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SOMM Recordings

Time Stands Still - Lute Songs by Dowland & Danyel

$20.99

Details

Composer
John Danyel, John Downland
Artist
Kieran White, Cedric Meyer
Format
CD
Label
SOMM Recordings
Released
Mar 27, 2026
Catalog #
SOMMCD 0718
UPC
748871071827

About

SOMM RECORDINGS celebrates the 400th anniversary of two Renaissance masters of the First Golden Age of English Song: John Dowland (1563-1626) and John Danyel (1564-1626). This recital for tenor and lute takes it's name from Dowland's song, Time Stands Still. The recording features British tenor Kieran White, who was a chorister at Wells Cathedral and held a Kohn Foundation Scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music. The Guardian has praised White's "pure, luminous tenor" and Opera Magazine his "extraordinary emotional clarity." He performs with long-time collaborator and friend, the Swiss-French lutenist Cédric Meyer, who holds two Master of Arts degrees and a postgraduate certificate with a specialisation in early music. Meyer plays here on his personally handcrafted eight-course Renaissance lute, based on an extant Italian lute from 1592. Lute songs, or "ayres," combine music and poetry to create songs that are filled with love, melancholy, and despair. John Dowland is acknowledged as the premier secular lute song composer of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, with a special affinity for melancholy. It was a distinction he relished, even punning on his own name in the lute solo Semper Dowland, semper dolens - Always Dowland, always doleful. Dowland's status as a god of early music enthusiasts is matched by his astute business sense. To prevent unscrupulous printers from distributing his work in pirated editions, Dowland preserved his music by publishing it himself. The lute songs on this recording come from The First Booke of Songes or Ayres, published in 1597; The Second Booke, 1600; The Third and Last Booke, 1603; and A Musicall Banquet, published by Dowland's son Robert in 1610. The texts are predominantly by anonymous authors. Unlike his enterprising publication of lute songs, Dowland never printed a definitive collection of his solo lute music. The four lute solos recorded here come from varying sources, with the result that not all can be definitively attributed. Nevertheless, the solo instrumental pieces offer a taste of the highly refined art of lute playing at the turn of the 17th century. Dowland's superstar reputation is diametrically opposed to that of his exact contemporary, John Danyel, whose vocal music survives in a single, slender volume, First Booke of Songes or Ayres-twenty-one songs for the lute, viol, and voice-published in 1606. Danyel seems to have come from a wealthy family. He graduated from Oxford, served as a tutor and court musician, and his privacy could well have been by choice. Yet these few pieces that have survived illustrate the uniquely sensitive mind of a skilful composer. Despite being less prolific and remaining comparatively obscure, noted early music specialists consider every one of Danyel's extant works a masterpiece.

Tracklist 20 tracks

  1. 1 Book of Songs, Book 3: Time stands still 04:34
    Track
    1
    Title
    Book of Songs, Book 3: Time stands still
    Duration
    04:34
    Composer
    John Dowland
    Performer
    Kieran White, Cédric Meyer
  2. 2 Prelude, P. 98 01:38
    Track
    2
    Title
    Prelude, P. 98
    Duration
    01:38
    Composer
    John Dowland
    Performer
    Cédric Meyer
  3. 3 Can she excuse my wrongs 02:53
    Track
    3
    Title
    Can she excuse my wrongs
    Duration
    02:53
    Composer
    John Dowland
    Performer
    Kieran White, Cédric Meyer
  4. 4 Come again, sweet love doth now invite 03:44
    Track
    4
    Title
    Come again, sweet love doth now invite
    Duration
    03:44
    Composer
    John Dowland
    Performer
    Kieran White, Cédric Meyer
  5. 5 Now, O now I needs must part 04:12
    Track
    5
    Title
    Now, O now I needs must part
    Duration
    04:12
    Composer
    John Dowland
    Performer
    Kieran White, Cédric Meyer
  6. 6 Come, heavy sleep 02:32
    Track
    6
    Title
    Come, heavy sleep
    Duration
    02:32
    Composer
    John Dowland
    Performer
    Kieran White, Cédric Meyer
  7. 7 Mr. Dowland's Midnight, P. 99 01:15
    Track
    7
    Title
    Mr. Dowland's Midnight, P. 99
    Duration
    01:15
    Composer
    John Dowland
    Performer
    Cédric Meyer
  8. 8 Book of Songs, Book 2: Flow, my tears, fall from your springs 04:39
    Track
    8
    Title
    Book of Songs, Book 2: Flow, my tears, fall from your springs
    Duration
    04:39
    Composer
    John Dowland
    Performer
    Kieran White, Cédric Meyer
  9. 9 A Fancy, P. 5 03:25
    Track
    9
    Title
    A Fancy, P. 5
    Duration
    03:25
    Composer
    John Dowland
    Performer
    Cédric Meyer
  10. 10 Far from triumphing court 04:18
    Track
    10
    Title
    Far from triumphing court
    Duration
    04:18
    Composer
    John Dowland
    Performer
    Kieran White, Cédric Meyer
  11. 11 In darkness let me dwell 04:01
    Track
    11
    Title
    In darkness let me dwell
    Duration
    04:01
    Composer
    John Dowland
    Performer
    Kieran White, Cédric Meyer
  12. 12 Fantasia in G Major, P. 73, "Tremolo" 04:33
    Track
    12
    Title
    Fantasia in G Major, P. 73, "Tremolo"
    Duration
    04:33
    Composer
    John Dowland
    Performer
    Cédric Meyer
  13. 13 Time, cruel Time 03:53
    Track
    13
    Title
    Time, cruel Time
    Duration
    03:53
    Composer
    John Danyel
    Performer
    Kieran White, Cédric Meyer
  14. 14 Stay, Cruel, Stay! 02:38
    Track
    14
    Title
    Stay, Cruel, Stay!
    Duration
    02:38
    Composer
    John Danyel
    Performer
    Kieran White, Cédric Meyer
  15. 15 Why canst thou not, as others do? 01:36
    Track
    15
    Title
    Why canst thou not, as others do?
    Duration
    01:36
    Composer
    John Danyel
    Performer
    Kieran White, Cédric Meyer
  16. 16 Like as the Lute 04:13
    Track
    16
    Title
    Like as the Lute
    Duration
    04:13
    Composer
    John Danyel
    Performer
    Kieran White, Cédric Meyer
  17. 17 Let Not Cloris Think 02:13
    Track
    17
    Title
    Let Not Cloris Think
    Duration
    02:13
    Composer
    John Danyel
    Performer
    Kieran White, Cédric Meyer
  18. 18 I. Griefe keepe within 02:57
    Track
    18
    Title
    I. Griefe keepe within
    Duration
    02:57
    Composer
    John Danyel
    Performer
    Kieran White, Cédric Meyer
  19. 19 II. Drop not mine eies 02:55
    Track
    19
    Title
    II. Drop not mine eies
    Duration
    02:55
    Composer
    John Danyel
    Performer
    Kieran White, Cédric Meyer
  20. 20 III. Have all our passions 03:17
    Track
    20
    Title
    III. Have all our passions
    Duration
    03:17
    Composer
    John Danyel
    Performer
    Kieran White, Cédric Meyer