Dowland, John ................................
(1563–1626)
English composer and lutenist known for
the expressively moody, downcast style of
his music. Dowland was born in London
and studied musical composition at the
University of Oxford. He became a lute
player for the English ambassador to
France, where Dowland converted to the
Catholic faith. Later he performed at the
court of Queen Elizabeth I but failed to
win an appointment from the queen be-
cause of his loyalty to Catholicism, a snub
that in the opinion of some historians
brought about his embittered and melan-
choly musical style. He journeyed later to
Denmark, where he became court lutenist
to the Danish king Christian IV. He won
an appointment as official court lutenist
by King James I. He began publishing col-
lections of pieces for voice and lute in
1597, eventually publishing four books of
more than eighty songs. His most famous
works are melancholy songs that set the
subjects of death and loss to beautifully
flowing and balanced melodies, and ac-
centing these melodies with strikingly dis-
sonant notes and chords. Dowland’s per-
sonal motto was “Dowland, Semper
Dolens,” a pun in Latin that means “Dow-
land, Always Doleful,” taken from the
name of one of his songs.Flow My Tears,
his best-known piece, became one of the
most commonly performed works of Re-
naissance music in modern times. He also
wrote complex polyphonic suites, dance
music, and sets of variations for the solo
lute,aswellasSeaven Teares Figured in
Seaven Passionate Pavans, a piece based on
Flow My Tearswritten for lute and five vi-
ols.
SEEALSO: Byrd, William; music
Drake, Sir Francis ............................
(1540–1596)
English navigator and privateer. The son
of a yeoman farmer and devout Protes-
tant, Drake was born near the town of
Tavistock in Devonshire. He was a relation
of the well-to-do Hawkins clan, a family
of local shipowners, and through his con-
nection to John Hawkins Drake was taken
on as captain of theJudithin 1567 during
one of Hawkins’s profitable slaving expe-
ditions. Although the fleet managed to
capture and sell its human cargo, the voy-
age ended in disaster when it was attacked
by hostile Spanish ships in the harbor of
San Juan de Ulua. Only two vessels made
it back to England, including Drake’s own
Judith. After this encounter, Drake made it
his life’s work to exact revenge on Spanish
men, treasure, and ships, wherever he
might find them.
Queen Elizabeth, unwilling to allow
Hawkins to counterattack yet still in favor
of naval operations against Spain, allowed
Drake to return to the Spanish Main in- Aboard theSusan, Drake explored
the coasts of Panama and discovered the
route followed by the Spanish treasure
caravans from Peru, across the isthmus of
Panama, to the Caribbean Sea. He inter-
cepted and captured a large train of silver
and brought the treasure safely back to
England, making him a wealthy man. Not
happy with this act of open warfare against
Spain, Elizabeth banished him to Ireland
for a time, where Drake served under the
Earl of Essex to put down one in a long
series of rebellions against English rule.
In 1577, Drake was commissioned by
Elizabeth to lead a raiding fleet against
Spanish ports on the Pacific coasts of the
Americas. The navigator set sail with a
fleet of five ships, but mutiny and poor
weather hampered the voyage and only his
Drake, Sir Francis