Dowland’s ‘Flow My Tears’ was published in 1600 as an Ayre in a book of songs. The harmony is typical of the early Baroque period, employing many of the commonly used techniques at the time. The chords used are mostly in root or first inversion, as the influence of sacred music on secular music was heavy, and simple accompaniment was commonly used so as not to distract from the melody and the lyrical content. There are a few examples of phyrgian cadences (IVb-V)within the piece (first instance at Bar 2). Another common feature of Baroque music that appears in Flow My Tears is the use of false relation, as it was from the influence of sacred music from the time, which relied heavily on closely voiced parts. There is use of the Tierce de Picardi, a hugely common feature of Baroque music, again with the influence of sacred music.
In Summertime, the use of jazz inspired chords (the dominant 11th and 13th, added 6th) are very different to the simple voiced chords of Flow My Tears, with complex dissonances and intervals. In Bar 2, the use of the F natural is the flattened fifth, creating a blue note, common of African-American folk music originating in slave-song. The references to the pentatonic and whole tone scales are the result of Gershwin’s classical background but his interest in jazz, they are also prevalent in African-American folk music. Gershwin’s classical influence can be seen with his use of the augmented 6th chord, also known as the french chord, a common feature of European Romantic music. The melody in Flow My Tears has a range of a major 9th, from D to E, which alludes to the fact that early Baroque music used restricted voice writing as a result of the influence from the church. The word painting of ‘fall from your springs’ uses a falling motif which has the feeling of lilt and sadness. The most common intervals besides the semitone and whole tone, are the inverted 4th and diminished 4th. There are also uses of decorations like auxiliary notes, passing notes and anticipation. The melody in Summertime is entirely diatonic and almost entirely pentatonic, except for one ‘blue’ note, the F natural which is the flattened fifth of the key. Also used are ‘blue’ inflections that although are not indicated on the score, are prevalent in almost all recordings of the piece, with the use of portamento in Bar 21 a feature of African-American folk music.
There are falling expressive slides (glissandos) on the final notes of the verse (bars 21 and 39) which are representations of sadness and the allusion of slave song. There is also an expressive acciaccatura on the last note of both verses, which enhances the glissando that follows.