‘A good voice… [is a] gift… so rare there is not one among a thousand that hath it’, wrote William Byrd in 1588. This didn’t put off singers wishing to try their luck: songbooks became hugely popular around the turn of the 17th century, most notably John Dowland’s groundbreaking First Booke of Songs or Ayres (1597).
This was music for performers to make their own. These works have a strongly operatic flavour, blending poetry and music to create intensely expressive drama that goes straight to the listener’s heart. Highlights include Purcell’s masterpiece In guilty night, which is held in the Academy’s Spencer Collection.

EPSG:4326

Resounding Shores: Songs, Scenes and Dialogues

Royal Academy of Music

This intimate programme features some of Dowland’s most iconic works including Flow, my tears, In darkness let me dwell, and selections from Lachrimæ alongside Teares to Dreams (2004), Adrian Williams’s hauntingly lyrical homage to Dowland’s pavans. Blending Renaissance and contemporary voices, the concert explores themes of sorrow, introspection and musical continuity across centuries.

Elizabeth Kenny

Events

Upcoming events

Mar 3, 2026

Fretwork with Ian Bostridge & Elizabeth Kenny · Barbican Centre

Past events

Jun 30, 2024

Resounding Shores: Songs, Scenes and Dialogues · Royal Academy of Music

About

Elizabeth Kenny hasn't added a bio