texts, annotated scripts, reading lists and teaching notes — entirely free of charge on our official website:
🌐 Full Academic Kit → https://www.shakespearenetwork.net/academic-kit
📚 This resource supports teachers, students, and theatre professionals interested in Renaissance literature, dramaturgy, and historical performance practice.
🗂 Related materials: - Free online courses and webinars - Research articles and curated editions - Live discussions and community projects
© Shakespeare Network, registered non-profit educational organisation.
_______________________________
Screen Adaptation - Co-Production : MISANTHROPOS – Official Website - [ LINK ]
Adapted by Maximianno Cobra, from Shakespeare's "Timon of Athens", the film exposes the timeless challenge of social hypocrisy, disillusion and annihilation against the poetics of friendship, love, and beauty.
_______________________________
Support Us - Donate Now !
Shakespeare Network - Educational Programme
Why Donate?
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