John Dowland – Lachrimae Pavan (Flow My Tears) | Lute – Judith Kirkpatrick - 2026 - 4K
🎵 💧 We are pleased to introduce a new Shakespeare Network release in the series Shakespeare and the Elizabethan–Jacobean Musical Landscape: John Dowland’s John Dowland’s Lachrimae Pavan (Flow My Tears), performed by Judith Kirkpatrick from Dowland’s original lute tablature.
John Dowland
Born c. 1563; buried 20 February 1626
Lute: Judith Kirkpatrick
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. Yet the instrumental Lachrimae pavan preceded the song. Dowland later joined words to music whose expressive identity was already established, and in 1604 the material returned as Lachrimae Antiquae, opening the seven “passionate pavans” of Lachrimae, or Seaven Teares.
THE ART OF MELANCHOLY — SEPTEM LACHRIMAE AND THE “ELIZABETHAN SORROWS”
This instrumental version returns the music to the intimate world of the lute. Without a singer, the rhetoric of lament is carried by phrasing, articulation, resonance and counterpoint. Several independent musical lines can be suggested within one plucked instrument, while every note begins clearly and immediately starts to decay: expression therefore emerges from the relationship between sound, silence and disappearing resonance.
The analytical cards follow the opening descent — A–G–F–E — through its modal–tonal and formal architecture. The four notes span a perfect fourth through TONE — TONE — SEMITONE. In broadly modern terms they belong to an A-Aeolian or A-Minor field, but Dowland’s language stands between Renaissance modality and the emerging major–minor system. The final F–E semitone creates the characteristic Phrygian pressure, 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
For Maximianno Cobra, Dowland’s Lachrimae has long evoked the tormented existential silhouette of Hamlet: a consciousness suspended between thought and action, appearance and inward grief. The final card leads naturally to the mirror scene in Richard II, where visible sorrow becomes only the shadow of the grief that “lies all within”.
🎼 This original Shakespeare Network multimedia presentation combines performance, recording, editorial cards, musical analysis, historical context and educational resources.
🎓 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
Lute: Judith Kirkpatrick
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. Yet the instrumental Lachrimae pavan preceded the song. Dowland later joined words to music whose expressive identity was already established, and in 1604 the material returned as Lachrimae Antiquae, opening the seven “passionate pavans” of Lachrimae, or Seaven Teares.
THE ART OF MELANCHOLY — SEPTEM LACHRIMAE AND THE “ELIZABETHAN SORROWS”
This instrumental version returns the music to the intimate world of the lute. Without a singer, the rhetoric of lament is carried by phrasing, articulation, resonance and counterpoint. Several independent musical lines can be suggested within one plucked instrument, while every note begins clearly and immediately starts to decay: expression therefore emerges from the relationship between sound, silence and disappearing resonance.
The analytical cards follow the opening descent — A–G–F–E — through its modal–tonal and formal architecture. The four notes span a perfect fourth through TONE — TONE — SEMITONE. In broadly modern terms they belong to an A-Aeolian or A-Minor field, but Dowland’s language stands between Renaissance modality and the emerging major–minor system. The final F–E semitone creates the characteristic Phrygian pressure, 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
For Maximianno Cobra, Dowland’s Lachrimae has long evoked the tormented existential silhouette of Hamlet: a consciousness suspended between thought and action, appearance and inward grief. The final card leads naturally to the mirror scene in Richard II, where visible sorrow becomes only the shadow of the grief that “lies all within”.
🎼 This original Shakespeare Network multimedia presentation combines performance, recording, editorial cards, musical analysis, historical context and educational resources.
🎓 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?
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.
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