John Dowland - Songs and Ayres (1967) Vinyl LP • In Darkness Let Me Dwell

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Condition Details:

Vinyl plays with some crackles and a few light-clicks (play-graded). Cover has a few creases near edges; scuffing, (front/back). Inner-sleeve is generic white. Spine is mostly readable with wear and some thatching. Some shelf-wear along top/bottom-edge and corners. Opening is crisp with signs of light use and divots. (Not a cut-out.)

Tracks:

1. Songs For Four Voices
2. Were Every Thought An Eye
3. An Heart That's Broken And Contrite
4. Songs For Tenor With Lute & Bass Viol
5. Shall I Sue?
6. Go, Crystal Tears
7. Love, Those Beams That Breed
8. Say, Love, If Ever Thou Didst Find
9. Song For Alto With Chorus & Lute
10. Welcome, Black Night
11. Song For Alto & Bass With Lute
12. Sorrow, Stay!
13. Songs For Four Voices
14. Where Sin, Sore Wounding
15. If That A Sinner's Sighs
16. Songs For Tenor With Lute & Bass Viol
17. Lady, If You So Spite Me
18. Weep You No More, Sad Fountains
19. Fine Knacks For Ladies
20. Song For Soprano With Lute & Bass Viol
21. Farewell, Unkind, Farewell!
22. Paslms For Four Voices
23. Psalm 51 (O Lord, Consider My Distress)
24. Psalm 100 (All People That On Earth Do Dwell)
25. Song For Soprano With Chorus, Lute & Bass Viol
26. Tell Me, True Love
27. Song For Tenor & Baritone With Chorus & Lute
28. Up, Merry Mates!

About The Record:

Songs and Ayres, by John Dowland, marks his return to England after years of service abroad at courts in Denmark and Germany. Comprising 21 songs and ayres—intimate settings of poetic texts for voice and lute—this publication reflects Dowland's mastery of the English ayre tradition, blending melancholic introspection with intricate lute accompaniment, and it was one of his four major songbooks issued during his lifetime. Historically significant as a cornerstone of Renaissance lute song repertoire, it influenced subsequent English composers and preserved Dowland's innovative approach to word-painting and chromaticism amid the era's shift toward more expressive, personal music. The album's dedication to the "noble and learned society of sober and civil gentlemen" underscores its appeal to cultivated audiences, and its publication coincided with Dowland's appointment as lutenist to King James I, cementing his status as England's preeminent lutenist. Standout pieces like In darkness let me dwell and Flow my tears (from his earlier Lachrimae collection but echoed in style) became enduring favorites, widely performed and anthologized for their emotional depth.