Sting Sings John Dowland

Posted by Sarah Canice Funke Oct 11, 2006

On October 8, the BBC aired English singer/songwriter Sting's performance of music by John Dowland (1563-1626), accompanied by lutist Edin Karamazov. You can catch his performance at the BBC's website for a limited time. Sting intersperses his performance with readings from John Dowland's personal letters and interviews relating his decisions to record Dowland's music and the similarities and differences between early music and rock music. In Sting's singing, one can hear the rough grain of a voice used more to singing in the rock genre. Yet given the purpose of Elizabethan lute songs (they were sung informally in the home), Sting notes that his untrained voice might just be very much in keeping with the period (even though it doesn't quite fit in the genre of classical music).

Could this be considered a third stream project? Probably not. At least, if it is a third stream project, then it is a very subtle one: the performance fits pretty squarely within classical music expectations. However, as noted already, one can detect faint traces of Sting's rock background.

What do you think? Should Sting record more early music?

Review of Songs from the Labyrinth.