In 2006, Sting released an album called Songs from the Labyrinth, a colÂlabÂoÂraÂtion with BosnÂian lutenist Edin KaraÂmaÂzov conÂsistÂing mostÂly of comÂpoÂsiÂtions by RenaisÂsance comÂposÂer John DowÂland. This was regardÂed by some as rather eccenÂtric, but to lisÂtenÂers familÂiar with the earÂly music revival that had already been going on for a few decades, it would have been almost too obviÂous a choice. For DowÂland had long since been redisÂcovÂered as one of the late sixÂteenth and earÂly sevÂenÂteenth cenÂtuÂry’s musiÂcal superÂstars, thanks in part to the recordÂings of clasÂsiÂcal guiÂtarist and lutenist Julian Bream.
“When I was a kid, I went to the pubÂlic library in FairÂport, New York, where I’m from, and I got this Julian Bream record,” says music proÂducÂer and popÂuÂlar YoutuÂber Rick Beato (preÂviÂousÂly feaÂtured here on Open CulÂture) in the video above. Beato describes Bream as “one of the greatÂest clasÂsiÂcal guiÂtarists who ever lived” and credÂits him with havÂing “popÂuÂlarÂized the clasÂsiÂcal guiÂtar and the lute and renaisÂsance music.” The parÂticÂuÂlar Bream recordÂing that impressed the young Beato was of a John DowÂland comÂpoÂsiÂtion made exotÂic by disÂtance in time called “The Earl of Essex GalÂliard,” a perÂforÂmance of which you can watch on Youtube.
Half a cenÂtuÂry latÂer, BeatÂo’s enjoyÂment for this piece seems undiÂminÂished — and indeed, so much in eviÂdence that this pracÂtiÂcalÂly turns into a reacÂtion video. LisÂtenÂing gets him remÂiÂniscÂing about his earÂly DowÂland expeÂriÂences: “I would put on this Julian Bream record of him playÂing lute, just solo lute, and I would sit there and I would putt” — his father havÂing been golf enthuÂsiÂast enough to have installed a small indoor putting green — and “imagÂine livÂing back in the fifÂteen-hunÂdreds, what it would be like.” These preÂtend time-travÂel sesÂsions matured into a genÂuine interÂest in earÂly music, one he purÂsued at the New EngÂland ConÂserÂvaÂtoÂry of Music and beyond.
What a delight it would have been for him, then, to find that Sting had laid down his own verÂsion of “The Earl of Essex GalÂliard,” someÂtimes othÂerÂwise known as “Can She Excuse My Wrongs.” In one espeÂcialÂly strikÂing secÂtion, Sting takes “the sopraÂno-alto-tenor-bass part” and records the whole thing using only layÂers of his own voice: “there’s four Stings here,” Beato says, referÂring to the relÂeÂvant digÂiÂtalÂly manipÂuÂlatÂed scene in the music video, “but there’s actuÂalÂly more than four voicÂes.” Songs from the Labyrinth may only have been a modÂestÂly sucÂcessÂful album by Sting’s stanÂdards, but it has no doubt turned more than a few midÂdle-of-the-road pop fans onto the beauÂty of EngÂlish RenaisÂsance music. If BeatÂo’s enthuÂsiÂasm has also turned a few clasÂsic-rock addicts into John DowÂland conÂnoisÂseurs, so much the betÂter.
RelatÂed conÂtent:
The HisÂtoÂry of the GuiÂtar: See the EvoÂluÂtion of the GuiÂtar in 7 InstruÂments
Watch All of Vivaldi’s Four SeaÂsons PerÂformed on OrigÂiÂnal Baroque InstruÂments
Based in Seoul, ColÂin Marshall writes and broadÂcasts on cities, lanÂguage, and culÂture. His projects include the SubÂstack newsletÂter Books on Cities, the book The StateÂless City: a Walk through 21st-CenÂtuÂry Los AngeÂles and the video series The City in CinÂeÂma. FolÂlow him on TwitÂter at @colinmarshall or on FaceÂbook.