Album

The complete and budget-priced recordings of Dowland's lute music by veteran British lutenist Nigel North have been inventively programmed as well as technically solid, and this disc, the third in North's series, is highly listenable for anyone from the commuter to the serious player of stringed instruments. Here North combines sequences of lute pieces Dowland would have recognized—the somber pavane and the sweeping galliard, Elizabeth's favorite—with another dance that he would not have combined regularly with the pair, the quicker almain (the dance later incorporated into dance suites and finally into contradances as the allemand). It's an effective, suite-like concept that both creates a strong sequence and illuminates the traits of Dowland's writing—the dense thinking, contrapuntal yet quasi-improvisatory—that cross genre boundaries of his lute music. North's playing is ruminative and fantasy-like; there's room to bring out the dance rhythms in Dowland's music more than he does, especially in a situation such as the present one, where he is trying to make you hear the interaction between rhythm and technique in Dowland's music. A positive, however, is the clean recording of the lute in a suburban Toronto church favored by Naxos engineers. A useful and enjoyable Dowland disc.

© James Manheim, All Music Guide

CD 1
John Dowland Composer Solus cum sola, P.10 Work Nigel North Lute
1	Solus cum sola, P.10	4:40			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Melancholy Galliard, P.25 Work Nigel North Lute
2	Melancholy Galliard, P.25	2:37			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Sir John Smith, his Almain, P.47 Work Nigel North Lute
3	Sir John Smith, his Almain, P.47	2:37			$0.99
John Dowland Composer The Lady Russell's Pavan, P.17 Work Nigel North Lute
4	The Lady Russell's Pavan, P.17	4:55			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Lady Rich's Galliard ('Dowland's Bells'), P.43a Work Nigel North Lute
5	Lady Rich's Galliard ('Dowland's Bells'), P.43a	1:55			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Lady Laiton's Almain, P.48 Work Nigel North Lute
6	Lady Laiton's Almain, P.48	1:22			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Mrs. Brigide Fleetwood's Pavan (Solus sine sola), P.11 Work Nigel North Lute
7	Mrs. Brigide Fleetwood's Pavan (Solus sine sola), P.11	5:47			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Mr. Knight's Galliard, P.36 Work Nigel North Lute
8	Mr. Knight's Galliard, P.36	1:52			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Mrs. Clifton's Almain, P.53 Work Nigel North Lute
9	Mrs. Clifton's Almain, P.53	1:25			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Dr. Case's Pavan, P.12 Work Nigel North Lute
10	Dr. Case's Pavan, P.12	4:18			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Right Honourable Lord Viscount Lisle (Sir Robert Sidney, his galliard), P.38 Work Nigel North Lute
11	Right Honourable Lord Viscount Lisle (Sir Robert Sidney, his galliard), P.38	2:39			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Sir Henry Guilford his Almain (anon., probably by Dowland) Work Nigel North Lute
12	Sir Henry Guilford his Almain (anon., probably by Dowland)	2:10			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Pavan Mylius ('Thesaurus gratiarum') Work Nigel North Lute
13	Pavan Mylius ('Thesaurus gratiarum')	3:26			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Right Honourable Ferdinando Earl of Derby, his Galliard, P.44 Work Nigel North Lute
14	Right Honourable Ferdinando Earl of Derby, his Galliard, P.44	2:30			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Almain, P.51 Work Nigel North Lute
15	Almain, P.51	2:37			$0.99
John Dowland Composer La mia Barbara, P.95 Work Nigel North Lute
16	La mia Barbara, P.95	5:50			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Round Battle Galliard, P.39 Work Nigel North Lute
17	Round Battle Galliard, P.39	2:50			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Almain, P.49 Work Nigel North Lute
18	Almain, P.49	1:24			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Pavan in C-, P.94 Work Nigel North Lute
19	Pavan in C-, P.94	7:00			$1.49
John Dowland Composer Galliard in C- (on a galliard by Daniel Bacheler), P.28 Work Nigel North Lute
20	Galliard in C- (on a galliard by Daniel Bacheler), P.28	2:50			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Almain, P.96 Work Nigel North Lute
21	Almain, P.96	1:37			$0.99