Flow my tears
Encyclopedia
Flow my Tears is a lute song
(specifically, an "ayre
") by the accomplished lute
nist and composer John Dowland
.
Originally composed as an instrumental
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".
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 Orlande de Lassus
motet
or Luca Marenzio
madrigal
, 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."
were later added. It is believed that the text was written specifically for the music, and may have been written by Dowland himself. Lachrimae exists in over 100 manuscripts and printings in different arrangements for ensemble and solo. The Lachrimaes tend to be much more abstract than other music based on dance forms of the time, and do not completely follow the structure of the standard pavan in terms of length of phrases; they are also more contrapuntal
.
Instrumental versions by Dowland include Lachrimae for lute, Galliard
to Lachrimae for lute and Lachrimae antiquae (1604) for consort
. Dowland also published Lachrimae, or Seaven Teares
(London, 1604), a collection of consort music which included a cycle of seven Lachrimae pavans based on the falling tear motif. Thomas Morley
set the "Lachrimae Pauin" for the six instruments of a 'broken consort
' in his First Booke of Consort Lessons (London, 1599).
Other composers have written pieces based on the work, including Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck
and Thomas Tomkins
, while John Danyel
'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
wrote "Old New Borrowed Blues (Variations on Flow my Tears)". Benjamin Britten
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
group Banco de Gaia
produced a vocoded
version called "Flow my Tears, the Android Wept".
Lachrimae became one of the favorite improvisational themes of the 16th and 17th Century. As they have not been preserved in written form, nearly all versions have been consigned to oblivion.
Flow, my tears, fall from your springs!
Exiled for ever, let me mourn;
Where night's black bird her sad infamy sings,
There let me live forlorn.
Down vain lights, shine you no more!
No nights are dark enough for those
That in despair their lost fortunes deplore.
Light doth but shame disclose.
Never may my woes be relieved,
Since pity is fled;
And tears and sighs and groans my weary days
Of all joys have deprived.
From the highest spire of contentment
My fortune is thrown;
And fear and grief and pain for my deserts
Are my hopes, since hope is gone.
Hark! you shadows that in darkness dwell,
Learn to contemn light
Happy, happy they that in hell
Feel not the world's despite.
Lute song
The lute song was a generic form of music in the late Renaissance and very early Baroque eras, generally consisting of a singer accompanying himself on a lute, though lute songs may often have been performed by a singer and a separate lutenist...
(specifically, an "ayre
Air (music)
Air , a variant of the musical song form, is the name of various song-like vocal or instrumental compositions.-English lute ayres:...
") by the accomplished lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
nist and composer John Dowland
John Dowland
John Dowland was an English Renaissance composer, singer, and lutenist. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as "Come, heavy sleep" , "Come again", "Flow my tears", "I saw my Lady weepe" and "In darkness let me dwell", but his instrumental music has undergone a major revival, and has...
.
Originally composed as an instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
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 formMusical form
The term musical form refers to the overall structure or plan of a piece of music, and it describes the layout of a composition as divided into sections...
and style are based on a dance, in this case the pavan
Pavane
The pavane, pavan, paven, pavin, pavian, pavine, or pavyn is a slow processional dance common in Europe during the 16th century .A pavane is a slow piece of music which is danced to in pairs....
. 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 Orlande de Lassus
Orlande de Lassus
Orlande de Lassus was a Franco-Flemish composer of the late Renaissance...
motet
Motet
In classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.-Etymology:The name comes either from the Latin movere, or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is motectum, and the Italian...
or Luca Marenzio
Luca Marenzio
Luca Marenzio 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 form in its late stage of development, prior to its early Baroque transformation by Monteverdi...
madrigal
Madrigal (music)
A madrigal is a secular vocal music composition, usually a partsong, of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Traditionally, polyphonic madrigals are unaccompanied; the number of voices varies from two to eight, and most frequently from three to six....
, 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."
Recordings
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 lyricsLyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
were later added. It is believed that the text was written specifically for the music, and may have been written by Dowland himself. Lachrimae exists in over 100 manuscripts and printings in different arrangements for ensemble and solo. The Lachrimaes tend to be much more abstract than other music based on dance forms of the time, and do not completely follow the structure of the standard pavan in terms of length of phrases; they are also more contrapuntal
Counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
.
Instrumental versions by Dowland include Lachrimae for lute, Galliard
Galliard
The galliard was a form of Renaissance dance and music popular all over Europe in the 16th century. It is mentioned in dance manuals from England, France, Spain, Germany and Italy, among others....
to Lachrimae for lute and Lachrimae antiquae (1604) for consort
Consort of instruments
A consort of instruments was a phrase used in England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to indicate an instrumental ensemble. These could be of the same or a variety of instruments. Consort music enjoyed considerable popularity at court and in households of the wealthy in the...
. Dowland also published Lachrimae, or Seaven Teares
Lachrimae, or Seaven Teares
Lachrimæ or seaven teares figured in seaven passionate pavans, with divers other pavans, galliards and allemands, set forth for the lute, viols, or violons, in five parts is a collection of dance music written for five viols, or violins and lute composed by John Dowland...
(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
Thomas Morley was an English composer, theorist, editor and organist of the Renaissance, and the foremost member of the English Madrigal School. He was the most famous composer of secular music in Elizabethan England and an organist at St Paul's Cathedral...
set the "Lachrimae Pauin" for the six instruments of a 'broken consort
Broken consort
A broken consort in English early Baroque musical terminology refers to ensembles featuring instruments from more than one family, for example a group featuring both string and wind instruments...
' 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
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck 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 composers of Europe, and his work as a teacher helped establish the north German organ...
and Thomas Tomkins
Thomas Tomkins
Thomas Tomkins was an English 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 music, and the last member of the English virginalist school.-Life:Tomkins was born...
, while John Danyel
John Danyel
John Danyel 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 the nymph Daphne and her fate, and "Like as the lute delights".Sample lyrics from "Like as the lute...
's Eyes, look no more pays clear homage to the piece, as does John Bennet
John Bennet
John Bennet was a composer of the English madrigal school. His madrigals include All creatures now as well as Weep, O Mine Eyes. The latter is a homage to John Dowland, using part of Dowland's most famous piece, Flow my Tears, also known in its pavane form as Lachrymae Antiquae.- Media :-External...
's Weep, O Mine Eyes. In the 20th century, American composer and conductor Victoria Bond
Victoria Bond
-Life:Victoria Bond was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of operatic bass Philip Bond and concert pianist Jane Bond. Her grandfather was also a liturgical composer. The family later moved from California to New York, and Bond studied piano at the Mannes School of Music with Nadia...
wrote "Old New Borrowed Blues (Variations on Flow my Tears)". Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
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
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
group Banco de Gaia
Banco de Gaia
Banco de Gaia is an electronic music band from England, formed in 1989 by Toby Marks .The music of Banco de Gaia is best categorized as ambient dub, but Marks works to cross genres, often using Arabic and Middle Eastern samples against a bass heavy reggae, rock, or trance rhythm to produce deeply...
produced a vocoded
Vocoder
A vocoder is an analysis/synthesis system, mostly used for speech. In the encoder, the input is passed through a multiband filter, each band is passed through an envelope follower, and the control signals from the envelope followers are communicated to the decoder...
version called "Flow my Tears, the Android Wept".
Lachrimae became one of the favorite improvisational themes of the 16th and 17th Century. As they have not been preserved in written form, nearly all versions have been consigned to oblivion.
Lyrics
Flow, my tears, fall from your springs!
Exiled for ever, let me mourn;
Where night's black bird her sad infamy sings,
There let me live forlorn.
Down vain lights, shine you no more!
No nights are dark enough for those
That in despair their lost fortunes deplore.
Light doth but shame disclose.
Never may my woes be relieved,
Since pity is fled;
And tears and sighs and groans my weary days
Of all joys have deprived.
From the highest spire of contentment
My fortune is thrown;
And fear and grief and pain for my deserts
Are my hopes, since hope is gone.
Hark! you shadows that in darkness dwell,
Learn to contemn light
Happy, happy they that in hell
Feel not the world's despite.