the thing is, i usually dont listen to this kind of music, but my music teacher forces me because we have a test next week, but... what are you gonna do..?
@PukeOfThePukes Learn to love what sounds good to YOU. Tell your mates to fuck off if they take the piss. Music is not constricted by the catagories forced upon it.
@IAmEddieGordo To be honest: No it doesn't. I think Sting has taken on more than he could chew. What he misses is the drama in his vocal expression that was required in the days of Dowland. In the classical tradition these songs are usually performed by either mezzo-sopranos or counter-tenors with a talent for high dramatic expression. And rightfully so. It adds a lot to the songs.
@hijtohema: I totally agree to what you said about Sting's lack of drama. He wants to sound a lttle bit like a classical singer, but it's vain endeavour. There's a Danish rock singer named Freddie Wadling, who did it very much better (unfortunately not to find on YouTube).
I had a go at updating Dowland myself earning a slightly stuffy response from those in the classical world but entertaining those in blues world. Enjoyed myself, learned a lot and still love listening the original pieces played by early music buffs. If you're interested in my attempts on blues slide guitar then go to my carsickphil channel and see what you think. There's a version of Mr Dowland's Midnight and Orlando Sleepeth available among my videos.
I highly respect Sting because although he's a famous musician, he continues researching in music, while most of his colleagues live on theirs income.
The "vocalists" represents what Mr. Dowland wrote, that is a four voice "a cappella" song that could be also sung by a treble voice with lute accompainment. It's a pity they have been relegated to some sort of anonimous background, but the experiment is absolutely great. The soule of the Police is a great musician, indeed.
Bravo! Sting gives the song back to the audience: I can hear the pub or tavern or even the green village faire around him, and the groundlings growing silent to hear the itinerant bard. Theirs are not the sterile rooms of "the science of music".
I admire Sting when he sings his own songs (Mad About You being my all-time favourite) but hated his Dowland CD when it came out because I'm a performer of lute songs and had a narrow idea of how Dowland should be sung. It's not snobbery, I love his singing of jazz (e.g. Angel Eyes), and also Ella Fitzgerald's, but have never liked Sara Vaughan, for instance - it's just a matter of taste. But I must admit, hearing this version, I'm beginning to warm to his approach. CriticalListener has a point.
"The raven is hoarse that croaks the fatal exit of Dowland's beautiful music" (adapted from Macbeth, Shakespeare). The raven being Sting's voice. Terrible. Get back to where you belong, Sting. And listen to "Come again" by Valeria Mignaco, here on Youtube. Or to her rendering of Flow my tears. THAT is celestial!
Maybe not my favorite version, but nevertheless I praise Sting for having presented this music to ears which otherwise would never have heard this. There may be new listeners to the music of John Dowland and others of that period thanks to his efforts.
Mixed feelings about this - but generally I think the negative comments here are a knee-jerk reaction. Look at it this way - Sting has brought the great music of Dowland to an audience that would probably never have heard it otherwise. What's wrong with that?
I luv da song n in school we studied it for music when sting says to die or to COME agin witch really means to CUM n the song iz about a woman n a man having sex but da song iz the best way to describe SEX in this day n age n he iz now a favorite of mine now
@paulspauldingfull That's a load of bull. It was written during the English Renaissance. The word "come" )or "cum") definitely didn't have that meaning then. Why do people feel the need to sexualize everything?
@1theatrechick He's right. To "die" was a colloquialism for climaxing during sex. Also, "come" has meant the same thing since the 1600's as well. Google "Walking In A Meadowe Greene folio of loose songs Bishop Percy" if you'd like a contemporary example. As for "come" meaning ejaculate, that is more recent - about 90 or 100 years.
If only English composers had built upon these songs like German composers built from their traditional folksongs, then English composition would not be as shit as it has been for the last couple of centuries. Its awesome Sting has revived this stuff:)
I don't understand how some people don't enjoy this type of music. It's so beautiful. Even the most manly of men can get emotional with this type of music.
@salvadorlaguna I agree and the funny thing is, I don't find Sting to be the weak point in this - it's the orchestration than does not work for me. I love Sting, and I like his lute playing, but I am not keen on Sting singing this period material.
But people should note that even Sting recognises his weakness in this area. He only made the CD to introduce early music to a new audience, not realizing that we liked this stuff already *grin* Props for trying something different.
This is interesting- I love Dowland's work, and was a Police fan also.... Sting makes an interesting troubadour... However, I don't think his voice sounds right with the voices of the backing singers...
Can anyone send me a scan of the Sting/Karamazov transcription of Dowland's "Come Again" (from "Songs from the Labyrinth")? I've ordered the book but need this transcription asap. Thanks!
Can anyone send me a scan of the Sting/Karamazov transcription of Dowland's "Come Again" (from "Songs from the Labyrinth")? I've ordered the book but need this transcription asap. Thanks! dedododo [ at] me [dot] com.
Consider this, if Bono from U2 paid homage to an early Irish Pagan singer, would he be disparaged and ridiculed too? I think what sting is doing is plausible and clever of him. He is paying homage to another musician, what is wrong with that?
I am a music major in school and a composer and I have written a piece for lute and oud (similar in playing techniques). The Lute is an AMAZING instrument and I heard this piece in my Music History 1 class and I fell in love with John Dowland's works. I have been looking for them for a while now and was wondering if anyone knows where to get them? I play the piano, and would like to arrange John Dowland's pieces for piano and voice and make them come alive.
Pero si hasta desafina. Y frasea como un gato. La música es preciosa y es una de las canciones que más me conmueven, pero desgraciadamente su interpretación ha sido sobrepasada... por las precedentes. Podía haberse limitado a interpretarla como un divertimento en privado.
Nice, I like the way the words are easy to understand. Since this is a commercial recording, I don't mind giving one small piece of criticism. To me there is too much very artificial/electronic sounding reverberation on the recording. Just IMHO, nothing else. Otherwise very entertaining...
I was on the 10th Guitar Fest in Belgrade and on Sting Concert with Edin, and this is not the video from there. However, they did sing this song. And beautifully, if may add.
I was dismissive at first........but when I actually heard this, I thought it most excellent.well done sting, and your other less well known musicians because you all truly deliver the goods
Whatever the detractors say I applaud this attempt. Sting has a beautiful tenor voice for this style of music requiring only a limited range. (Not so sure of the backing vocalists who seemed slightly out of time but maybe that was intentional)
Whatever this is a very attactive piece and it would have been stunning to be there. I enjoyed seeing Macca applauding.
Por que tudo, até mesmo essa linda peça de Dowland na bela interpretação de Sting, tem que se tornar uma inútil discussão acadêmica? Aqui não é exatamente o espaço para isso. Eu apreciei muito. Realmente inspirador
A mi me gusta y es suficiente, de eso se trata basicamente todo el arte. Sting tiene una voz conocida y resulta agradable, ademas ...no se rindió a la musica clasica...(igual es muy buen comentario con humor).
I see so many people at renaissance faires playing 19th Century music on 20th Century instruments it just makes me want to shake my head. This, particularly, makes me want to go learn how to play an archlute and give 'em some Dowland. I got a kick out of it when Sting called Dowland "England's first pop star."
I'm a countertenor , i have performed this music,I have the classical training. But I'm not agree that you "need a classcally trained singer" to sing Dowland. This is not opera(where the classical training is a must) this music was performed in court,but also in the streets by regular people,this was popular music! performed by anyone. Honestly this way of performance is probably closer to how this music was performed in those days.
@Heartlessiceboy I agree with you. The snobs are the very reason that high art music is not as popular as it should be. This is a wonderful performance. Sit back and enjoy it. Sting is demonstrating that he listens to a myriad of musical genres. I applaud him for stepping out of his confort zone.
@Heartlessiceboy As a musicologist, I heartily second that. Over the last century, classical music has become almost the exclusive domain of conservatory trained professional prodigies, and of learned standard interpretations. Amateurs are accepted as public only. It is laudible that Sting takes up this music as it should be treated: musically, not museally.
@Steinbach1984 Very true, just as the opposite and also wrong way of thinking that trained musicians from conservatories shouldn't play rock or sing pop music because most rockers and pop singers were not educated in a professional music school. Professional musicians can do a lot to "popular music", and amateurs are more than welcome to perform "classica music".
Heartlessiceboy I second your opinion too, is so nice to see my kids listening Dowland and saying awsome, and by the way, what people forget is that was pop music 600 years. To treat this music as something arcane restricted to a few it´s exactly the wrong thing to do. There should be more attempts to do things like this.
@MrBambi91 It's renaissance, actually, both stylistically and temporally (composed before 1600). Anyway, my remark was aimed at a broad range of people, not just fellow musicologists, so it was just more practical to use "classical music" in its broader sense.
@Steinbach1984 Yes i realised a few moments after i replied that it is actually renaissance when i noted the date of the original composition... and i understand what you mean, you simply wanted to use terms that the average person would know, not everyone knowing the different musical time eras
Sting did this well! I applaud him for taking the risk to experiment with new forms of music outside his comfort zone. It's what makes an artist grow...
And I hope those are authentic period cat gut strings on that lute Sting. I can't enjoy my classical music unless a kitten has been murdered for it. GET IT RIGHT STING. :-P
Anyone who has hostile, petty, insecure aspersions to cast on this is obviously a frustrated failure with a sadly hemorrhaging ego. If Sting is so horrible for deigning to be a pop singer with enough love for music to explore and promote genres beyond pop, then I ask: Where is your great contribution to the canon? Where is your magnum opus? Can you do better? Have you done better? No. Not in reality. Only in your sad masturbatorial fantasies.
Cool thesaurus bro. Too bad your mini-essay there is riddled with logical fallacies. Namely:
1) A person doesn't need to be a rock star OR art singer to perceive that this is a pretty poor vocal performance.
2) Professional critics agree.
3) This is a "contribution?" It's basically a cover album. These songs are done by hundreds, thousands of singers, almost all of whom perform better than Sting.
4) You're culturally illiterate if you didn't know about John Dowland until STING covered him.
I await your album with alacrity. I'm confidant that you are *scary-talented* compared to that unimaginative, musically talentless failure, Sting. Please, post an Amazon link to your record. I can't wait to bask in your mellifluous mastery of the art of song. And by the way, you are right: no opinion is valid unless it has been endorsed by "professional critics." No one but a "professional critic" is even entitled to an opinion.
You're entitled to whatever ignorant opinion you please. Just recognize the fact that people who know more about music than you do (professional critics, me, etc.) think you're hilariously wrong.
It's funny that you sleep with your thesaurus under your pillow, but you're too "confidant" to check you spelling. Enjoy your mass-produced plebeian music. I'll be listening to actual talented singers like Fritz Wunderlich and Thomas Quasthoff.
Well aren't you the fancy little Lord Fauntleroy who knows it all? Be careful not to soil your ruffled collar when you babble forth with your mewling nonsense. In life I've learned that the people who are really good at things are humble and respectful of the efforts of others. It's only the insecure critics and failures and wannabes--"those who can't do"--who have to tear other people's efforts down. You prove my point brilliantly.
Well, you must be right then. Resolved: No one should EVER listen to or enjoy any music that isn't endorsed under the imprimatur of tight-assed academicians and pretentious poseurs.
I still await your scary-great album. Please post the link to it.
That's usually true, but in the Classical or Jazz arenas, there tends to be a lot of closed-minded attachment to the preservation of certain structures, and they view performances that don't adhere to those structures as being threatening or disrespectful to their lifestyle.
Having stopped listening to rock/pop music in the late 1960s, I knew little of Sting's work and career until I heard and saw him sing this song on the PBS Live from Lincoln Centre program "Joshua Bell and Friends" two weeks ago. I also knew little about John Dowland, being a listener to later classical music and jazz. I really appreciate Sting's performing this song and have made it part of my own repertoire as an amateur singer of mainly art songs and Broadway.
Personnaly, I'm impressed that Sting decided to explore classical music.
Sure I do prefer so much more the smooth choir versions but I think this was great ... and at least it was a classical team Sting had there with him. Imagine how awful it would have been if they turned that beautiful song into a rock style !!!!! Even if classical rocks !
I think it's a great example openness and hope this makes people realize that if it wasn't for classical, we wouldn't have any other music style today.
Oh my God!!!! This change is very much for me!!!!
Mstadri 2 hours ago
Take your stupid made up name and your lute and f**k off back to Newcastle you coconut headed git.
If people don't know what I'm referring to I suggest you watch Sting on Life's Too Short - funniest moment on TV of 2011.
holland2312 2 weeks ago
@hijtohema, agree that your reference clip captures the feeling in a more expressive manner. Soprano voicing is nice.
JamKar1 3 weeks ago
Sadly there were no recordings of ancient performances.
JamKar1 3 weeks ago
Sting translates his passion for Dowland into a nice modern day arrangement.
JamKar1 4 weeks ago
@JamKar1 Actually the arrangement is pretty close to the original. The only additions are the second (theorbo) lute and the choir.
Have a listen to this version: youtube(dot)com/watch?v=JI005i6pG-w
hijtohema 3 weeks ago
'i'm shocking
jachardable 2 months ago
the thing is, i usually dont listen to this kind of music, but my music teacher forces me because we have a test next week, but... what are you gonna do..?
ps. love that singers voice...
PukeOfThePukes 2 months ago
@PukeOfThePukes Learn to love what sounds good to YOU. Tell your mates to fuck off if they take the piss. Music is not constricted by the catagories forced upon it.
77pob 1 month ago
without singing,
maybe good,
better for sure!
garfieldsowhat 2 months ago
Sting has a pretty great voice. It sounds very fitting.
IAmEddieGordo 3 months ago
@IAmEddieGordo To be honest: No it doesn't. I think Sting has taken on more than he could chew. What he misses is the drama in his vocal expression that was required in the days of Dowland. In the classical tradition these songs are usually performed by either mezzo-sopranos or counter-tenors with a talent for high dramatic expression. And rightfully so. It adds a lot to the songs.
hijtohema 3 weeks ago
@hijtohema: I totally agree to what you said about Sting's lack of drama. He wants to sound a lttle bit like a classical singer, but it's vain endeavour. There's a Danish rock singer named Freddie Wadling, who did it very much better (unfortunately not to find on YouTube).
yasgi 3 weeks ago
I had a go at updating Dowland myself earning a slightly stuffy response from those in the classical world but entertaining those in blues world. Enjoyed myself, learned a lot and still love listening the original pieces played by early music buffs. If you're interested in my attempts on blues slide guitar then go to my carsickphil channel and see what you think. There's a version of Mr Dowland's Midnight and Orlando Sleepeth available among my videos.
carsickphil 3 months ago
I highly respect Sting because although he's a famous musician, he continues researching in music, while most of his colleagues live on theirs income.
Nostalgico80 4 months ago 2
Simply amazing.
SimpleTrousers 4 months ago
10th lobby xbox jasper jtag <3
stripa1208 4 months ago
The "vocalists" represents what Mr. Dowland wrote, that is a four voice "a cappella" song that could be also sung by a treble voice with lute accompainment. It's a pity they have been relegated to some sort of anonimous background, but the experiment is absolutely great. The soule of the Police is a great musician, indeed.
FarineVal 5 months ago 6
What kind of lute is Sting playing?
frg8524 5 months ago
@frg8524 A theorbo, which is a lute with additional non-fretted bass strings.
hijtohema 3 weeks ago
68 assholes dislike this couse they are trolls
barbaveco 5 months ago
Thanks you Sting!
Fred50099 5 months ago
Wonderfully done!!!
sirMEGADACTYL 6 months ago
I'd like to hear John Dowland do a punk version of message in a bottle. Sadly, the man is dead. Anyway, I'd still like it.
willzer808 6 months ago 8
Sting is the modern day bard! Only he's rich! XD
rawrgDX 6 months ago
This is such a dirty song...
alexhaswell123 7 months ago
sting really is the real deal in the talent department, right?
mrpicky510 7 months ago
Bravo! Sting gives the song back to the audience: I can hear the pub or tavern or even the green village faire around him, and the groundlings growing silent to hear the itinerant bard. Theirs are not the sterile rooms of "the science of music".
firefinder2889 7 months ago 2
@firefinder2889 John Dowland wouldn't have liked this comment. He was a court musician/composer par excellence.
hijtohema 3 weeks ago
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@firefinder2889 John Dowland wouldn't have liked this comment. He was a court musician/composer par excellence.
hijtohema 3 weeks ago
I admire Sting when he sings his own songs (Mad About You being my all-time favourite) but hated his Dowland CD when it came out because I'm a performer of lute songs and had a narrow idea of how Dowland should be sung. It's not snobbery, I love his singing of jazz (e.g. Angel Eyes), and also Ella Fitzgerald's, but have never liked Sara Vaughan, for instance - it's just a matter of taste. But I must admit, hearing this version, I'm beginning to warm to his approach. CriticalListener has a point.
JamesEis 7 months ago
Ovo je kao u beogradu?
matijafolks 7 months ago
@matijafolks uopste...ne znam ko je ovo izbacio kao bg....
Draganche1988 6 months ago
a lou que eu amo baba por isso
louisecf 7 months ago
Elitism rears its head in music and snobs procreate anonymously.
TheObknox 8 months ago
"The raven is hoarse that croaks the fatal exit of Dowland's beautiful music" (adapted from Macbeth, Shakespeare). The raven being Sting's voice. Terrible. Get back to where you belong, Sting. And listen to "Come again" by Valeria Mignaco, here on Youtube. Or to her rendering of Flow my tears. THAT is celestial!
doenog 8 months ago
Wonderful!
amihol 8 months ago
Maybe not my favorite version, but nevertheless I praise Sting for having presented this music to ears which otherwise would never have heard this. There may be new listeners to the music of John Dowland and others of that period thanks to his efforts.
CriticalListener 8 months ago 2
This comment has received too many negative votes show
You know, I can never get enough lute. What a pompous ass. Go back to the Police where you belong.
devtrev 9 months ago
I believe Sting is playing an "archlute" which (like southsaxon said) has an extra course or two in the tenor/bass range.
HDTVJunkie 9 months ago
MACCA! Macca has great taste!
icanwaitanotherday 10 months ago
Macca liked it, and so did I!
natanielcostard 10 months ago
Soy una mortal común y corriente ..y opino que es maravilloso lo que nos presenta este gran artista, desde aquí gracias Sting.
Licarrayen 10 months ago
what instrument is Sting playing?
danilonikola8 10 months ago
@danilonikola8 I think it's a theorbo
southsaxon 9 months ago
@southsaxon thanks. :)
danilonikola8 9 months ago
@southsaxon a lute with extended bass courses is an arch lute. it's not a theorbo since a theorbo does not have paired diapsons.
sqrlcub 8 months ago
Excellent 's music, fantastic performance!
Thanks!
BLJ/Hungary
BognarLJ 10 months ago
I was like :|
then the chorus came in and I was like :O
シ ツ
TheKingdomofErnor 10 months ago
what are these two stringed instruments called?
SaxxonThespian 10 months ago
@SaxxonThespian They are lutes. I think Sting's is an 8 course and the other guys in a 7 course.
Shadowtech666 10 months ago
@Shadowtech666 isn't it a theorbo that Sting is playing?
southsaxon 9 months ago
@southsaxon naw its a lute with the extended bass courses.
Shadowtech666 9 months ago
Play that funky music white boy!
blakehavard1 10 months ago
Mais c'est monstrueux !
CochelinChapuis 10 months ago
I think its awesome that a pop artist is performing this music,
ivanclassicalguitar 11 months ago
The mix was a bit too much sting vocal and not enough instrumentation.
chh5555 11 months ago 2
muy hermoso en todo su conjunto. Que bueno que podamos escuchar esto pero quisiera saber si se grabo un disco o solo fue la presentación.
powerwarrior12 11 months ago
@powerwarrior12 Grabó todo un disco. Búscalo que es muy bonito.
natanielcostard 10 months ago
beautiful video and music always a wow thanks for the share of this
wytchenavixens 11 months ago
is sting here playing some kind of theorbe, or what is it called?
HosiChef 11 months ago
Mixed feelings about this - but generally I think the negative comments here are a knee-jerk reaction. Look at it this way - Sting has brought the great music of Dowland to an audience that would probably never have heard it otherwise. What's wrong with that?
key2kingdom 11 months ago
I hate the choir!!!!! Why the hell did they include it???? It was totally unnecessary!!!!
pattyhansen 11 months ago
I luv da song n in school we studied it for music when sting says to die or to COME agin witch really means to CUM n the song iz about a woman n a man having sex but da song iz the best way to describe SEX in this day n age n he iz now a favorite of mine now
paulspauldingfull 1 year ago
@paulspauldingfull That's a load of bull. It was written during the English Renaissance. The word "come" )or "cum") definitely didn't have that meaning then. Why do people feel the need to sexualize everything?
1theatrechick 11 months ago
@1theatrechick Please don't feed the trolls, dear. ;)
infocus 11 months ago
@1theatrechick He's right. To "die" was a colloquialism for climaxing during sex. Also, "come" has meant the same thing since the 1600's as well. Google "Walking In A Meadowe Greene folio of loose songs Bishop Percy" if you'd like a contemporary example. As for "come" meaning ejaculate, that is more recent - about 90 or 100 years.
aross001 11 months ago
Hideous!
jokingpants 1 year ago
Re-pugnant. Go screw up your own music, man.
Khalilullah 1 year ago
Intonation?....
Lisnageeragh 1 year ago
I don´t like the choir. Sting´s voice´s way better
Assislau 1 year ago
horrible horrible interpretation... fa schifo
kureichanchito1 1 year ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
I love Dowlands music, but Stings interpretation is horrible.
pesypesy 1 year ago
top notch !!!
palfab962 1 year ago
it's wonderful!!! Meraviglioso!!
copia69 1 year ago
nice one sting
dasgilde 1 year ago
If only English composers had built upon these songs like German composers built from their traditional folksongs, then English composition would not be as shit as it has been for the last couple of centuries. Its awesome Sting has revived this stuff:)
norathorr 1 year ago 5
I am not familiar with the notation of the piece, but was 3:16 a mistake?
DukeLongfellow 1 year ago
What music! Sting knows how to live. His music from rock, pop and to this great composed song that touches early centuries in modern times. Semper FI
roverrover2 1 year ago
I don't understand how some people don't enjoy this type of music. It's so beautiful. Even the most manly of men can get emotional with this type of music.
Eursavion 1 year ago 3
Thanks Sting for bringing early music to the spot light, but I still like don't this interpretation.
salvadorlaguna 1 year ago
@salvadorlaguna I agree and the funny thing is, I don't find Sting to be the weak point in this - it's the orchestration than does not work for me. I love Sting, and I like his lute playing, but I am not keen on Sting singing this period material.
But people should note that even Sting recognises his weakness in this area. He only made the CD to introduce early music to a new audience, not realizing that we liked this stuff already *grin* Props for trying something different.
msm2you 1 year ago
I think I peed a little when the chorus section came in. :3
ShinobiBoiX 1 year ago 19
@ShinobiBoiX great.
phlarrdboi 6 months ago
@ShinobiBoiX SEND ME AN ADDRESS, I'LL SEND BABY WIPES, YOU POOR THING
royalmaster203 5 months ago
@ShinobiBoiX Just a little? You lucky thing.
TheBenMurrie 4 months ago
i love him
donutopo22 1 year ago
Ugh.... Lose Sting... please
spacemanGoldie 1 year ago
I thik there'e too meny singers on the backing group; could easily take off four of them and still theres enough.
hurjamarja 1 year ago
This is interesting- I love Dowland's work, and was a Police fan also.... Sting makes an interesting troubadour... However, I don't think his voice sounds right with the voices of the backing singers...
just my opinion..
esirenbotdon 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Nice.
Please check out my new performance of some de Visée music as well.
moregreatmusic 1 year ago
Can anyone send me a scan of the Sting/Karamazov transcription of Dowland's "Come Again" (from "Songs from the Labyrinth")? I've ordered the book but need this transcription asap. Thanks!
PaulRazzell 1 year ago
Can anyone send me a scan of the Sting/Karamazov transcription of Dowland's "Come Again" (from "Songs from the Labyrinth")? I've ordered the book but need this transcription asap. Thanks! dedododo [ at] me [dot] com.
PaulRazzell 1 year ago
This is gorgeous music making. So is Alfred Deller's Dowland. What a wonderful thing for Sting to explore and cherish.
cooperdogable 1 year ago
Consider this, if Bono from U2 paid homage to an early Irish Pagan singer, would he be disparaged and ridiculed too? I think what sting is doing is plausible and clever of him. He is paying homage to another musician, what is wrong with that?
Idiots.
The Police were awesome in their halcyon days.
Johnnystrychnine 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Nice channel.
Please check out my new performance of some french baroque music (de Visée) aswell.
moregreatmusic 1 year ago
I am a music major in school and a composer and I have written a piece for lute and oud (similar in playing techniques). The Lute is an AMAZING instrument and I heard this piece in my Music History 1 class and I fell in love with John Dowland's works. I have been looking for them for a while now and was wondering if anyone knows where to get them? I play the piano, and would like to arrange John Dowland's pieces for piano and voice and make them come alive.
amyleeluvr 1 year ago
@amyleeluvr They are simple pieces. Use your training and simply write them down.
violatione 1 year ago
@violatione Ok. I will do my best. Thank you.
amyleeluvr 1 year ago
Pero si hasta desafina. Y frasea como un gato. La música es preciosa y es una de las canciones que más me conmueven, pero desgraciadamente su interpretación ha sido sobrepasada... por las precedentes. Podía haberse limitado a interpretarla como un divertimento en privado.
ViviHyoton 1 year ago
OMG THIS SUCKS !!!! I want to hear Roxanne
lmcdowall 1 year ago
interesting rendition. kudos to sting, but his voice ain't good enough for this kind of music.
casperado666 1 year ago
im sorry but i really really don't like this
MrPocketGroover 1 year ago
The backing group and the lute player carry it! Without them Sting's crap.
joebroesel1000 1 year ago
@joebroesel1000
Without anyone, everyone is crap.
Jawesome1Shazam 1 year ago
The backing group does it! Without it Sting's crap.
joebroesel1000 1 year ago
Nice, I like the way the words are easy to understand. Since this is a commercial recording, I don't mind giving one small piece of criticism. To me there is too much very artificial/electronic sounding reverberation on the recording. Just IMHO, nothing else. Otherwise very entertaining...
rustydog1236 1 year ago
Interesting performance of ancient music
grossiroma 1 year ago
i really enjoy stings voice with a piece like this. quite unexpected, yet pleasant...
xxWayoftheSunxx 1 year ago
Comment removed
alokin55 1 year ago
*facepalm* at the pro's discussing this...
The choir was pure win too : D.
broknsaint 1 year ago
Couldnt he just sing the one about prostitutes ?
captaincrumble 1 year ago
I was on the 10th Guitar Fest in Belgrade and on Sting Concert with Edin, and this is not the video from there. However, they did sing this song. And beautifully, if may add.
Enuilas 1 year ago
sting is a twit
jthread 1 year ago
What a wonderful time to be living! To be able to hear all this music from so many ages. And whenever we want to!
CaliAllyE 1 year ago 6
Karamazov is not usually as sloppy as he is in this performance. Bleh.
liedvondererde 1 year ago
I live in Belgrade, this video is not from " The Tenth International Guitar Festival Belgrade, Serbia February 7- 14, 2009"
zanovetalo 1 year ago
great performance , great voice . absolutly amazing !
alialsuhail 1 year ago
I was dismissive at first........but when I actually heard this, I thought it most excellent.well done sting, and your other less well known musicians because you all truly deliver the goods
jorvik 1 year ago
what is that, a 500 string lute?
TonyMcWatt 1 year ago
Whatever the detractors say I applaud this attempt. Sting has a beautiful tenor voice for this style of music requiring only a limited range. (Not so sure of the backing vocalists who seemed slightly out of time but maybe that was intentional)
Whatever this is a very attactive piece and it would have been stunning to be there. I enjoyed seeing Macca applauding.
jongeriki 1 year ago
Por que tudo, até mesmo essa linda peça de Dowland na bela interpretação de Sting, tem que se tornar uma inútil discussão acadêmica? Aqui não é exatamente o espaço para isso. Eu apreciei muito. Realmente inspirador
paberaguitar 1 year ago
A mi me gusta y es suficiente, de eso se trata basicamente todo el arte. Sting tiene una voz conocida y resulta agradable, ademas ...no se rindió a la musica clasica...(igual es muy buen comentario con humor).
mdqmichel 1 year ago
I see so many people at renaissance faires playing 19th Century music on 20th Century instruments it just makes me want to shake my head. This, particularly, makes me want to go learn how to play an archlute and give 'em some Dowland. I got a kick out of it when Sting called Dowland "England's first pop star."
murdelabop 1 year ago
Sting's archlute is made by Cezar Mateus. What a great luthier. OMG. Sigh. John Dowland is smiling down.
guitargirl4scrabble 1 year ago
listen im the y generation and i think this is something special
i listen to techno so this is far from anything ive listen to before
31sjohn 1 year ago 3
B E A U T I F U L...WOW!
roarul 1 year ago
I think he did a really good job,
and I mean to put it in perspective, if you have Paul McCartney nodding, clapping vigorously and whistling? You did a pretty freaking good job
dusktwilight7 1 year ago
was sting really playing...?
raysonkong 1 year ago
this song is so dirty.
tragicplatypus 1 year ago
hassiktir lan...
ichbincan 1 year ago
I'm a countertenor , i have performed this music,I have the classical training. But I'm not agree that you "need a classcally trained singer" to sing Dowland. This is not opera(where the classical training is a must) this music was performed in court,but also in the streets by regular people,this was popular music! performed by anyone. Honestly this way of performance is probably closer to how this music was performed in those days.
Heartlessiceboy 1 year ago 122
@Heartlessiceboy I agree with you. The snobs are the very reason that high art music is not as popular as it should be. This is a wonderful performance. Sit back and enjoy it. Sting is demonstrating that he listens to a myriad of musical genres. I applaud him for stepping out of his confort zone.
violatione 1 year ago 3
@Heartlessiceboy you're right... the "amateur" voice of sting is perfect for these songs
ferminfer 1 year ago
@Heartlessiceboy :
Lovely. Sting has a great voice and wonderful musician. Anybody got a lute/guitar copy of the music.
navan55 1 year ago 2
@Heartlessiceboy you're totally right my friend
faopus14 1 year ago
@Heartlessiceboy As a musicologist, I heartily second that. Over the last century, classical music has become almost the exclusive domain of conservatory trained professional prodigies, and of learned standard interpretations. Amateurs are accepted as public only. It is laudible that Sting takes up this music as it should be treated: musically, not museally.
Steinbach1984 1 year ago 68
@Steinbach1984 Very true, just as the opposite and also wrong way of thinking that trained musicians from conservatories shouldn't play rock or sing pop music because most rockers and pop singers were not educated in a professional music school. Professional musicians can do a lot to "popular music", and amateurs are more than welcome to perform "classica music".
Aristowi 11 months ago
@Steinbach1984
and as a folkie i second you both
and such a lovely video indeed
giorgiopicker 10 months ago
@Steinbach1984 so totally agree with you!!!!
micascorpie 9 months ago
@Steinbach1984 Respect for you comment but I have one question for you,,, do you know where is Edin come from???
XBAGREMX 8 months ago
@XBAGREMX Edin is from Croatia, lives in the capital, Zagreb. Have been to his concert yesteday... It was so great...
viktorbublic 7 months ago
@viktorbublic no his come from Bosnia he was born in Zenica but he lives in Zagreb that true...
XBAGREMX 7 months ago
@XBAGREMX Cool. Didn't know that, thanks for adding more info.
viktorbublic 7 months ago
@viktorbublic you more then welcome,,,
XBAGREMX 7 months ago
Heartlessiceboy I second your opinion too, is so nice to see my kids listening Dowland and saying awsome, and by the way, what people forget is that was pop music 600 years. To treat this music as something arcane restricted to a few it´s exactly the wrong thing to do. There should be more attempts to do things like this.
whitesupremashit 7 months ago
@Steinbach1984 Thats a good point.. however its not classical music, its Baroque... just saying
MrBambi91 4 months ago
@MrBambi91 It's renaissance, actually, both stylistically and temporally (composed before 1600). Anyway, my remark was aimed at a broad range of people, not just fellow musicologists, so it was just more practical to use "classical music" in its broader sense.
Steinbach1984 4 months ago
@Steinbach1984 Yes i realised a few moments after i replied that it is actually renaissance when i noted the date of the original composition... and i understand what you mean, you simply wanted to use terms that the average person would know, not everyone knowing the different musical time eras
MrBambi91 4 months ago
@MrBambi91: It's not Baroque, it's Renaissance
yasgi 3 weeks ago
@MrBambi91: oh sorry, some other guys mentioned already.
yasgi 3 weeks ago
@Heartlessiceboy I agree.
Ettoredipugnar 9 months ago
he did it justice.
WChocoleta 1 year ago
Sting did this well! I applaud him for taking the risk to experiment with new forms of music outside his comfort zone. It's what makes an artist grow...
classicaljay 1 year ago 3
its not new...maybe to him.
sniken93 1 year ago
Quite the set.
And I hope those are authentic period cat gut strings on that lute Sting. I can't enjoy my classical music unless a kitten has been murdered for it. GET IT RIGHT STING. :-P
georgealister 1 year ago
The word catgut has nothing whatsoever to do with cats...
geewdehn 1 year ago
I wonder why he didn't finish it? There's another verse:
Gentle Love
Draw forth thy wounding dart,
Thou canst not pierce her heart,
For I that do approve,
By sighs and tears more hot than are thy shafts:
Did tempt while she for triumph laughs.
Anyway, I'm sorry but I think I'll stick with Julianne Baird.
laraineannebarker 1 year ago
Anyone who has hostile, petty, insecure aspersions to cast on this is obviously a frustrated failure with a sadly hemorrhaging ego. If Sting is so horrible for deigning to be a pop singer with enough love for music to explore and promote genres beyond pop, then I ask: Where is your great contribution to the canon? Where is your magnum opus? Can you do better? Have you done better? No. Not in reality. Only in your sad masturbatorial fantasies.
Moldrid1026 1 year ago 6
Amen. I adore you.
theeei 1 year ago
Cool thesaurus bro. Too bad your mini-essay there is riddled with logical fallacies. Namely:
1) A person doesn't need to be a rock star OR art singer to perceive that this is a pretty poor vocal performance.
2) Professional critics agree.
3) This is a "contribution?" It's basically a cover album. These songs are done by hundreds, thousands of singers, almost all of whom perform better than Sting.
4) You're culturally illiterate if you didn't know about John Dowland until STING covered him.
MelancholyDane 1 year ago
I await your album with alacrity. I'm confidant that you are *scary-talented* compared to that unimaginative, musically talentless failure, Sting. Please, post an Amazon link to your record. I can't wait to bask in your mellifluous mastery of the art of song. And by the way, you are right: no opinion is valid unless it has been endorsed by "professional critics." No one but a "professional critic" is even entitled to an opinion.
Moldrid1026 1 year ago 4
You're entitled to whatever ignorant opinion you please. Just recognize the fact that people who know more about music than you do (professional critics, me, etc.) think you're hilariously wrong.
It's funny that you sleep with your thesaurus under your pillow, but you're too "confidant" to check you spelling. Enjoy your mass-produced plebeian music. I'll be listening to actual talented singers like Fritz Wunderlich and Thomas Quasthoff.
MelancholyDane 1 year ago
Well aren't you the fancy little Lord Fauntleroy who knows it all? Be careful not to soil your ruffled collar when you babble forth with your mewling nonsense. In life I've learned that the people who are really good at things are humble and respectful of the efforts of others. It's only the insecure critics and failures and wannabes--"those who can't do"--who have to tear other people's efforts down. You prove my point brilliantly.
Moldrid1026 1 year ago
*cites anecdotal evidence in support of lost argument
I rest my case.
MelancholyDane 1 year ago
Well, you must be right then. Resolved: No one should EVER listen to or enjoy any music that isn't endorsed under the imprimatur of tight-assed academicians and pretentious poseurs.
I still await your scary-great album. Please post the link to it.
Moldrid1026 1 year ago 2
That's usually true, but in the Classical or Jazz arenas, there tends to be a lot of closed-minded attachment to the preservation of certain structures, and they view performances that don't adhere to those structures as being threatening or disrespectful to their lifestyle.
Poor folks.....
TheBanyanEmperor 1 year ago
Sting knows no shame...
anerdsham 1 year ago
sounds like church
keithschubert 1 year ago
Having stopped listening to rock/pop music in the late 1960s, I knew little of Sting's work and career until I heard and saw him sing this song on the PBS Live from Lincoln Centre program "Joshua Bell and Friends" two weeks ago. I also knew little about John Dowland, being a listener to later classical music and jazz. I really appreciate Sting's performing this song and have made it part of my own repertoire as an amateur singer of mainly art songs and Broadway.
foxtrottango2 2 years ago
The only thing that's holding this piece back is Sting's singing.
buildgod93 2 years ago
The choir makes it so rich, what a sound!
photopicker 2 years ago
Personnaly, I'm impressed that Sting decided to explore classical music.
Sure I do prefer so much more the smooth choir versions but I think this was great ... and at least it was a classical team Sting had there with him. Imagine how awful it would have been if they turned that beautiful song into a rock style !!!!! Even if classical rocks !
I think it's a great example openness and hope this makes people realize that if it wasn't for classical, we wouldn't have any other music style today.
musiccoloratura 2 years ago 3
Sting's John Dowland album "songs from the labyrinth" is fantastic.
Sefardi123 2 years ago
thanks :) I'll check on it.
musiccoloratura 2 years ago
wanker
scruffytechnician 2 years ago
Anyway, it's a nice tribute to Dowland... in spite of Sting's voice.
Polluxgeminae 2 years ago
Sting has no business trying to sing these pieces.
This is terrible.
artrndmidnight3 2 years ago