"Come, Heavy Sleep" by John Dowland | OPHELIA

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One of the best songs in his oeuvre of many masterpieces, John Dowland's 'Come, heavy sleep' is a work of enduring genius and an outpouring of pure, crystallized emotion. The poet expresses something we all can relate to easily enough – the ardent wish for sleep to come and end a sleepless night – but here that wish takes on a different form, both deeper and higher: it becomes a symbol both of death, Thanatos, and of eternal peace and comfort.

It was a joy for us to make this video. We felt that this song deserved the best effort that we could muster, and we hope that our intention is realized and communicated to you in the completed work.

Performed by OPHELIA - Sanna Kola, mezzo soprano, and Tuomas Kourula, lute.
www.ophelia.fi

This video was shot in Aboa Vetus Ars Nova museum in Turku, Finland.