DOWLAND, JOHN [SSNE 7794]
- Surname
- DOWLAND, DOWLANT, DOULANDE, DOULANNDTT
- First name
- JOHN, JOHANN,
- Title/rank
- LUTENIST, MUSICIAN
- Nationality
- ENGLISH
- Religion
- CATHOLIC
Text source
John Downland (1563-1626) was an international musician. In 1580 he went to Paris in the service of two English ambassadors to the French court, Sir Henry Cobham and Sir Edward Stafford. He returned to England in 1584, at which point he got married. Four years later he obtained a music degree from Oxford. Downland applied for but failed to obtain a position at the court of Elizabeth. He then gained employment as courtmusician at Christian IV of Denmark-Norway's court in Copenhagen from 11 November 1598, living well on an annual salary of 500 daler (apparently the highest salary paid at the royal court). Downland often returned to England and published there. In September 1601 he was sent to England by Christian IV specifically to acquire instruments, and a customs transaction of 5 September 1601 records that Dowland had 300 daler with him for the purpose. Dowland again travelled to England in July 1603. He soon fell into financial difficulty and was no longer in receipt of the royal salary - indeed Danish royal records note that Dowland was extended advances on his pay by governor Ranzow. He left Danish service on 24 Fenbruary 1606. In 1612 Downland was employed at James VI & I's court as a lutenist. He appears to have worked there until his death. He and his son Robert, along with several other musicians including Thomas Cutting [SSNE 7798], played at a masque to celebrate the wedding of Elizabeth Stuart to Frederick, Elector Palatine before he became king of Bohemia. He was buried on 20 February 1626. His position was filled by his son, Robert.
Diana Poulton, John Dowland, Faber & Faber (2nd edition, 1982); John Ward, 'A Dowland Miscellany', Journal of the Lute Society of America, vol.X, 1977, pp.100-107; Matthew Spring, The Lute in Britain: a history of the instrument and its music, Oxford University Press, 2001, p.229; Peter Warlock, The English Ayre, Greenwood Press Publishers (1970). (Originally published 1926, Oxford University Press, London); Douglas Alton Smith, A History of the Lute from Antiquity to the Renaissance (The Lute Society of America, Inc., 2002); David Greer, "John Dowland", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online; Angul Mammerich, Musiken ved Chrsitian den Fjerdes Hof, (1892), pp.21-24
Service record
- FRANCE, PARIS
- Arrived 1580-01-01
- Departed 1584-12-31
- Capacity LUTENIST, MUSICIAN, purpose DIPLOMACY
- DENMARK, COPENHAGEN
- Arrived 1598-11-18
- Departed 1606-12-31
- Capacity LUTENIST, MUSICIAN, purpose ROYAL SERVANT
- STUART KINGDOMS, LONDON
- Arrived 1612-01-01
- Departed 1626-02-01
- Capacity LUTENIST, MUSICIAN, purpose ROYAL SERVANT