"Now o now I needs must part" by Dowland | OPHELIA Sanna Kola, mezzo soprano & Tuomas Kourula, lute

Elizabethans really knew how to write break-up songs: sometimes it feels like that's the only thing they ever did, or enjoyed. John Dowland naturally wrote some of the very best ones, including the one in this video, a tune which was also successful as an instrumental piece called "Frog galliard". The frog in question was probably Francis, Duke of Anjou and Alençon, one of the many suitors of Elizabeth I, and as such a rival of the second Earl of Essex, who is also featured in another famous Dowland song, "Can she excuse my wrongs?" - and of course we made a video of that also.

Performed by OPHELIA - Sanna Kola, mezzo soprano (sung in Original Pronunciation) & Tuomas Kourula, lute

Video was shot at the ruins of a medieval bishop's castle of Kuusisto, Finland - one of the most beautiful and evocative sites in the country.