After Dowland II

After Dowland II arises from a quixotic attempt to render the various pieces of John Dowland’s 1604 viol consort work, Lachrimae, or Seaven Teares, for non-idiomatic forces. This composition for two pianos takes as its basis the lively dance Captain Digorie Piper, His Galliard, perhaps better known from its publication in Dowland’s 1597 ‘First Book of Songs or Ayres’ as the lute song ‘If My Complaints Could Passions Move.’

A noted seaman, Digorie, or Diggory, Piper was given a privateers license by Queen Elizabeth to attack Spanish ships on the high seas during the Anglo-Spanish War. Piper, said to have a dislike for rough waters, instead opted to attack and loot trading ships up and down the English Channel before dying in 1590. In his spare time, the pirate was said to enjoy playing the lute.