Casual pronouncements are made every so often that the lute songs (the lute is a plucked stringed instrument, an early cousin to the guitar) and madrigals of Elizabethan and Jacobean England were the popular music of their day.
And Sting, who alludes to the likes of Vladimir Nabokov in his lyrics, is hardly uneducated in the legacy of fine arts, and he has a certain cerebral, inward sadness that matches the dominant mood of English music around 1600 well enough.
Thus some might easily have thought it would be a short leap from Sting's own music to the lute songs of John Dowland (1563-1626).
But the leap is anything but short, and Sting gets credit for having thought out fully the problems in making it.
It is not just the issue of what pianist Katia Labèque, one of the classical musicians who introduced Sting to Dowland's music, called his "unschooled tenor" -- Dowland's songs are not really difficult.
It is the great divide between rock (and other traditions ultimately rooted in Africa) and the European tradition: speaking in generalities, the former prizes "noise" -- sound extraneous to the pitch and to the intended timbre of an instrument or voice -- as a structural element, whereas in the latter it is strenuously eliminated.
Sting's voice has plenty of "noise." The listener oriented toward classical music will object to its being there; the rock listener, noting that Sting is singing very quietly, may wonder why there isn't more of it.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WalsinghamJohn Dowland | Sting, Edin Karamazov | Play | 00:38 | 1 MB | 3 MB |
| 2 | Can She Excuse My WrongsJohn Dowland | Sting, Edin Karamazov | Play | 02:35 | 5 MB | 16 MB |
| 3 | Have You Seen the Bright Lily Grow | Sting, Edin Karamazov | Play | 02:35 | 5 MB | 13 MB |
| 4 | The Lowest Trees Have TopsJohn Dowland | Sting, Edin Karamazov | Play | 02:16 | 5 MB | 12 MB |
| 5 | "...and Accordinge as I Desired Ther Cam a Letter..."John Dowland | Sting, Edin Karamazov | Play | 00:55 | 2 MB | 4 MB |
| 6 | Fine Knacks for LadiesJohn Dowland | Sting, Edin Karamazov | Play | 01:50 | 4 MB | 11 MB |
| 7 | FantasyJohn Dowland | Sting, Edin Karamazov | Play | 02:42 | 6 MB | 14 MB |
| 8 | Come, Heavy SleepJohn Dowland | Sting, Edin Karamazov | Play | 03:45 | 8 MB | 22 MB |
| 9 | Forlorn Hope FancyJohn Dowland | Sting, Edin Karamazov | Play | 03:08 | 7 MB | 15 MB |
| 10 | "...and from Thence I Had Great Desire to See Italy..."John Dowland | Sting, Edin Karamazov | Play | 00:28 | 1 MB | 2 MB |
| 11 | Come AgainJohn Dowland | Sting, Edin Karamazov | Play | 02:56 | 6 MB | 16 MB |
| 12 | Wilt Thou Unkind Thus Reave MeJohn Dowland | Sting, Edin Karamazov | Play | 02:40 | 6 MB | 16 MB |
| 13 | Weep You No More, Sad FountainsJohn Dowland | Sting, Edin Karamazov | Play | 02:38 | 6 MB | 15 MB |
| 14 | My Lord Willoughby's Welcome HomeJohn Dowland | Sting, Edin Karamazov | Play | 01:34 | 3 MB | 8 MB |
| 15 | Clear or CloudyJohn Dowland | Sting, Edin Karamazov | Play | 02:47 | 6 MB | 17 MB |
| 16 | In Darkness Let Me DwellJohn Dowland | Sting, Edin Karamazov | Play | 04:12 | 9 MB | 22 MB |
| 17 | Ryght Honorable As I Have Bin Most Bounde Unto Your Honor | Sting | Play | 00:40 | 1 MB | 4 MB |
| 18 | Flow My Tears | Sting | Play | 04:42 | 10 MB | 26 MB |
| 19 | Then In Time Passing One Mr. Johnson Died | Sting | Play | 00:32 | 1 MB | 2 MB |
| 20 | The Most High And Mighty Christianus The Forth, King Of Denmark, His Galliard | Sting | Play | 03:01 | 6 MB | 15 MB |
| 21 | From Thence I Went To The Landgrave Of Hessen | Sting | Play | 00:24 | 0 MB | 2 MB |
| 22 | After My Departure I Caled To Mynde Our Conference | Sting | Play | 00:29 | 1 MB | 2 MB |
| 23 | Men Say That The Kinge Of Spain Is Making Gret Preparation | Sting | Play | 01:01 | 2 MB | 3 MB |
| 48 mins | 111 MB | |||||
| 48 mins | 270 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Dowland | Composer |
| 2 | Edin Karamazov | Primary Artist |
| 3 | Sting | Primary Artist |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |