14 Facts About John Dowland

In 1580 John Dowland went to Paris, where he was in service to Sir Henry Cobham, the ambassador to the French court, and his successor Sir Edward Stafford.

In 1594 a vacancy for a lutenist came up at the English court, but John Dowland's application was unsuccessful – he claimed his religion led to his not being offered a post at Elizabeth I's Protestant court.

From 1598 John Dowland worked at the court of Christian IV of Denmark, though he continued to publish in London.

John Dowland was dismissed in 1606 and returned to England; in early 1612 he secured a post as one of James I's lutenists.

Two major influences on John Dowland's music were the popular consort songs, and the dance music of the day.

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John Dowland later wrote what is probably his best known instrumental work, Lachrimae, or Seaven Teares, Figured in Seaven Passionate Pavans, a set of seven pavanes for five viols and lute, each based on the theme derived from the lute song "Flow my tears".

John Dowland wrote a lute version of the popular ballad "My Lord Willoughby's Welcome Home".

Richard Barnfield, John Dowland's contemporary, refers to him in poem VIII of The Passionate Pilgrim, a Shakespearean sonnet:.

John Dowland published his Second Booke of Songs or Ayres in 1600.

John Dowland published a translation of the Micrologus of Andreas Ornithoparcus in 1609, originally printed in Latin in Leipzig in 1517.

John Dowland performed a number of espionage assignments for Sir Robert Cecil in France and Denmark; despite his high rate of pay, John Dowland seems to have been only a court musician.

John Dowland was married and had children, as referenced in his letter to Sir Robert Cecil.

John Dowland's music became part of the repertoire of the early music revival with Bream and tenor Peter Pears, and later with Christopher Hogwood and David Munrow and the Early Music Consort in the late 1960s and later with the Academy of Ancient Music from the early 1970s.

Complete works of John Dowland were recorded by the Consort of Musicke, and released on the L'Oiseau Lyre label, though they recorded some of the songs as vocal consort music; the Third Book of Songs and A Pilgrim's Solace have yet to be recorded in their entirety as collections of solo songs.