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ENSEMBLE INFO

Ensemble Contact:

Email:

danieljohnthomson@gmail.com

2023

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

During 2026 we celebrate the 400th anniversary of the death of our namesake, John Dowland, and Dowland’s Foundry would like to mark this once-in-a-generation occasion with a special project. The main focus of the project will be two concerts within the Dowland 400 Festival in Norwich (23-26.07), a festival revelling in the world of Dowland and organised by the UK Lute Society. Alongside this, we will present a further performance at King’s Lynn Festival (24.07).

The idea for the project is to perform Dowland’s part-songs in an original and engaging way. Central to the ethos of Dowland’s Foundry is the belief that much of this extraordinary repertoire was not originally conceived for the “soloist plus lute” format (echoing the later Lieder tradition), but rather for several voices and viols in conversation - shaped by whoever happened to be gathered around the table. The music itself points us in this direction: it is laid out in table format so that the voices face one another, and Dowland himself writes that his music is “So made, that all the parts together, or either of them severally, may be sung to the lute, orpherian, or viol de gambo.” This flexibility is something we actively explore in performance.

Although Dowland’s Foundry exists as four voices (SATB) with lute, for this project we would like to expand the ensemble by adding two viola da gambas, one bass and one treble. This would allow us to explore a richer palette of colours and textures within the style, and would open up further repertoire possibilities, including instrumental divisions and songs which require viols. These additions would offer audiences a sound world closer to the intimate, collaborative music-making of Dowland’s time.

Rehearsals would form a crucial part of this project, providing the space to experiment fully with the textures, qualities and expressive possibilities offered by the expanded ensemble. It would be of huge benefit to be able to remunerate all ensemble members for rehearsal time, enabling everyone to prepare properly and focus wholly on the music. As our members are based in Oxford, Newbury, London and beyond, rehearsal fees would make this project more viable and allow us to work to the highest artistic standard.

The festivals involved operate with limited budgets, Lute Society in particular are struggling and have asked for us to include a large portion of the fee in our application. Furthermore without external funding it would not be possible to add two viols to the ensemble. Presenting this programme within established festival contexts allows us to reach audiences who may not regularly encounter this music performed in this accessible and exciting way.

We would also like to take this opportunity to update the photos and website for Dowland’s Foundry to include the two new viol players. The photographer would also take some photos of a concert and rehearsal.

Dowland’s Foundry is an up-and-coming ensemble of professional musicians with experience performing with many major ensembles at leading festivals in the UK and Europe.

In the first of his published songs, Dowland invites us to imagine his tongue as a kind of forge: “my tongue, that makes my mouth a mint 
/ and stamps my thoughts to coin them words…” - by extension, voices, lute strings, viol bows, ensemble, can be seen as parts of the same: elements of a workshop, crafting thoughts into sounds. In this sense, Dowland’s Foundry is a process: a tradition of minting ideas into music, four centuries in the making.

Dowland’s Foundry strives to present lute song at its truest expression: as songs of several lines, vocal and instrumental - a conversational genre, destined for whole households. Lute song is in fact close to a domestic argument, a discussion amongst individual voices: harmony understood as a dynamic process, rich in conflict. This intimate understanding of the genre underpins Dowland’s Foundry, and the group’s vibrant and subtle performances.

As part of Dowland’s Foundry, members Daniel Thomson and Sam Brown also run Lute_Tok: an informative, historically grounded social media channel dedicated to promoting early music in the UK and sharing their insight and expertise into this exceptionally rich period of musical history.

"Dowland's Foundry...encapsulate what Dowland called in a preface 'The consent of speaking harmony'." Dame Emma Kirkby

"It has been a joy to work with Dowland's Foundry ... the purity of the voices, the grace of the lutenist, and the marvellous storytelling captured the full attention of our audience in Oxford, who were fascinated and beguiled in equal measure." Dr Michelle Castelletti - Director, Oxford Festival of the Arts

We have performed in:
Stoke Newington Early Music Festival 06.02.2026 (Live concert recording used for our performance video)
Baroque Around the Books (Duo programme) 08-09.12.2025
York Early Music Christmas Festival (Duo programme) 07.12.2025
Oxford Festival of the Arts 13.07.2024
Conwy Classical Music Festival 25.07.2024

Upcoming events are listed on our website https://www.dowlandsfoundry.com/events