Performers:
Helen Charlston, mezzo-soprano
Toby Carr, lute

Programme:
Ben Rowarth (b.1992) Echo 1. Prelude
John Dowland (1563-1626) Sorrow, sorrow stay
Rowarth Echo 2. Dream
Dowland If that a sinner’s sighs
Dowland Preludium
Dowland I saw my lady weep
Anna Semple (b.1997) Can doleful notes to measured accents set?
Dowland Weep you no more sad fountains
Rowarth & Semple Echo 3. Interlude
Danyel Time, Cruel Time
Semple Prelude
Dowland The lowest trees have tops
Dowland In Darkness let me Dwell
Rowarth Echo 4. Echo
Dowland Now, O now I needs must part
Semple Postlude

Event Summary:
Gramophone award winning duo, Helen Charlston & Toby Carr bring the heartfelt music of superstar English Renaissance songwriter John Dowland to Barnes for this lunchtime concert. The world of song, whether lieder by Schubert; to the biggest acts at Glastonbury or songs heard at an open mic night, all started right here in the creativity of John Dowland. For centuries these songs have bewitched audiences and performers alike. Full of direct emotion and knowing humanity, these songs remind us despite the centuries of distance we are not so far removed from our renaissance ancestors.
Dowland knew the power of his music to move hearts and change people. He called on his audiences to lend their ears (and tears) to bring the music to real life, as what is music without an audience? In return, we have lent his music to 21st century ears in the form of composers Ben Rowarth and Anna Semple, who have written new songs responding directly to Dowland’s ideas, adding a modern-day extension to this extraordinary lineage of song and emotion.
“It’s an instinctive partnership, one to follow in the future. You get the strong sense… that they’re only just getting started.” (Gramophone Magazine)

“Helen Charlston’s voice is little short of miraculous.” (Evening Standard)