I love it when a blog reader questions a term or disagrees with a post. Thanks!
My recent use of the word "fickleness" to characterize many Dowland songs really was not accurate. I would change the word to inconstancy, a much more accurate characterization of the connection between form and content and also of more complex human behavior.
Inconstancy would be well depicted in the usage to which I referred in the Dowland, i.e., a seemingly repeated figure that, in fact, undergoes hidden variation upon "repeat" so as to form an elision with the following material. The hidden variation inevitably involves a shift of emphasis, usually both melodic and rhythmic.
The same reader asked if it is really true that I get up at 4:30 a.m. to publish my posts. Rest assured I do not. The 4:30 a.m. is Pacific Standard Time, 7:30 a.m. Eastern. I usually schedule the posts a few days in advance of their actual appearing and choose the hour so that the reader may start the day with the blog along with their (gluten-free) toast and tea.
