Output details

Dowland: Lute Songs; Britten: Nocturnal

Research content/process:

This project reconnected Dowland songs with the habits of professional performers in late sixteenth and early seventeenth century England, proposing alternative performance modes to those based on literal fidelity to the printed text, the approach which has overwhelmingly characterised modern performance of this repertory. Printed books were aimed largely at amateur consumers requiring clear performance instructions, whereas professional singers and players, most notably in the private theatres, needed material that was adaptable to displays of virtuosity or text-based theatrical intensity. The project investigated how different sounds might have arisen in such environments with or without the composer’s approval. The context in which Kenny carried out this research displayed two tendencies: on the one hand the composer’s texts have been the primary source of 'authenticity', but on the other, freer approaches to Dowland have tended to co-opt him as a 'modern' songwriter. As ungrounded in historical research as the latter position might be, it created a helpful climate in which the musical effectiveness of this research could be tested. Methods were centred on the practices of arrangement and ornamentation – for both accompanist and singer – revealed in manuscripts such as Christ Church Mus. 439. Following indications in this and other material associated with professional performers of the 17th century, Kenny added improvised preludes between songs and undertook experiments with counterpoint. Kenny's associated scholarly presentations allowed communication with literary scholars to contextualise work on the private theatre companies and their overlap with lute-song writers and chapel choir foundations. The research was also presented in 'The uses of lute song: texts, contexts and pretexts for “historically informed” performance', Early Music 36 (2008): 285-300. The continuing significance of performer-intervention on Dowland studies can be seen in in the 450th anniversary edition of Early Music, guest edited by Kenny in May 2013.