Complete Lute Music

Outrageous. I possess no less than THREE “complete” lute music by John Dowland sets! The number of cuts on each set is different, so I’m really not sure just what “complete” means. Let’s just say, it’s a lot of lute music. John Dowland was regarded as the greatest lutenist of his day. He published during his life 4 collections of songs and several collections of consort pieces. For some reason, he did not publish very much of his lute music, that which he is most famous for. Apparently he planned to, but never got around to it. When he died what was available was distributed among several collections published by others (including by his own son Robert Dowland), and in manuscripts (some without the composer’s name on them) scattered all over Europe. A mess which possibly never will be sorted out. Of the three recorded collections we have:1) Those originally on 5 LPs released as part of a complete Dowland edition in 1980. These featured 5 different lutenists — Anthony Bailes, Jakob Lindberg, Nigel North, Anthony Rooley, and Christopher Wilson. There are a total 92 items played. For whatever reason, I do not care much for these performances. They were last available as part of the 12-CD set ‘John Dowland: The Collected Works’ (on L’Oiseau-Lyre). In fact, I am not particularly happy with that entire set; perhaps it is just too much.2) The Paul O’Dette recordings (5-CDs recorded 1995-97 on Harmonia Mundi). Now, these are good! He plays 111 works, but 9 of them are not by Dowland and another 5 not part of the official catalog. Possibly the most comprehensive set as it includes stuff that is a maybe. Has a nice booklet, too. I would rank this as the gold standard of Dowland lute music.3) This set, played by Nigel North (4-CDs recorded 2004-07 on Naxos). Another most excellent set with 86 items (so, maybe not quite as complete as the others?).I would not want to choose between the O’Dette and North sets. Both are outstanding musically, though North may have a slight edge in audio quality. Either one.

The music of John Dowland essentially embodies the lute. An almost exact contemporary of Shakespeare, a life from the mid 16th to early 17th centuries, Dowland was a Renaissance lutenist. He performed on the lute, and wrote for the lute. His performing was the cream of the proverbial crop during this time period, and, as almost any of the original revolutionaries did on their own instruments, he wrote much of what he performed. Also, if you don't know what a lute is, think acoustic guitar with more strings, and that'll get you in the ball park.He's known primarily today for his melancholy songs, most of which were written and performed with lute accompaniment. Some of these he eventually turned into solo lute songs. Don't let that fool you into thinking that he couldn't write a happy tune, though, because the first song on the first disc of this CD comes right out of the gate with some excitement and joy, though he was the master of the slow thoughtful melody. This set includes all of his solo lute music. 95% of these songs are dance forms. Galliards, Pavanes, Almains (Allemandes), and a couple marches are all included as well as his 7 fantasies and solo lute songs.This music is not harmonically complex in the way that Brahms was. This is Renaissance music, it has a flow directed more by the line of the melody than the harmony supporting it. Do not get this if you're expecting to hear a Mahler symphony on the lute. This music is perfect though for those who love nothing more than listening to Bach's solo violin or cello works. Perfect for the person who loves to sit and listen to traditional folk dance music on a guitar, banjo or fiddle. These forms were almost all originally dance forms and on these CDs their origins are clear, if they tend to be slower dances.Nigel North is easily one of the world's best lutenists today. These performances are fantastic and do great justice to Dowland's music. Dowland was the peak of talent in his time, and I wouldn't be surprised if North is better than he was. You hear the music on these discs, and little if any extraneous noise that you sometimes hear on solo guitar work (I'd describe it better, except that I don't play a stringed instrument). He plays a period lute constructed exactly after the ones of Dowland's time and performs with period appropriate embellishments and style. For Dowland's music, there isn't any other request I could make. I haven't stopped listening to these CDs since I bought them a couple of weeks ago, and these aren't the only CDs of his I own.Feel free to look through the other reviews of these CDs as individually sold, last I looked every single review was a 5 star review. They are all well deserved. Also, speaking financially, you should purchase this set. NAXOS is a great label for cheap CDs, they tend to hover around $8 - $12 for single CDs, and when you've got these four discs for under $20, it's a deal. On a personal note, I find this music to be extremely relaxing and a great listen after a hard day's work.***Edit: Whatever the price is currently for this set, it was under $20 when I purchased it.

Nigel North performs perfect renditions of Dowland: every note and passage in exquisite time and attack. His style is relatively soft, romantic, and gentle compared to O'Dette's classical style and Julian Bream's more fiery, folk-like style. North is an amazingly precise performer, a first-class lutenist, but Dowland would have liked more fire and snap. His more outrageous performances were composed (at least according to records of the time) when he was fired or threatened because of his unstable nature, and composed pieces impossible to anyone else to make his case for continuance. Indeed some of his pieces are beyond difficult. My daughter and I used to do them as guitar duets, and even with two of us on a much easier instrument it was a piece of work. (Our duets were cut short when she met her future husband, and suddenly had more important things to do than play guitar with Daddy. They are still the happiest couple I know, 41 years later.) Anyway, I love this set and would love another set with the energy of the young Julian Bream but the precision and perfect noting of North.Dowland was very much a British composer. His music has the simple tunes and harmonies but difficult elaborations, runs, and variations of Celtic music (the British were once Celtic). None of the complex cross-rhythms, polyphonies, and other continental wonders of, say, William Byrd. Dowland's spirit lives in modern Scottish fiddling, where "drivin' it" is an ideal: getting into a state of flow where intense, dynamic, perfectly performed music just happens, with the conscious mind of the fiddler almost lost in the music. I think Dowland would have thoroughly appreciated that.

This is a four disc set for hours of enjoyment of Dowland's works. Relaxing and calming for me. I am sure others could speak more to the technical merits of the recording itself and of the talents of Nigel North, but to me it's just beautiful and I'm going to really enjoy listening for many years to come.

Excelente relación calidad precio, una música relajante y elegante, buena interpretación y grabación!

Il cofanetto raccoglie quattro cd usciti come volumi singoli e contenenti l'opera omnia del supremo maestro britannico, forse d'origine irlandese, John Dowland (1563-1626). Ottima l'incisione ed altrettanto l'esecuzione, grazie anche alla bellezza dei brani originali. Prezzo estremamente economico che non tocca punto la qualità tecnica della riproduzione. Esistono almeno tre altri lavori di altrettanti esperti suonatori di liuto ma questo dell'inglese Nigel North probabilmente li supera in sensibilità e per il gusto dell'interpretazione. In ogni caso, provare per credere: messo nel lettore il primo supporto digitale è poi difficile trattenersi dal continuare con il resto!

Un superbe coffret.

演奏、録音言うことなし。良すぎる!