Customer Reviews

If On A Winter's Night

5 star:		(78)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(36)

 

 

First, a response to faulty information in other reviews:
1) This is not supposed to be a Christmas album - it is a Winter album, meaning the style and lyrical content pertain to the things of Winter, including Christmas but not dwelling on it. Another great recording of this kind, for example, is "Voices of Winter" by Herdman, Hills and Mangsen.
2) Some reviewers whine about Gordon Sumner's (Sting's) vocal performance here. The tone and vocal style of this album are clearly connected to Sting's "Songs from the Labyrinth," for which he did lots of historical research to achieve the style of vocal performances originally used in 17th century British song. If you can't handle being transported through music to this time and place, this album isn't for you. And try to listen to it on a good stereo system, not ear-buds or cheap car speakers.
3) It is posited that only hardcore Sting fans could like this recording. I am not a hardcore Sting fan and I think it is the best work he's ever done. I also enjoy his work with the Police and certain selections from his solo catalog, but they each have their own appeal and should be evaluated on their own merits. I like this recording because the quality musicianship and "live" feel transcend contemporary holiday music muck (such as Robert Zimmerman's (Bob Dylan's) recent mistake of an album). It has a rustic vibrancy enveloped in a haunting winter fog, vividly suggesting the British Isles or Scandinavian mountains in midwinter.
In summation, if you thing think Sting has been "washed up" since the Police broke up who knows why you are looking here in the first place, but it might be worth your while to return to Sting's solo catalog and rework your way through up to this point - it might bring an understanding of what being an artist is about, and open new horizons for enjoyment of music in general. On the other hand, if you appreciate traditional music of Great Britain and Scandinavia (Karan Casey, Battlefield Band, Steeleye Span, Vasen, Savina Yannatou, etc. etc.) I can highly recommend "If on a Winter's Night".

Contrary to Dylan's slapstick Christmas In the Heart, this is a serious work of reverent and inspired musicianship.

About half of the fifteen songs celebrate what Sting describes as the "magical elements" of Christmas. The rest are more generally seasonal in focus. As Sting explains in the very comprehensive liner notes, "...we are gathered here to celebrate and explore the music of Winter, the season of frosts and long dark nights".

And yes - the otherworldly mood of winter is conjured up as seven musicians "wrapped in scarves and coats" collaborate and improvise with uncommon excellence.

Traditional instruments, Celtic overtones, and the voice of the former Police lead vocalist now sounding decidedly choral, come together to warm the heart in a most surprising way.

I particularly like Soul Cake, with background vocals by the Webb Sisters (the sublime Webb Sisters according to Leonard Cohen), which weaves the melody of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen into the music of Paul Stookey. Gabriel's Message with haunting horn work by Ibrahim Maalouf, and Sting's own The Hounds of Winter are other standouts.

The low points for me are Cold Song and Now Winter Comes Slowly, the two pieces with music by baroque composer Henry Purcell. Sting reaches, but clearly can't pull off the basso profondo needed to do justice to these works.

Nevertheless this is a very good CD that I'll be going back to time and time again, even though it clearly isn't what Sting fans might expect from the erstwhile rocker. Interestingly, the iTunes database identifies the genre as "pop". It's decidedly not...

Notwithstanding Sting's disclaimer as to his agnosticism, this is a profoundly spiritual work. As he writes, "...the sacred symbolism of the Church's art still exerts a powerful influence over me".

Indeed. As he put it many years ago when writing for the Police, "We are spirits in the material world"...

The liner notes are really good. Sting explains that winter is his favorite season and he deliberately stayed away from holly-jolly merry Christmas songs. The photos are also awesome, particularly a scene of all the musicians gathered around a bank of candles playing their instruments. That sets the mood of the piece - rather quiet, introspective and kinda gloomy. Also on many of the numbers Sting does this really weird thing with his voice, like he stayed up all night smoking cigarettes and drinking whiskey.

Several years ago Sting contributed a version of Gabriel's Message to one of the Very Special Christmas CDs for the Special Olympics. The version on this CD is vastly inferior.

I did like Soul Cake, which I remember from the Peter Paul & Mary Christmas CD many years ago. Also You Only Cross My Mind in Winter, where Sting adds lyrics to a Bach piece. Christmas At Sea, which is a Robert Louis Stevenson poem set to a traditional Gaelic song, is pretty good.

The musicianship is extraordinary. Sting's vocals, not so much. It seems like a good CD to hunker down with in January, when the wind is howling and Christmas is over and you're already pretty depressed. It sure isn't like any other Christmas CD you have in your library.

I really disagree with the other reviewers who slam this cd. This is a reflective mellow winter cd. It's not Sting singing Roxanne for the millionth time. The songs have a certain wintry feel to them. I particulary like the songs Gabriel's Message, Soul Cake, The Snow It Melts the Soonest. Great photos and notes also.

If you want a Police cd or a Sting pop cd don't buy this. If you want a winter cd to sit next to the fire while drinking hot tea...then buy this.

Just when you think you have El Stingo figured out, he goes and switches things up again. As his band mates testify, he is the biggest risk taker in the entertainment industry. The easiest thing in the world for him would have been to capitalize on the recent Police reunion tour and come out with a blistering rock album. What does he do? Goes in exactly the opposite direction. I'm not a huge fan of this side of him, but his voice has always been so extraordinary to me that I would listen if he were singing Inna Godda Davida under water. You have to admire the size of his juevos. That said, there are some catchy tunes on here. Soul Cake probably being among the best. The original version of Gabriel's Message is far superior than the re-worked one on this disc. The DVD is entertaining as it explains the process of putting this project together. Some other reviewers are saying "not what I expected." Do we EVER really know what to expect from Sting?

As a singer in a choir and an a cappella group, and a lover of music, I've always been slightly annoyed that people want to go straight to Christmas without going through Advent, and there is not enough Advent music out there. Advent is a time when it's getting progressively darker and colder. "They" put Christmas in late December because it's the time of year when, even though most of winter is yet to come, the days miraculously start getting longer again-- but that only comes after the introspection and diminishing of hope in the Advent season.

My point is that Sting has focused on that cold and dark, which is so important if you're going to appreciate the warmth and light and hope that Christmas represents. So what he's made is an Advent album. I don't listen to much pop music, but when I heard him sing The Snow It Melts the Soonest on NPR, it reminded me of the Incredible String Band and all that cool druidic/Child ballad-y stuff from my youth. That's beside my point about Advent, but I wanted to make it anyway. I bought it and I've been listening to it and enjoying it.

I gave it only four stars because I generally like either the serious, non-pop iterations of these songs, or else the totally out-there ISB. I get annoyed by the melisma that's so popular now, and that I just heard him do on Track 8 as I write this.

I LOVE it. The songs are different than you might expect, but thoughtfully chosen and beautifully performed. It's peaceful - and peace is something I can use in big doses this time of year.

The music in this CD harks back into history in terms of lyrics, instrumentation, vocal arrangement, and musical composition. Two of the musical compositions are by Henry Purcell and one is by J.S. Bach. There are traditional songs and more contemporary songs that are fashioned on traditional songs. One song is based on an odd and haunting poem by Robert Louis Stevenson about the rebellious son's escape to the cold winter sea and his visions of the life he left behind. Sting's vocals are mature, unadorned, vulnerable, and transparent - just as we might have heard a visiting troubadour in the 15th century. There is a dependence on string instruments; harp, violin, cello, guitar, bass, viola. However the selections are often complimented with upbeat drums and percussions. The Cherry Tree Carol, when given a more contemporary presentation by Sting, begins to resonate with the old Black Gospel music of the Southern United States. The purity of the story-telling comes through every word and note. The entire CD is testimony to Sting's intellectual quest in his maturity for the songs of the past and the presentation of music in intimate, candle-lit settings. It is pensive and grounded in tradition but is often surprising and sometimes acidic in lyric. An artist must reinvent themselves, and there is no better time to do that than in the middle years that some call the crisis. Sting is reinventing, exploring, discovering, and we are the beneficiaries of his quest.

Last December, I heard a music review on National Public Radio, of a new Christmas album by Sting, called "If On a Winter's Night..." . (Yes, the ellipsis is part of the title.) The reviewer played clips of some of the songs, and talked about a few of the tracks, enough to make me want to buy the CD. So I did.

I think I played it once last winter, and not even all the way through. It sat on my shelf until July, when I decided to listen to it again. It's much more listenable the second (and third) time around.

If you're in the mood for Nat King Cole's "The Christmas Song" or John Denver and the Muppets' "The Twelve Days of Christmas," this album just won't do it for you. It's a very introspective album. Each song invites the listener to go with Sting, deep into the emotions and the thoughts that are the underpinnings of The True Meaning of Christmas.

There's no catchy "Winter Wonderland" in this album, and no Beach Boys harmonies. Even Natalie Cole's beautiful rendition of "Mary, Did You Know" doesn't dig as deep as the lyrics on this album, and Natalie's "Mary" does dig deep. Each song on this album takes one emotion, and examines it in the light of the season, to a depth (sometimes a surprisingly dark depth) that may make the casual listener uncomfortable.

But don't listen to the album casually. Allow yourself the luxury of really getting into it. And take time to read the accompanying booklet.

The music, both the composition and performance, are superb. Because it isn't tied to the rhythms of the traditional carols like "Silent Night", or the contemporary jingles like "Winter Wonderland", the music is as deeply introspective as the lyrics, and the music matches the lyrics in magical ways. Besides that, Sting takes advantage of the opportunity to showcase his musical talent, to do some virtuoso things that you won't hear on commercial radio.

It may be too deep, too dark, for you. Borrow it or sample it before you decide to buy. Don't plan on playing it at a Christmas party. It's not that kind of music. It will kill the party in a hurry. But on a winter's night, when you're home alone or with the one person in the world who understands you, put it on and allow Sting to pull you in to a different kind of Christmas experience.

After reading some of the reviews I decided to put in my two cents' worth also:

First of all, many forget that Sting is a troubadour, i.e. a singer of stories and in doing so, trying to evoke moments that will transport people to forgotten places of one's soul. I don't think he will ever lay credit to being the best classically trained musician in ancient vocal and/or music techniques. His job is to evoke and on that he delivers egregiously.

The album also informs the public that Christmas/Winter is not always the merriest of seasons. It can be long, hard, dark and drawn-out for many inhabitants of the Northern Hemisphere who do not lead privileged lives. Although I now live in the comfort of the States, I do remember the dark, cold mornings of my youth and the long, freezing, nights when a fire or charcoals were the only thing to warm up a room or a bed chamber, hey, and I've just turned forty, so that was not very long ago! People were cut off from travel, from doing chores properly, from gathering and it became a period of introspection and expectation and of survival as well. Firewood needed to be cut and last the season, food needed to be organized, since trips to the markets became difficult and sporadic at best, cars had to be primed for freezing temperatures and one could always get lost in mountain blizzards. Some died on occasion. Everything and everyone slowed down.
It is difficult to put into words the motions of one's existence in such circumstances, but Sting did it with this Album.
The mood, the music and the delivery is stark, rustic and haunting.

From the moment "Gabriel's Message" dissonant chords hit my CD player, this album became a winner.

What a Gem in a Winter's night. The Ancient, the Stories, the Longing, the Melancholy, the Remembrance, the Hope and the Meditation.
You'll find it here.
No Commercials.

Not for the easy peasy listner with no historical and ethnic music appreciation and not for the superbly professional perfectionist.