Dowland: Lute Works
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: John Dowland
Label: Astrée
Magazine Review Date: 11/1988
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 55
Mastering:
ADD
Catalogue Number: E7715
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Pavans, Movement: Semper Dowland Semper Dolens, P9 |
John Dowland, Composer
John Dowland, Composer Paul O'Dette, Lute |
| Pavans, Movement: Sir John Langton his Pauin, P14 |
John Dowland, Composer
John Dowland, Composer Paul O'Dette, Lute |
| Pavans, Movement: Lachrimae, P15 |
John Dowland, Composer
John Dowland, Composer Paul O'Dette, Lute |
| Pavans, Movement: La mia Barbara, P95 (Schele MS) |
John Dowland, Composer
John Dowland, Composer Paul O'Dette, Lute |
| Galliards, Movement: Galliard (upon 'Walsingham'), P31 |
John Dowland, Composer
John Dowland, Composer Paul O'Dette, Lute |
| Galliards, Movement: K. Darcyes Galliard, P41 |
John Dowland, Composer
John Dowland, Composer Paul O'Dette, Lute |
| Galliards, Movement: The Right Honourable Lady Rich, her Galliard, P43 |
John Dowland, Composer
John Dowland, Composer Paul O'Dette, Lute |
| Galliards, Movement: The Right Honourable the Lady Cliftons Spirit, P45 |
John Dowland, Composer
John Dowland, Composer Paul O'Dette, Lute |
| Galliards, Movement: Galliard to Lachrimae, P46 |
John Dowland, Composer
John Dowland, Composer Paul O'Dette, Lute |
| Jigs, Corantos, Toys, etc, Movement: Mistris Winters Jumpe, P55 |
John Dowland, Composer
John Dowland, Composer Paul O'Dette, Lute |
| Jigs, Corantos, Toys, etc, Movement: Mrs Whites Nothing, P56 |
John Dowland, Composer
John Dowland, Composer Paul O'Dette, Lute |
| Jigs, Corantos, Toys, etc, Movement: The Shomakers Wife a Toy, P58 |
John Dowland, Composer
John Dowland, Composer Paul O'Dette, Lute |
| Settings of Ballads and Other Popular Tunes, Movement: Walsingham, P67 |
John Dowland, Composer
John Dowland, Composer Paul O'Dette, Lute |
| Settings of Ballads and Other Popular Tunes, Movement: The George Aloe, P68 |
John Dowland, Composer
John Dowland, Composer Paul O'Dette, Lute |
| Fantasies and Other Contrapuntal Pieces, Movement: Fantasie, P1 |
John Dowland, Composer
John Dowland, Composer Paul O'Dette, Lute |
| Fantasies and Other Contrapuntal Pieces, Movement: Farwell, P3 |
John Dowland, Composer
John Dowland, Composer Paul O'Dette, Lute |
| Fantasies and Other Contrapuntal Pieces, Movement: Fantasie in G minor, P6 |
John Dowland, Composer
John Dowland, Composer Paul O'Dette, Lute |
| Almains, Movement: Mistris Whittes thinge, P50 |
John Dowland, Composer
John Dowland, Composer Paul O'Dette, Lute |
Author: John Duarte
The monumental L'Oiseau-Lyre recording (nla) of Dowland's entire lute oeuvre—about 100 pieces—was divided amongst five players, none of them O'Dette, and was enthusiastically received by Denis Arnold, particularly for its revelation of Dowland as a compositional ''giant'' in his fantasia-form works. Julian Bream has been his most loyal and effectiveally on record and O'Dette has devoted half of a fine Nonesuch LP (also nla) to eight of his works; little other sustained effort has however been made. For more than a decade O'Dette has been recognized as 'the fastest lute in the west' but he is equally a fastidious scholar who scrutinizes the function of every note in a piece, a fact that is as clear as are his contrapuntal lines. The years have mellowed him and he now considers seriously the question 'I can—but should I?', as is evident in rather slower tempos, and he has acquired an expressive rubato that does not desert the pulse- in short, he has developed a high degree of sensitivity which, together with his technical mastery, makes him the 'compleat lutenist'.
There is an extant version of the famous Fantasie which carries more ornaments than most Christmas trees, but O'Dette has elected to play the 'cleaner' one fromA Varietie of Lute-Lessons, adding a few graces of his own en route, whereas in recording The King of Denmark, his Galliard on his LP he made the opposite choice. He does add a few discreet ornaments in other pieces, carefully matching them in any imitations, and only in Mistris Whittes thinge does he add elaborately decorated divisions, presumably his own. Diana Poulton doubts that La Mia Barbara is the work of Dowland but it s ill makes pleasant listening. Denis Arnold was right to comment, that had Dowland composed for the piano he would have been known to everyone; this magnificent recording, added to those of Bream, smooths the path from ignorance to bliss. The recording itself is a model of realism.'
There is an extant version of the famous Fantasie which carries more ornaments than most Christmas trees, but O'Dette has elected to play the 'cleaner' one from
Dowland: Lute Works
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