Biblioteca de la Guitarra y Cuerda Pulsada

The fundamental goal of this dissertation is very simple: to establish the canon of John Dowland’s compositions for solo lute, and then, on the basis of the principles used to establish that canon, to provide an adequate edition. I have tried to reach that goal by making use of both the necessary approaches: consideration of historical circumstance, and consideration of style. In addition, I have tried to make use of each approach at the proper moment. I began, therefore, with historical matters: evidence deriving from paleography, manuscript study, bibliography, documentary sources, and, in particular, Dowland’s pointed comments in the front matter of his songbooks. To have begun with consideration of style would have been quite simply to put the cart before the horse, because owing to the uncritical approach that has been taken to the historical and bibliographic circumstances, Dowland’s style has to be regarded as something as yet illdefined if not virtually...