20 Fall 2006 Early Music America

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Sting Sings DowlandTHE SONG IS SO MAGICAL that it blew

me away when I first heard it.There is simply no precedent for thissong. It exists completely alone, and Ilove singing it.” The song is John Dow-land’s “In Darkness Let Me Dwell,” andthe singer is Sting. That’s right, Sting,who, as a member of The Police and asa successful solo artist, has made dozensof pop and rock CDs. And now forsomething completely different: Stingand lutenist Edin Karamazov have justreleased Songs from the Labyrinth, arecording of Dowland songs, on theDeutsche Grammophon record label.“The songs of John Dowland have

been haunting me for over 20 years,”says the singer. Sting’s first taste ofDowland came after a 1982 AmnestyInternational benefit concert. The Eng-lish actor John Bird mentioned the com-poser, and the seed was planted. Stingremembers, “The next day I wasintrigued enough to seek out a recordingof Dowland’s songs performed by PeterPears, with Julian Bream on lute.” Heappreciated the beauty of Dowland’s artbut did not see himself performing thesongs.A decade later, Sting’s friend, the

concert pianist Katia Labèque, suggest-ed he rethink that position. She coachedhim on three songs that he performed atinformal musical soirées. Time passed,and Sting’s long-time colleague, rockguitarist Dominic Miller, stepped intothe picture. “Dominic commissionedthe instrument-maker Klaus Jacobsen tomake a nine-course lute for me,” saysSting. Of course, it’s one thing to have the

instrument, another to play it. Millerintroduced Sting to the Sarajevo-bornlutenist Edin Karamazov after one oftheir Frankfurt shows. Karamazovplayed Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D

minor, a jaw-dropping moment. Sting,Miller, and Karamazov spent an intensehour talking about music. Karamazovremembers the moment: “I played forhim, and I think Sting believes ininstinct and felt that we had somethingin common, something to share. Hesaid, ‘Let’s do something together.’ Thefirst person I thought of was JohnDowland.” “Edin’s rather a mystical character,

like someone out of another era,” saysSting. “He has a successful concertcareer, but he also plays on the street inDubrovnik when he feels like it. He’snot of this time. He’s absolutely pas-sionate about the music and driven todo things that are refreshing and new.As soon as I met him, I knew that thiswas the time for this catalog of songs,which had been haunting me for solong.” He continues, “I immersed myself in

Dowland for two years, but it was neverplanned as a recording until the lastminute. It was basically a labor of love.”

In addition to studying lute withKaramazov, Sting studied Karamazov’srecordings. “Edin had recorded with thecountertenor Andreas Scholl. I was veryinterested in the record they madetogether because Edin was playing andbecause, at the time, it was the latestrecording of Dowland songs. I listenedto it very closely and respected itimmensely. “As a matter of fact, I listened to a

lot of Dowland recordings and felt thatI couldn’t compete with that style butalso thought that maybe there wassomething I could do in my own stylethat would be relevant, respectful, andnew.”Respecting the past included taking

singing lessons. “I wanted someonefrom the serious music side to adviseme about breath and where to breathe,

The British rock star talks about his fascination with the music of the great Elizabethan lutenist

PHOTO

: KASS

KAKA/D

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Former lead singer of The Police, Sting (left) has collaborated with lutenist EdinKaramazov (right) on an album of music byJohn Dowland and readings, to be releasedby Deutsche Grammophone in October.

Early Music America Fall 2006 21

so I spoke with Richard Levitt of theSchola Cantorum in Basel,” Sting says.“I have good breath control, but occa-sionally I might make a decision aboutwhere to breathe that might make non-sense of the lyrics. I needed someonewith the discipline to say, ‘You shouldbreathe there, at the end of this line,where the comma is and not where youthink it should be.’ I also had a problemwith diphthongs, so [Levitt] got me tosing them without whining. He taughtme about warming my voice, which issomething I don’t normally do. It was agreat help to have someone with thatknowledge and experience.”As Sting himself will tell you, his

recording is not what we’ve come tothink of as period Dowland perform-ance. “I’m not really interested in theconcept of purity in music,” he says.“You hear the phrase ‘music purist.’What does that mean? It smells of fun-damentalism, anti-progress. We’veevolved as a species by experimentingand synthesizing ideas, coming up withsomething new while at the same timerespecting the past and giving it its due. It will be interesting to take itsomewhere else.” But at the core is Sting’s fascination

with Dowland. “He pulls you into thecenter,” says the singer. “The more I lis-ten to the later songs, the more I realizeyou can’t really understand what he isdoing unless you accept that it’s a spiri-tual path for him and he is finding hisway towards whatever is next. He’ssinging very clearly about death – not a particularly common theme in popmusic.” He continues, “Dowland’s songs are

very economic, which is not to say sim-ple; they are complex songs, but there isan economy about them that is quitestaggering. There’s hardly any dressingup in them, nothing flowery. They arevery ascetic. He says a great deal with-out saying too much. He’s very pithy,and his musical ideas stand out like littlegems in the dark. I’d like to assimilatethat into my own work – being less verbose, less flowery.“He borrowed a lot of European

styles, but there is something very Eng-lish about them,” says Sting. “I’velearned a great deal by sitting in the

22 Fall 2006 Early Music America

room with [Dowland] and playing hisnotes, watching him make decisionsabout where the stuff goes, and recog-nizing motifs and his little tricks. It’sdazzling for the period, with an amazingsense of chromatic invention. Amazing-ly, he was one of the first popularartists, and his songs were produced fora mass market. Those songbooks foundtheir way into English homes and prob-ably some of those in the Americancolonies. He’s a comically itinerant musi-cian, like me; I feel a certain sympathywith him.”In addition to songs, the CD includes

lute solos played by Karama zov as wellas Sting joining Karamazov in theinstrumental duet “My Lord Willough-by’s Welcome Home.” “Sting is a naturalmusician,” Karamazov says. “During therecording session he came in with someof his own good ideas, wanting me toimprovise in some places. In workingwith him, I improved my own way ofplaying.”Perhaps what makes the recording

unique – as if Sting singing Dowlandisn’t enough – are a series of readexcerpts from a long letter that Dow-

land wrote to Queen Elizabeth I’s secretary of state, Sir Robert Cecil. “I was thinking people would hear

these songs without any knowledge ofthe period or the historical character,”says Sting. “People who are not earlymusic fans may not have ever heard ofDowland and might pick this record upout of curiosity. I wanted to give themthe context to understand the songs – a

kind of historical soundtrack. So wehave this rather paranoid letter whereDowland is trying to save his livelihoodand perhaps his life [Dowland was aCatholic during a time when that couldprove fatal] by speaking to the highestcourtier in the land during a time whenEngland was a police state. It has adrama to it that provides a kind ofambient context to the songs. I enjoyedreading the letters, and we improvisedsome music behind them – an experi-mental idea. It was doing this thatclinched the idea of making a record forme. I thought people would respond to

it, that it would make sense to them.”Sting continues to play his lute every

day. “As a bass player, I have some dis-advantages with it, but Edin has givenme great guidance, and I’ve played everynote that Dowland has written. Whetheryou’d want to pay money to hear that isanother issue, however.” Is there anoth-er early music recording in the future? “Iam very open to suggestions aboutwhere I should go further with this,”Sting says. “I’m rather interested in tak-ing what I’ve assimilated in this musicand making something new with it –and I don’t mean just adding drum beatsto it. I’m not quite sure where it couldarrive or what it could be, but it excitesme. I like to think that good work isnever wasted. Even if this never becamea record, it would have somehow bledinto my development as a musician.” “I’ve tried to bring audiences along

with me on my little journey,” Sting con-tinues. “For me, music is a spiritual pathand is about learning. I’m still a student.If I bring a certain percentage of peoplealong from The Police to my own workand now to a new place, like Dowland,then I feel my job is very satisfying. Iknow it’s not going to be a platinum-selling record on the top of the Bill-board charts. But who knows? You just don’t know what this music can do to people.” —Craig Zeichner

A letter from John Dowland to Robert Cecil,Earl of Salisbury, which Sting reads on his new album for Deutsche Grammophone,Songs from the Labyrinth. Letter printedcourtesy of the Marquess of Salisbury.

“If I bring a certain percentage of people along from

The Police to my own work and now to a new place, like Dowland, then I feel my job is very satisfying.”

– Sting

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• Winners in the 1999 EMA/Dorian Recording Competition• Featured performers at Regensburg Festival in 2000 and 2004• Ensemble in Residence at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

for over 15 years• Two CDs on Dorian Label: Renaissance en Provence &Baylado:

Journey into the heart of Spain• New programs: Song That Never Ends, Traditional song of Galicia

and Alta California: music of California circa mid-19th century• Now touring Renaissance en Provence and Baylado

For booking information contact:Thomas Gallant at MCM Music Management (845) 691-4960tpgallant@mcmartistsworldwide.com

You may purchase CDs by visiting www.terranovaconsort.com

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“Terrifically stylish and full of spirit...” —The Chicago Tribune

24 Fall 2006 Early Music America