Lachrimae Pavan by John Dowland

Lachrimae Pavan by John Dowland (1562-1626). Played by Phil McKelliget on a Masuru Kohno guitar.
I like this piece so much that I wrote a poem about it...

Lachrimae Pavan

His lute strapped to the back of a donkey,
John Dowland, master of the cult of melancholy,
Is smiling as he bridges the Alps. He dreams
Of playing to a lady of the court of Florence.
She inhabits sound, strain and flourish, chords
Pressing like sunlight on pewter. Her silent face,
So excellent in woe, advanced by the art
Plucked from the gut by his alchemic fingers.

But discovers in Florence those fingers trembling.
He is Dowland the Catholic now, astonished
At his artlessness, for tonight he will dine
With John Scudamore, priest and plotter in exile.
An image jostles him as he plays – London
And the etched horror of the quartered papists.
'God he knoweth I never loved treason
Nor never heard any mass in England'.

Four hundred years between your penned fear
And this obscure occasion: Lachrimae Pavan
Nascent beneath my fingers. Your famous phrase,
The most sublime expression of pain, is falling.
Particle and wave, her grief-transfigured face
Spinning in the riddle of an atom in a bullet
Lodged in the brain of a bleeding victim somewhere.
And a fleck of gold is pressed into being.

[raffitorossian]

EXCELLENT MELODY AND EXCELLENT IMAGINED THAT I WAS SITTING IN A CHURCH LISTENING AN A FEELINGS ARE EXCELLENT.

[JohnnyMak]

a great performance phil! the occasional smile on your face says it all

[solea]

" Hark you shadows that in darkness dwell " This piece really takes me somewhere very dark but beautiful at the same time.

[snowfiresunwind]

This sounds very beautiful - well played Phil. It's always a pleasure to hear you play.

Simply wonderful! Congratulations Phil. All the best, Manuel

[NinaRideout]

Superlative performance Phil. It was very calm, but also deeply moving. You really communicated something there. Such a difficult piece to pull off. Bravo!

[solea]

A very thoughtful rendition, well peresented Phil ! I have seen some that have too many trills and fancy bits, the spaces where it keeps you hanging on are so beautiful . This is I believe Dowlands finest piece. The notes dropping silently into a calm lake, it doesn't need fancy stuff at all.

Wonderful piece and performance.
Best wishes.

[romangrykias]

Sad but beautiful melody. And a moving performance with a very good sound of the guitar.

[gemmamarisuarez]

Hey Phil, this is a great performance!!, it sounds really fantastic. And I want to say that your lovely and vintage home makes me always smile, always the same and always is a little diference :)) All the best from Montserrat!

[mons]

Impressive and intense !Best wishes, Ruud

[pablito]

Great rendition, Phil!
Kind regards,
Pablo

[MSchrei]

Beautiful playing.
The other side of your kitchen must be a vast cathedral-like structure! 😉

[wapolo]

Lovely perfornance, Phil! You seem to have a real affection for the music of Dowland. Perhaps consider getting yourself a lute? ;)

[wapolo]

Btw, another great piece by Dowland that seems to be rarely played is "A Dream". Would imagine you would enjoy playing it if you don't already.

[islandworld]

Very well played - in two words: just beautiful. Btw exactly what guitar do you play and with which strings? It truly sounds amazing. Would be interesting to hear from you. Kind Regards from Holland.

[DavidMiltonJones]

Beautiful performance, Philip. I wanted to ask you, as there seem to be so may versions of this piece out there, which score you are using? I also place a capo on the second fret, but there are a few passages there where I don't recognize what you are doing, at least following my score, which I downloaded from Per Olov Kindgren's website.