Customer Reviews

The Journey & The Labyrinth: The Music of John Dowland (DVD & CD)

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I've listened to Sting's latest album: "Songs from the Labyrinth" comprised of some 23 songs by John Dowland; interesting choice for a rocker I always felt could be the reincarnation of a medieval troubadour.

Those who would complain about lack of authenticity should be reminded that there were no opera singers in Dowland's time. Sting's voice, in all reality, is probably far closer to how these songs were sung than how we more typically - but incorrectly - hear them today by "trained" voices.

Now the review: Bloody marvelous! Aside from a moment or two of vocal quirkiness (exaggerated by microphone) it is evident from the onset Sting clearly loves this music. He shows himself to be thoroughly comfortable with the style the music's melissmas and leaps presenting no difficulties, and using his sometimes ravaged voice to telling effect wedding all, hauntingly so, Dowland's sometimes overwrought and sentimental lyrics. Accompanying him on lute, and spectacularly, is Edin Karamazov whose brilliant playing makes the instrument sound like an entire medieval band. Karamazov gets to shine on several solo numbers, including a dazzlingly difficult Galliard which threatens to take your breath away. It very nearly did mine.

Certain songs will stick in the memory, particularly the more heart-aching ones "Flow my tears" and my personal favorite here, "Have you seen the bright Lily grow." It is in these numbers where Sting, Karamazov and Dowland all seem to flow from one purpose, one entity and, after four centuries, the timelessness of song reveals itself as relevant now as it ever was.

Added to the CD is now the PBS documentary/concert which is equally stunning:

I, predictably, was captivated by it. I would have preferred a longer, more in depth concert, but what was offered up was pretty impressive. Several Dowland scholars discussed the phenomenon that was John Dowland, how virtually nothing about his origins have ever been discovered, and how he just sort of "showed up" in history - almost fully formed as a musician from nowhere.

The songs were presented both live in a concert at St. Lukes in London, as well as "video" formats, e.g., Sting in his garden; Sting times 4 sitting around a "madrigal table" singing harmonies with himself (and rather well might I add), parlours, and walks around his famous "Labyrinth."

For the "House & Garden" set there is plenty of footage of Sting's GORGEOUS homes: the 16th Century Lake House in Wiltshire, and the 2000 year old gardens of his casa d'Italia, Il Palagio.

A pleasant surprise from one of rock's finest artists who's still setting challenges for himself: Bravo!

When I was younger, I went on a wine-appreciation course. The first thing I was told was: "Don't let snobs dictate your taste to you: if you like chilled red wine with fish, *drink* chilled red wine with fish!"

Over the years, I have found this to be good advice, and not just about wine.

70 years ago, Andrés Segovia played the Bach Chaconne for the first time in Paris. He said "I could measure my success by the rage of the violinists." But the guitarists didn't care. Nowadays Bach on the guitar is commonplace.

50 years ago, lutenists criticised Julian Bream for playing their instrument like a guitar. He said "It's my job to blow the dust off these things."

It always miffs insiders when an outsider comes along and brings their speciality to a new audience, even though they may publicly applaud him for doing so: it will be a lucky outsider who doesn't get stick for not doing things the "correct" way.

So the Amazon (and other) reviewers of "Songs from the Labyrinth" fall (for the most part) into two camps: Early Music buffs, and Sting fans. As I joined the Lute Society in 1973, and reviewed Early Music for several years, I suppose I must be considered to fall more into the former category than the latter.

But, it seems to me that all the discussion of "authenticity", impassioned and learnèd though it may be, is irrelevant. The only important questions are: Has the performer made a serious attempt to understand what's going on in the music? and Does he bring something fresh to it?

In Sting's case, the answer is clearly Yes to both. And that said, the only other thing of importance is whether you like the result.

I do like it, and I'm glad to see I'm not alone, even among us old fogeys. And with music samples and now video samples available on-line, you don't have to play guessing games to know whether you will too.

THE DVD

Over and above the value of the music, the DVD is very well put together. There are songs, lute music, anecdotes and historical discussions, all skilfully and entertainingly intercut, and each complete in itself but not so long that the attention of the newcomer will start to wander. You can see Edin trying not to laugh when Tony Rooley and David Pinto almost get into an argument. And the whole thing is visually gorgeous. My favourite bit is where Sting fissions into four and sings a quartet with himself, sitting around a table.

By the way, there are a couple of "in" jokes that may go over the heads of those new to this music:

Sting ribs Edin about giving him the hard part in the anonymous lute duet "Le Rossignol"; in fact, the two parts are virtually identical, one being an echo of the other, merely four bars "out of phase".

More subtle is the somewhat unexpected appearance of "Hellhound on my Trail", which is of course by the noted blues singer Robert Johnson murdered in 1938 (but somehow copyright 1990, it says here). Another Robert Johnson, also a lutenist (and son of that John Johnson whose vacated position Dowland failed to secure at the court of Elizabeth I), was one of Dowland's colleagues at the court of James I. He was the composer of "Have You Seen the Bright Lily Grow", so the DVD contains works by two different Robert Johnsons.

Lutenists will be interested to note that Edin Karamazov plays (right hand) thumb under, although Dowland himself switched in mid-life from thumb-under to thumb-over -- presumably for what seemed to him to be good reasons. He is clearly a fine player with a great deal of facility, but I feel obliged to say that his Dowland Fantasy (P. 6, for those that are interested) seems to me a bit of a mess. Don't take my word for it; you already know Anthony Rooley, and his version is on Renaissance Fantasias. It's also on disc 8 of his mammoth 12-disc set, with his wife (the famous singer Emma Kirkby) and The Consort of Musicke: Dowland -- The Collected Works. Here are some more versions for comparison:

Christopher Wilson: Rosa
Julian Bream: Lute Music from the Royal Courts of Europe
Jakob Lindberg: Dowland -- Complete Solo Lute Music


WHERE TO GO FROM HERE

The person who spearheaded the revival of interest in Dowland, and the lute in general, was Julian Bream. No one ever breathed more life into this music, and if you're new to the lute, you can't go wrong with his recordings, many of which are still available.

On the other hand, if Sting is your thing, Bream's Dowland songs with Sir Peter Pears are unlikely to be. Nevertheless, you can hear them on Heavenly Love, Earthly Joy.

Of Bream's successors, one of his personal favourites certainly seems to be Nigel North: you can read his glowing tribute on Nigel's website.

The complete lute music is available from Jakob Lindberg (mentioned above) and from Paul O'Dette (Complete Lute Works -- also as individual discs), two of my personal favourite players*. If you liked "Le Rossignol", you will certainly enjoy them together on English Lute Duets.

The acknowledged authority on Dowland in her day was the late Diana Poulton. She is the author of the standard biography (John Dowland), and also editor of the Collected Lute Music.

*Update 2009: to these we may now add the 4-CD set by Nigel North.

THE LUTE

Lute sales have quadrupled, says the Lute Society. If you're thinking "well, I can play the guitar: how hard can the lute be?", think again. By all means take it up, but it's a *very* different instrument!

The British and American Lute Societies can both be found on line.

And now my 1,000 words are up. Good hunting!

I was so excited to get my Journey & The Labyrinth DVD the other day I opened and watched it immediatly. It is such a beautiful program that I was even amazed. Most DVD's are disappointing when it comes to music. But this one is not only wonderful it is a history lesson about John Dowland , Sting and Edin Karamozov's lovely Journey together. Some of us have deemed Sting and Edin The Odd Couple,because it was a most unlikely collaboration. I am glad they did this project. I think it is one of the most brave and beautiful projects Sting has ever done.Sting just keeps getting better and better at singing these beautiful songs full of melancholy. A lot of scenes were shot at Lake House near Wiltshire, England and Il Palagio in Tuscany , Sting's main homes.
This music does not appeal to everyone but if you have ever listened to a Madrigals concert or sang in one you will love these songs. Sting is ever the school teacher in this venture and you can tell he is enjoying it. The album Songs From The Labyrinth has stayed #1 on the Classical charts for quite some time. This is truly a 16th Century history lesson.Two experts on John Dowland discuss this 16th Century composer along with Sting and Edin. Absolutely beautiful DVD. This program will also be aired on PBS stations on February 26th. Check your local listings.

Just a warning, it may not be obvious from the packaging or the reviews here that the audio CD that accompanies this DVD contains just 8-9 tracks. It is not the same as the original album "Songs from the Labyrinth" that has 23 or 24 tracks! The DVD is very cool, but I wished I had noticed that the music CD was not the full original before I took the packaging off (and the brick-and-mortar retail store would not accept it back for exchange!).

It seems at first like Sting really stretched on this one, but if you're a dedicated fan, you'll see that his career has been leading here all along. Think of "St. Agnes and the Burning Train" on his "Soul Cages" CD. The four-hundred-year-old music of John Dowland is haunting, and Sting brings it to vibrant life with reverence and enthusiasm. Listen, and you'll be drawn into an older world that at times feels surprisingly familiar, a world of love with all it's faces, melencholy, religious persecution, and career ambition. The DVD was filmed at Sting's personal residences, and if you love atmosphere, it's all here. I recommend the DVD over the CD alone, because the images of Sting singing in those beautiful surroundings help overcome the cultural difference for those who have never heard music like this before. Also, you'll get to hear "Message in a bottle," arranged for the lute on this one, recorded on the companion CD.

I find it very fascinating when pop artists delve into other genre's of music, particularly what's considered classical. It's encouraging when they take the time to seriously study a specific style of music and/or composer and do it to the best of his/her abilities. Sting does exactly that on this album.

I was flipping through the television stations one evening in March, 2007 and by happenstance, came across the PBS documentary, which is included on the DVD in this set. As a school music teacher, I could see the potential of using this in the classroom as a mechanism to show what the 16th-century madrigal sounds like, as well as show the versatility of a good musician.

In a nutshell, this two disc set takes you on a journey as Sting explores the music of British composer John Dowland (1563-1626). He is accompanied on lute by the brilliant Edin Karamazov, a native of Serbia. Sting openly admits on the DVD that learning to sing this style of music and play it on the lute was quite challenging. I didn't expect him to sound like Placido Domingo and he doesn't. If that's what you're looking for, you'll be disappointed. Sting sounds like himself which, actually, may be more authentic sounding for the period. The lute playing by Mr. Karamazov is impressive, moving up and down the fingerboard with facility. The advantage of watching the DVD is that Sting goes into a bit of history on the lute, the construction of how they're made and the difficulty in playing the instrument.

At the time I bought this set, I didn't realize that there is also a separate audio CD with 23-24 song on it. If you really want to experience Sting's interpretation, I would suggest starting with this set. I like Sting's music, but not enough to purchase the second CD; however, you just might. Give this one a try and see what you think. Happy listening.

I'm an early music fan. I also love the work of John Dowland, have lived in Denmark, and visited the castle of King Christian IV where Dowland spent an unhappy time. I resisted having anything to do with this DVD/CD at first, until the PBS presentation that showed Sting at his castle in the U.K. with the amazing lute player. Now I tell all my early-music friends that, yes, the CD is good, but the DVD is better! It's not what we've been used to hearing, but it's an interesting and world-view-expanding experience to see and hear what Sting has done. Now, I'm buying it for all my friends who are Sting fans who would never listen to early music!

I have been a Sting/Police fan since my youth, and I have to admit - I was very skeptical when I first heard about this latest venture from Sting. After hearing some of the tracks, the disc began to grow on me. The DVD is the highlight here. Beautifully photographed, and intelligently produced. The performances in and around Sting's Tuscan villa are breathtaking. The live performances are nice as well. Very little was known about this John Dowland man, but he seems to have been quite the character. I'm glad I added this to my collection.

I thoroughly enjoyed this CD. I hadn't sought out recorded versions of Dowland, even though I've read his poetry and seen him alluded to in many novels, movies, interviews. Watching this DVD, one is struck by one thing in particular of significance - that Sting loves these songs, and takes great joy in performing them. Here is Sting singing songs without his standard edginess and anger - and its a delightful diversion because of that. I wish more artists would take this kind of risk - its a lot more interesting when they let us see them stretching their creative boundaries. Thank you Sting!

Dvd was So enjoyable. Let me relive a visit to Durham Cathedral. Also the quality of sound was excellent on both the CD and DVD. Sting and group are tops in shedding some light on Elizabethan music. I may find another for a gift.