John Dowland’s “Time Stands Still”: A Renaissance Love Song
An undercurrent of quiet melancholy runs throughout the songs of John Dowland (1563 – 1626), the English Renaissance composer, lutenist, and singer who was employed by the court of Christian IV of Denmark before returning to London to serve James I. The poet Richard Barnfield wrote that Dowland’s “heavenly touch upon the lute doth ravish human sense.” Dowland’s Time Stands Still, published in 1603 as part of The Third and Last Booke of …