In Darkness Let Me Dwell by John Dowland (Arranged for Brass Ensemble by Jason Thorpe Buchanan)

In Darkness Let Me Dwell is a lute song by John Dowland (1563-1626) that was first published in 1610. John Dowland was an English composer, vocalist and lutenist that composed many beautiful songs for voice and lute, as well as works in other genres. I chose to arrange this work first for Choir and then later for Brass Ensemble, as I felt that his musical aesthetic was similar to my own and therefore his use of harmony would lend itself to expansion. The melody and lyrics are both stunningly beautiful, and I feel that as a composer he was very much ahead of his time in his treatment of harmony and particularly of dissonance. The rich, dark qualities of the work seem a perfect match for brass, and when asked by my conducting professor, Takayoshi "Tad" Suzuki, to arrange something for his own ensemble, I could not resist the opportunity.

In Darkness Let Me Dwell - John Dowland
In darkness let me dwell, the ground shall sorrow be;
The roof despair, to bar all cheerful light from me;
The walls of marble black, that moisten'd still shall weep;
My music, hellish jarring sounds, to banish friendly sleep.
Thus, wedded to my woes, and bedded in my tomb,
O let me living die, till death do come, till death do come.

Performance Date: November 24, 2008, Las Vegas, NV

Takayoshi "Tad" Suzuki - Conductor
UNLV Brass Ensemble

For more information on the composer, please visit http://www.jasonthorpebuchanan.com

Score and parts now available at:
http://www.melosmusic.com/jason/w_indarknessbrass.php

Category:

Music

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• band
• trumpet
• trombone
• tuba
• horn
• euphonium
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• classical
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• thorpe
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• jason
• suzuki
• takayoshi
• tad
• unlv
• melos

[vanfresca]

I love John Dowland! The beginning was sooooo tasteful, I got shivers!

This makes me want to arrange "Flow my Tears" for my Brass Quintet!

[jasontbuchanan]

Thank you so much, John Dowland wrote very beautiful music, I actually arranged this first for SATB choir, but was asked to produce a version for brass which was performed first. I would love to hear an arrangement of "Flow my Tears"...

[DarkVisionDesign]

Wow, it´s a nice one!

[Lutesandflutes]

Very Stunning, especially the ending. I'm performing it in Berkeley tonight with a lutenist!

Doris in Palo Alto

[f41141]

Nice! Something about this video suggests that it would work as an organ transcription...

[pearlofagirlster]

Jason,

You are a wonder.