Album

Astonishingly, this is Hopkinson Smith's first recording of the lute music of John Dowland. Although he made some of the finest recordings of the lute music of composers from Attaingnant and Bach to Visée and Weiss, Smith has not heretofore recorded any of Dowland's. It seems odd: Dowland—Semper Dowland semper dolens—was not only always melancholy and not only one of England's greatest song composers, he was also arguably its finest lute composer. In this recital entitled A Dream, Smith has grouped selections from Dowland's works in sets with a prelude and interludes and it works brilliantly. Smith's Three Feminine Portraits are supple, sensitive, and sensual. His Dowland on the Continent is witty, ingratiating, and virtuosic. His concluding Dowland's Lamentation, including the inevitable Semper Dowland semper dolens, is doleful, mournful, and utterly ineffable. And his opening Frogg Galliard is as funny as anything Louis Armstrong ever recorded. Smith's playing—always one of the marvels of endless technique, impeccable taste, and deep soulfulness—is as commanding and compelling as it is in Bach or Weiss. Naïve's digital recording reproduces the sound of Smith's eight-course lute perfectly.

© James Leonard, All Music Guide

CD 1
John Dowland Composer Frog Galliard, P.23 Work Hopkinson Smith Lute
1	Frog Galliard, P.23	2:47			$0.99
John Dowland Composer A Dream: Pavan, P.75 (possibly spurious) Work Hopkinson Smith Lute
2	A Dream: Pavan, P.75 (possibly spurious)	4:04			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Lady Hunsdon's Puffe, Almain, P.54 Work Hopkinson Smith Lute
3	Lady Hunsdon's Puffe, Almain, P.54	1:37			$0.99
John Dowland Composer La mia Barbara, P.95 Work Hopkinson Smith Lute
4	La mia Barbara, P.95	5:01			$0.99
John Dowland Composer K. Darcy's Spirit (The Right Honourable the Lady Clifton's Spirit), P.45 Work Hopkinson Smith Lute
5	K. Darcy's Spirit (The Right Honourable the Lady Clifton's Spirit), P.45	3:19			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Galliard in C- (on a galliard by Daniel Bacheler), P.28 Work Hopkinson Smith Lute
6	Galliard in C- (on a galliard by Daniel Bacheler), P.28	5:03			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Melancholy Galliard, P.25 Work Hopkinson Smith Lute
7	Melancholy Galliard, P.25	2:14			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Sir John Smith, his Almain, P.47 Work Hopkinson Smith Lute
8	Sir John Smith, his Almain, P.47	2:35			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Lachrimae Pavan Work Hopkinson Smith Lute
9	Lachrimae Pavan	4:10			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Fantasia in G, P.1 Work Hopkinson Smith Lute
10	Fantasia in G, P.1	3:51			$0.99
Landgrave of Hesse Mauritius Composer Pavin Work Hopkinson Smith Lute
11	Pavin	4:10			$0.99
John Dowland Composer King of Denmark's Galliard, P.40 Work Hopkinson Smith Lute
12	King of Denmark's Galliard, P.40	3:03			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Farewell Fancy: Chromatic fantasia, P.3 Work Hopkinson Smith Lute
13	Farewell Fancy: Chromatic fantasia, P.3	4:27			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Queene Elizabeth, her Galliard ('The Queen's Galliard'), P.97 Work Hopkinson Smith Lute
14	Queene Elizabeth, her Galliard ('The Queen's Galliard'), P.97	2:07			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Earl of Essex, his Galliard, P.89 Work Hopkinson Smith Lute
15	Earl of Essex, his Galliard, P.89	1:54			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Semper Dowland semper dolens, P.9 Work Hopkinson Smith Lute
16	Semper Dowland semper dolens, P.9	5:44			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Fantasia in G-, P.6 Work Hopkinson Smith Lute
17	Fantasia in G-, P.6	2:34			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Lady Rich's Galliard ('Dowland's Bells'), P.43a Work Hopkinson Smith Lute
18	Lady Rich's Galliard ('Dowland's Bells'), P.43a	1:41			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Fortune My Foe, P.62 Work Hopkinson Smith Lute
19	Fortune My Foe, P.62	4:32			$0.99
John Dowland Composer Mrs. White's Nothing, P.56 Work Hopkinson Smith Lute
20	Mrs. White's Nothing, P.56	4:23			$0.99