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Track(s) taken from CDA68007

Say, Love, if ever thou didst find

composer
1603; The Third and Last Booke of Songs and Aires, London
author of text

Iestyn Davies (countertenor), Thomas Dunford (lute)
Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
CD-Quality:
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Recording details: April 2013
Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk, United Kingdom
Produced by Adrian Peacock
Engineered by David Hinitt
Release date: April 2014
Total duration: 2 minutes 1 seconds

Cover artwork: A Young Student in his Study, or The Smoker (c1630-33). Pieter Codde (1599-1678)
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lille / Bridgeman Images
 

Other recordings available for download

Mark Padmore (tenor), Elizabeth Kenny (lute)
Ian Partridge (tenor), Jakob Lindberg (lute)
James Bowman (countertenor), David Miller (lute)

Reviews

‘A song recital disc from the English countertenor of the moment … the main strength of Iestyn Davies’s singing lies in its straightforward lyrical beauty, certainly a sound fit for Dowland’s classic melodic grace. When his songs are performed as purely musically as this, the battle is already half-won, and indeed Davies seems to see no need for overdeliberate interpretation. His diction is clear (impressively quick in ‘Can she excuse?’) but his phrases are touched by naturalness … Davies’s accompanist is Thomas Dunford, a lutenist still in his twenties but already making people notice him with his strongly projected resonant tone, wide range of touch and dynamic, and effortlessly attentive musicianship. His five solos are a strong plus; ‘Lachrimae’ and ‘Fortune my foe’ are both seriously slow and free. This is Dowland to treasure’ (Gramophone)

‘Sophistication and refinement inform every note of lestyn Davies and Thomas Dunford’s recital, which moves from Jacobean blockbusters such as In darkness let me dwell and Flow, my tears to the complex poetry of Time stands still. Nothing is taken for granted. I saw my lady weep is delivered with chilly hauteur, in contrast with the hot emotionalism of All ye whom Love or Fortune hath betrayed and Burst forth, my tears, and a luxuriously slow Lachrimae. Most striking is the urgency of Can she excuse my wrongs? and rhythmic flexibility in Come again, sweet love doth now invite’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More
PERFORMANCE
RECORDING

‘Iestyn Davies's voice is clear, full and plangent, with crisp diction and unassuming eloquence. (These are qualities the young lutenist Thomas Dunford has, too.) Mr. Davies saves the best for last on this disc of Dowland songs: a wrenching rendition of Now, oh now I needs must part’ (The New York Times)» More
The image of the moon is common to songs that touch on the symbol of the Virgin Queen (constant yet ever-changing). Whether or not Elizabeth’s razor-sharp intellect would have been taken in by the extravagance of Say, Love, if ever thou didst find (‘Say, Love, if ever thou didst find/A woman with a constant mind?’), it is a wonderful song.

from notes by Elizabeth Kenny © 2008

L’image de la lune est courante dans les songs touchant au symbole de la Virgin Queen (constante et néanmoins toujours changeante). Que la vive intelligence d’Élisabeth ait ou non été saisie par l’extravagance de Say, Love, if ever thou didst find? («Say, Love, if ever thou didst find/A woman with a constant mind?», «Dis, Amour, si tu as jamais rencontré/une femme à l’esprit constant?»), c’est là un merveilleux song.

extrait des notes rédigées par Elizabeth Kenny © 2008
Français: Hypérion

Das Bild des Mondes kommt häufig in Liedern vor, die sich mit dem Symbol der jungfräulichen Königin befassen (beständig, doch im ständigen Wandel). Ungeachtet, ob Elisabeths äußerst scharfsinniger Verstand von solchen Ausschweifungen wie Say, Love, if ever thou didst find („Geliebter, hast du je geseh’n/Beständigkeit bei Frauen schön?“) eingenommen wurde oder nicht, ist das ein wunderbares Lied.

aus dem Begleittext von Elizabeth Kenny © 2008
Deutsch: Elke Hockings

Other albums featuring this work

Dowland & Campion: It fell on a summer's day
CDH88011Download only
Dowland: Awake, sweet love
CDH55241Download only
Dowland: Lute Songs; Britten: Nocturnal
CDA67648
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