Forlorne Hope

John Dowland (1563 – buried 20 February 1626) was an English Renaissance composer, lutenist, and singer. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as "Come, heavy sleep", "Come again", "Flow my tears", "I saw my Lady weepe" and "In darkness let me dwell", but his instrumental music has undergone a major revival, and with the 20th century's early music revival, has been a continuing source of repertoire for lutenists and classical guitarists.

Philip Arnold Heseltine (30 October 1894 – 17 December 1930), known by the pseudonym Peter Warlock, was a British composer and music critic. The Warlock name, which reflects Heseltine's interest in occult practices, was used for all his published musical works. He is best known as a composer of songs and other vocal music; he also achieved notoriety in his lifetime through his unconventional and often scandalous lifestyle.

While looking for "stuff to play" earlier today, I somehow wound up thinking about John Dowland's music. Granted, you won't find any organ music by him, but when I saw that Warlock had arranged a bunch of his lute works for piano, I thought that I might take a look.

The first one, "Forlorn Hope," sounds pretty much like you would expect from the title, but has a sweet flow, that gathers quite a bit of impetus as it moves along.

It made me think of a "forlorn hope" in my own existence, all the way back to 1985, when I was deeply in love with Linda, a refined, native-born New Yorker. Over 32 years have passed, & it hurts just as much.

I destroyed all of her pictures - except one that had accidentally escaped the period of destruction. I was pretty amazed to find it. It's undated, but I remember the date: March 9, 1985 - the day of her 36 birthday. Just before I took the picture she looked at herself in the mirror and said: "Whaddya think? Not too bad for an old broad?!?"

No. Not too bad...

Dowland & Warlock photos are attached & the score, as well as the one, last surviving photo...