Both the music and this actual product are masterpieces. John Dowland's collected works here - covering 12 compact discs - exhibit the depth and power of this composer, a composer who many now regard as suffering from clinical depression. I doubt that the issue of the diagnosis of Dowland's depression can ever be settled, however, it is certainly obvious from his music, so completely on display here, that he was a man with very dark depths and corners in his mind. Dowland's various manifestations and "takes" on his own tune, "Flow my tears"/"Lachrimae" are here. This tune has haunted me ever since I first heard it when I was a child. It seems to sum up Dowland's feelings - at least Dowland seems to have thought so.
The First, Second, Third and Fourth Bookes of Songes, A Musicall Banquet, the keyboard transcriptions, all the lute music, consort music are here and virtually everything else written or supposedly written by John Dowland. Anthony Rooley and The Consort of Musicke perform this music with style and feeling throughout. This 12 CD set is something of a monument to the ensemble - I only wish they'd finished their collection of Monteverdi madrigals, which was equally good (La Venexiana are currently doing a magnificent job of recording all Monteverdi's books of madrigals for the GLOSSA label).