Falls quite nicely under the fingers, phew!
The significance of the title “Resolution” is obscure. According to Diana Poulton’s biography of JD, a version of this piece arranged as a song is dedicated to Oliver Cromwell’s uncle, who wad knighted in 1603.
She describes the mood as “solemn”, but I can’t find a published performance on lute. I have played a MIDI version of the lute original, and it sounds not particularly sombre to me. And on the uke it’s quite spritely and tuneful, even at 35 bpm. You can find a MIDI lute version HERE and decide for yourself.
Notes
The piece is in 3 sections, the statements of the first 2 followed by challenging divisions which I have not treated. The third section is shown in the original as repeated unchanged.
The cadences in bars 5 and 15 are found in many of Dowland’s pieces, and the earliest version I have found is in Le Roy, published about 1550.
Bar 17 is reminiscent of the beginning of “Greensleeves”.
Bars 6 and 13 look rather daunting, but they do fall under the fingers quite well. I find alternate thumb - index finger plucking helps me keep my place, and it is authentic to the style of the period too.
You can download two versions for the low-G ukulele:
1. A voiced version HERE.
2. An unvoiced version HERE. (In this file I have removed the voicings, so the note durations show you not how long the note sounds for but how long to wait before you pluck the next note. In general, let a note sound for a long as feasible.)
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Adapted from Poulton D, Lam B, Eds. 1995. The collected lute music of John Dowland, Edn 3. Faber Music, London.
