Notes and Editorial Reviews
It probably was inevitable that Canadian countertenor Daniel Taylor at some point would undertake such repertoire, form-fitted to the sweet, lyrical timbre and tone of this gifted singer's instrument. (Alfred Deller and Andreas Scholl are two notable if very different countertenors who already have mined much of this same repertoire on their own superb recordings.) And good for him that he's teamed here with Sylvain Bergeron, one of the world's foremost masters of the lute and theorbo, who performs and records with such groups as La Nef and Les Violons du Roy. As his work on this recording shows, his playing exudes the kind of purity and naturalness we normally associate with the intimate expressiveness of a singer--and that's what makes
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him such a sensitive accompanist for vocalists. His interpretive decisions, often predominantly improvisatory, are unfailingly tasteful, always in tune with and never overshadowing his partner(s). Bergeron's full-bodied instrument makes a perfect match with Taylor's voice, recorded in the ideal acoustics of Dorian's favorite venue, the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall.
As for Taylor, his effortless legatos, seamless traversals from lowest to highest register, and his gentle-mannered phrasing establishes, sustains, indeed revels in, the melancholy themes of the songs. And I do mean melancholy. You've never heard "I will give my love an apple" in such a mournfully longing mood as here, with its modal melody and minor harmonic cast. The program proceeds from one song to the next almost without interruption, a continuous outpouring of one person's deeply felt emotions, sung to himself, to the moonlit night air, the trees, and to a distant, lost, unknowing lover. After five unrelentingly sad tracks, including a lute solo, the pace and mood temporarily picks up with Robert Jones' cautiously hopeful 17th-century tune "What if I seek for love of thee". But then, a return to what must be reality for this wounded soul as he sings the title song, also by Jones, which ends "Lie down and die, and then thou shalt do well." If this sounds like just too much of a "downer" or if you're just not into musical/poetic expressions of the "pain and sorrow" of love, beware of this disc. But those who can appreciate the bitter, poignant beauty of some of the repertoire's most simple and heartfelt expressions of universal human experience won't find truer or more sympathetic advocates than performers Taylor and Bergeron, and their (mostly anonymous) composer accomplices.
--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com Read less
Works on This Recording
1.
O waly, waly by Traditional
Performer:
Sylvain Bergeron (Lute),
Daniel Taylor (Countertenor)
Written: England
Date of Recording: 2000
Venue: Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY
Length: 4 Minutes 9 Secs.
Language: English
2.
I will give my love an apple by Traditional
Performer:
Daniel Taylor (Countertenor),
Sylvain Bergeron (Lute)
Date of Recording: 2000
Venue: Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY
Length: 2 Minutes 11 Secs.
Language: English
3.
Black is the color of my true love's hair by Traditional
Performer:
Sylvain Bergeron (Lute),
Daniel Taylor (Countertenor)
Date of Recording: 2000
Venue: Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY
Length: 5 Minutes 4 Secs.
Language: English
4.
The Isle of Aigas by Anonymous
Performer:
Sylvain Bergeron (Lute)
Date of Recording: 2000
Venue: Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY
Length: 2 Minutes 58 Secs.
5.
Mary, Young and Fair by Anonymous
Performer:
Sylvain Bergeron (Lute)
Date of Recording: 2000
Venue: Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY
Length: 1 Minutes 33 Secs.
6.
What if I seek for love of thee by Robert Jones
Performer:
Daniel Taylor (Countertenor),
Sylvain Bergeron (Lute)
Period: Renaissance
Written: England
Date of Recording: 2000
Venue: Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY
Length: 1 Minutes 47 Secs.
Language: English
7.
Lie down poor heart by Robert Jones
Performer:
Sylvain Bergeron (Lute),
Daniel Taylor (Countertenor)
Period: Renaissance
Written: England
Date of Recording: 2000
Venue: Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY
Length: 7 Minutes 28 Secs.
Language: English
8.
Say love if ever thou ditst find, D 58 by John Dowland
Performer:
Sylvain Bergeron (Lute),
Daniel Taylor (Countertenor)
Period: Renaissance
Written: 1603; England
Date of Recording: 2000
Venue: Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY
Length: 1 Minutes 20 Secs.
Language: English
9.
Second Booke of Songes or Ayres: no 3, Sorrow sorrow stay, lend true repentant teares by John Dowland
Performer:
Daniel Taylor (Countertenor),
Sylvain Bergeron (Lute)
Period: Renaissance
Written: 1600; England
Date of Recording: 2000
Venue: Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY
Length: 3 Minutes 56 Secs.
Language: English
10.
Second Booke of Songes or Ayres: no 1, I saw my lady weepe by John Dowland
Performer:
Daniel Taylor (Countertenor),
Sylvain Bergeron (Lute)
Period: Renaissance
Written: by 1600; England
Date of Recording: 2000
Venue: Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY
Length: 6 Minutes 37 Secs.
Language: English
11.
Never weather-beaten saile more willing bent to shore by Thomas Campion
Performer:
Daniel Taylor (Countertenor),
Sylvain Bergeron (Lute)
Period: Renaissance
Written: by 1613; England
Date of Recording: 2000
Venue: Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY
Length: 2 Minutes 29 Secs.
Language: English
12.
Prelude by Anonymous
Performer:
Sylvain Bergeron (Lute)
Date of Recording: 2000
Venue: Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY
Length: 0 Minutes 47 Secs.
13.
Courante for Lute by Anonymous
Performer:
Sylvain Bergeron (Lute)
Period: Renaissance
Written: by 1623; Bohemia
Date of Recording: 2000
Venue: Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY
Length: 1 Minutes 14 Secs.
14.
La Coranto by Anonymous
Performer:
Sylvain Bergeron (Lute)
Period: Renaissance
Written: England
Date of Recording: 2000
Venue: Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY
Length: 2 Minutes 6 Secs.
15.
The three ravens by Traditional
Performer:
Daniel Taylor (Countertenor),
Sylvain Bergeron (Lute)
Period: Baroque
Written: England
Date of Recording: 2000
Venue: Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY
Length: 2 Minutes 58 Secs.
Language: English
16.
Howm againe Markget is done by Anonymous
Performer:
Sylvain Bergeron (Lute)
Date of Recording: 2000
Venue: Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY
Length: 1 Minutes 43 Secs.
17.
Joane to the may pole by Anonymous
Performer:
Sylvain Bergeron (Lute)
Date of Recording: 2000
Venue: Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY
Length: 2 Minutes 3 Secs.
18.
Down by the Salley Gardens by Traditional
Performer:
Sylvain Bergeron (Lute),
Daniel Taylor (Countertenor)
Written: Ireland
Date of Recording: 2000
Venue: Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY
Length: 3 Minutes 15 Secs.
Language: English
19.
Variations on the Scottish air by Turlough O'Carolan
Performer:
Sylvain Bergeron (Lute)
Period: Baroque
Date of Recording: 2000
Venue: Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY
Length: 4 Minutes 9 Secs.
20.
Greensleeves by Traditional
Performer:
Daniel Taylor (Countertenor),
Sylvain Bergeron (Lute)
Period: Renaissance
Written: 16th Century; England
Date of Recording: 2000
Venue: Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY
Length: 2 Minutes 56 Secs.
Language: English
21.
The foggy, foggy dew by Traditional
Performer:
Sylvain Bergeron (Lute),
Daniel Taylor (Countertenor)
Written: England
Date of Recording: 2000
Venue: Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY
Length: 2 Minutes 40 Secs.
Language: English
22.
The fairy masque by Robert Johnson
Performer:
Sylvain Bergeron (Lute)
Period: Renaissance
Date of Recording: 2000
Venue: Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY
Length: 2 Minutes 38 Secs.
23.
Cuperaree by John Coprario
Performer:
Sylvain Bergeron (Lute)
Period: Renaissance
Date of Recording: 2000
Venue: Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY
Length: 2 Minutes 28 Secs.
24.
The English Dancing Master: Gray's Inn Mask by John Playford
Performer:
Sylvain Bergeron (Lute)
Period: Baroque
Written: by 1651; England
Date of Recording: 2000
Venue: Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY
Length: 1 Minutes 32 Secs.
Sound Samples
I will give my love an apple
Black is the Colour (Of My True Love's Hair)
What if I seek for love of thee?: What if I Seek for Love of Thee?
Lie down, poor heart: Lie Down, Poor Heart
Book of Songs, Book 3: Say, Love, if ever thou didst find
Book of Songs, Book 2: Sorrow, stay, lend true repentant tears
Book of Songs, Book 2: I saw my lady weep
Bookes of Ayres, Book 2: Never Weather-beaten Saile More Willing Bent to Shore: Never weather-beaten saile more willing bent to shore
2 Masque Dances: No. 1. Cuperaree or Grayes inn
Home Again, Market is Done
Down by the Salley Gardens
Variations on the Scottish Air
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