Ένα τραγούδι του μεγάλου αναγεννησιακού λαουτίστα, singer-songwriter John Dowland, ταιριαστό με την βροχερή περίσταση…
A song by the great Renaissance lutist, singer-songwriter John Dowland, fitting the rainy occasion…
Clear or cloudy, sweet as April show’ring,
Smooth or frowning so is her face to me,
Pleas’d or smiling like mild May all flow’ring
When skies blue silk and meadows carpets be,
Her speeches notes of that night-bird that singeth,
Who thought all sweet yet jarring notes outringeth.
Her grace like June, when earth and trees be trimm’d
In best attire of complete beauty’s height,
Her love again like summer’s days be dimm’d,
With little clouds of doubtful constant faith,
Her trust her doubt, like rain and heat in skies
Gently thund’ring, she lightning to my eyes.
Sweet Summer spring that breatheth life and growing,
In weeds as into healing herbs and flow’rs,
And seeds of service diverse sorts in sowing,
Some haply seeming and some being yours,
Rain on your herbs and flow’rs that truly serve,
And let your weeds lack dew and duly starve.
The music and sound can be difficult for modern ears (!) but the words on their own are wonderful. I love the last line 😊 but it goes against today’s trends. 🙋♂️
Who cares about modern ears and today’s trends. Long live Dowland!
How sweet it is!
Until you… here… I knew very little about ancient music. John Dowland is so long ago, there isn’t even a picture. We rely on a painting.
Yet, music was written.
How wonderful that we can reproduce it with modern …..everything. We are so lucky!
There’s a song in Zeffirelli’s “Romeo and Juliette” in the scene where R & J discover each other at the masquerade party. This is how I thought of renaissance music.