Seven Tears

There are tears, and then there are tears: modern science has shown that the chemical makeup of tears varies according to their nature. Dowland arrived at a similar conclusion in his own way and in his own time. Seven kinds of tears are depicted in his "Lachrimae, or Seaven Teares." Each bears it's own title, turning this mesmerizing suite of pavans into a kind of miniature musical encyclopedia of weeping. Originally conceived for viol consort, the cycle is reimagined here by Thélème in a vocal version, set to poems freely drawn from Virginia Woolf's extraordinary, labyrinthine "novel" The Waves. Other Dowland pieces round out the program, offering a fresh perspective on the lutenist's music. "Flow my Teares," his best-known composition, appears here in a newly arranged version featuring Sting on vocals. The meticulous irreverence that defines Thélème's work is thus placed in service of a truth Dowland himself once put into words: "Pleasant are the teares which Musicke weepes."

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