BRAVO, Stewart !!! Just the perfect words...
Thanks, Ariel. > Dear Rick and Paul, > > Thank you for your common-sense contributions. The Sting thread has > aroused many passions. I am inclined to think that many of the > contributions have been sent in by a load of fuddy-duddies. I am > reminded of my old school chaplain, who disliked the Beatles, and > seemed to resent their popularity. When I told him that I liked > their music, he was aghast. "What sort of voices do they have? Are > they tenors?" he asked scathingly. It was the wrong question. They > weren't tenors. To be a tenor, meant singing classical music with a > trained voice. The Beatles did something else, and it was a mistake > on the chaplain's part to try to judge them by inappropriate > criteria. > > So it is with many of the critical comments levelled against Sting. > If we expect him to sound like Emma Kirkby, we shall be > disappointed. He sings Dowland his own way. His performance of "Can > she excuse my wrongs" has excitement and passion. The out-of-tune > notes may grate on our refined ears, but at least they are sung with > committment. It is an angry, passionate song, supposedly about the > Earl of Essex' unrequited love for Queen Elizabeth. How many times > have I heard it sung beautifully by an angelic voice, perfectly in > tune, and with no more fire than a damp squib: in tune, but utterly > flat? > > Does HIP matter? Is it a sine qua non? Is Sting trying to promulgate > a historically informed performance? Probably not. He has his own > agenda. The irony of it all is, his performance is as likely to be > as HIP as any other. How do we know Dowland and his contemporaries > didn't sing that way? > > Much has been said in criticism of Karamazov, the lutenist. For me, > his performance is also exciting, and I am impressed by the > spectacular divisions at the end of the sound clip. His great crime > seems to be performing Dowland on an archlute, and with single > strings. My Goodness! How could he do such a thing? Wherever was he > brought up? Yet, as one who has played the music of Francesco da > Milano on an 8-course lute with nylgut strings, I would hesitate to > throw the first HIP stone. > > For me, the big mistake is having the microphones too close to the > performers. If that is the sound they are after, good luck to them, > but I suspect it was imposed on them by a sound engineer unfamiliar > with lutes. If the mike is too close, it will capture that harsh, > brittle sound you get when you have your ears right up to the lute > ribs. Ideally the mikes should be some distance away, where they are > more likely to capture the sound a listener would normally hear from > an accoustic instrument. > > Best wishes, > > Stewart McCoy. > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Lindberg Richard-MGIA0539" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "Paul Pleijsier" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu> > Sent: Monday, September 25, 2006 9:59 PM > Subject: *** SPAM *** [LUTE] Re: Single strung archlute !!! > > >> My feelings exactly. I think it is pretty cool for a pop musician > to try >> anything like this whether it's historically accurate or not. At > least >> John Dowland's music will be brought to a new audience if nothing > else. >> Who knows what additonal interest that will pique. >> >> Rick >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Paul Pleijsier [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >> Sent: Monday, September 25, 2006 4:26 PM >> To: lute@cs.dartmouth.edu >> Subject: [LUTE] Re: Single strung archlute !!! >> >> > If the CD sounds anything like what you can hear at Amazon then > it >> > must go down as one of the worst lute recordings of all times. > What >> > are those amazingly loud string noises ? >> >> Please try to see what it really is: a fantasy performing style, > pop >> influenced, though not standard Sting-pop, with a poppy use of the >> studio, exaggerating string noise, compression etc., trying to > find the >> missing link between lute playing and modern pyrotechnics. Let's > give >> Sting and his luter the thumbs up for trying something different. >> >> PP > > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >
