Deare if you change, John Dowland (c. 1563 – 1626)
This song is a beautiful example from Dowland’s First Booke of Songes, 1597. Anthony Rooley has proposed that the poetry in this song is another by the Earl of Essex addressing Queen Elizabeth, and he also points out that the opening theme is an inversion of Dowland’s famous tear motif, the Lachrimae theme. The second stanza alludes to the Four Elements, Earth, Water, Fire, Air but seems to replace Water with Heaven.
lyrics
Deare, if you change, ile neuer chuse againe.
Sweet, if you shrinke, Ile neuer thinke of loue.
Faire, if you faile, ile iudge all beautie vaine.
Wise, if too weake, moe wits Ile neuer proue.
Deare, sweet, faire, wise,
change, shrink, nor be not weake:
And, on my faith, my faith shall never breake.
Earth with her flowers shall sooner heauen adorne,
Heauen her bright starres through earths dim globe shall moue,
Fire heate shall lose, and frosts of flames be borne,
Ayre made to shine as blacke as hell shall proue:
Earth, heauen, fire, ayre,
the world transform'd shall view,
Ere I proue false to faith, or strange to you.
Mignarda specializes in thoughtful programming illuminating the vibrant mingling of renaissance music & poetry. Noted for
awakening modern audiences to an appreciation for historical music, their work encompasses concertizing, teaching & recording, with 17 critically-acclaimed CDs, a series of 16 music editions, scholarly articles, reviews and the internationally-popular blog, Unquiet Thoughts....more
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