Melancholy in 'A Pilgrimes Solace' by John Dowland: historical, philosophical and rhetorical-musical aspects

Abstract

The purpose of the main research is to analyze, through the rhetorical-musical perspective, John Dowland's A Pilgrimes Solace (1612), aiming at understanding the Elizabethan religious melancholy and its rhetorical representations in the texts of the piece.Thus, the present project to be developed at the University of Newcastle (England) together with Prof. Dr. Kirsten Gibson aims to focus on the points in chapter two. This chapter handles specifically the texts of the six songs chosen from A Pilgrimes Solace in what concerns the understanding of the context in which they were written, the textual rhetorical analysis and the connection of these poems with the religious melancholy of Bright and Perkins (authors previous mentioned in the first chapter). Among other parallel points, there are the methodologies for reading printed song books as material objects and the comprehension of early texts in Elizabethan English.In this regard, the musicological approach of this paper continues being the initial research that is that proposed by Vicent Duckles, Joseph Kerman and Jean Nattiez, thus suggesting an interrelationship between historical, philosophical and rhetorical-musical aspects. Hence, the connection between these areas and the results obtained from the work with Gibson will be used for the analysis of the chosen paper, contributing to a deepening investigation on this study. The main authors used in this project are, therefore, Timothy Bright, Henry Peacham, William Perkins, Kirsten Gibson and Paul Oscar Kristeller. (AU)