&
Peter Croton
„Vollends
begeistert war das Publikum vom Abendkonzert unter dem Motto 'Remembrance of
Things Past' mit Werken von John Dowland, William Shakespeare und Croton
selbst. Wie es dem Duo gelang, mit intelligenter Emotionalität und natürlicher
Leidenschaft neue Facetten der populären Lautenlieder von Dowland zu entdecken,
das löste nachgerade Verzauberung aus, die sich in tosendem Applaus entlud.“
CONCERTO
- Das Magazin für Alte Musik
„Die
relativ wenigen Versuche, das Lautenmusikrepertoire um Musik des 20. und 21.
Jahrhunderts zu erweitern, sind den meisten Spielern und besonders dem Publikum
unbekannt geblieben. Umso erfreulicher ist es, hier von vier Liedern berichten
zu können, die meiner Meinung nach das Potenzial haben, Einzug in das
Repertoire von Lautenliederprogrammen halten zu können. Bei der Komposition der
Lautenstimme hat Croton sich keine Zwänge auferlegt und spielt munter und
anspruchsvoll drauflos... Während der Lautenist seiner Spielfreude frönt, und die Sängerin (der Sänger)
mit ihm auf Augenhöhe duettiert, bekommt das Publikum anspruchsvolle Musik
voller Raffinesse zu hören… Die Stimme von Theresia Bothe ist ein Ohrenschmaus,
Croton spielt lebendig und blitzsauber, beide musizieren auf’s Trefflichste miteinander.
So muß es sein! "
Deutsche
Lautengesellschaft, Lauten-Info
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aus England:
guildmusic.com
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DIGITAL DOWNLOADS
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TRACK LIST mit Hörbeispielen
John Dowland (1563 – 1626)
01 Preludium
HÖRBEISPIEL:
Peter Croton (born 1957)
02 Remembrance of things past (text: William Shakespeare)
HÖRBEISPIEL:
John Dowland
03 Sleep wayward thoughts*
Peter Croton
04 While you here do snoring lie (text: William Shakespeare)
John Dowland
05 Die
not before thy day*
06 Say love if ever thou didst find*
HÖRBEISPIEL:
07 Now, O now I needs must part**
08 Go crystal tears
09 Time stands still*
10 Fine knacks for ladies*
12 Sorrow stay
13 His golden locks time hath to silver turned*
14 Flow my tears
15 All the day
16 Come, heavy sleep
Peter Croton
17 The Waking (text: Theodore Roethke)
HÖRBEISPIEL:
18 Quietness (text: Rumi,
translation by Coleman Barks)
19 Now, O now I needs must
part
Derek Lee Ragin appears on tracks 17 – 19.
World premiere recordings: #2, 4, 17 – 19.
* lute solo arranged by Peter Croton.
LUTE SONGS & SOLOS
BY JOHN DOWLAND & PETER CROTON
Theresia Bothe -voice, Peter Croton - lute
special guest Derek Lee Ragin - voice
GMCD 7341
CD Besprechungen:
Lauten-Info 2/2010
"...Theresia Bothes klare Stimme schwebt mit einer beinah körperlichen Präsenz zwischen den Lautsprechern. Die Klarheit und Intensität der instrumentalen und vokalen Artikulation des hervorragend eingespielten Duos konnten die Besucher des diesjährigen Lautenfestivals in Füssen in einem mitreissenden Konzert mit spanischer und italienischer Musik erleben... Die ganze CD ist ein ausgezeichnetes Beispiel für ein perfektes Zusammenspiel von Sänger/n und Begleiter, für die zeitlose Schönheit des Liedschaffens von John Dowland und nicht zuletzt für Peter Crotons kompositorisches Geschick, zu dem seine Erfahrungen in Jazz und Folk hörbar etwas beitragen."
Fono Forum 10/06
Toccata, July-August 2010
The Lute Society (England)
Lute News, April 2010
“…Croton is a creative musician who wishes to recapture the improvisational and inventive nature of the early lutenists. The result, quite different from many of Croton's contemporaries, is that Dowland's music is presented as living and malleable, inspiring transformation as well as new compositions…
The CD opens with the Preludium by John Dowland followed by two settings of Shakespeare by Croton. The lute writing is sparse but idiomatic, with very strong melodic lines which linger in the head; they are often reminiscent of Stephen Sondheim. My favourite is the setting of ‘While you hear do snoring lie”, which has a memorable lute part.
Theresia Bothe’s voice is very individual. Her expressiveness comes from the emphasis and colouring of certain words and the breaking of phrases, rather than ornamenting or varying the music according to historical practise. This approach probably reflects her interest and experiences with the more popular forms of music. She sings in tune and her diction is generally good.
Croton approaches Dowland’s songs in different ways. First, he offers them in the usual manner, i.e. as a song with the lute part as written, but often he presents settings of the songs in versions for solo lute before the song begins (‘Say Love if ever thou did’st find’). Also, in the middle of a song he will often give the repeat sections to the lute (‘Sleep wayward thoughts’). Listen also for the nice variations that he makes in some songs when accompanying the voice (‘Now, O now’). Hearing all this new material created by Croton is like discovering new works by Dowland, such is his sense of style and his ability to emulate Dowland’s melodic gift. Croton’s tone on the lute is good, his phrasing elegant and there is much variety of articulation.
The last section of the CD contains three more songs composed by Croton; the songs this time are for two voices. Bothe is joined by Derek Lee Ragin. These songs are more adventurous, but still very idiomatic for both voice and lute. I particularly like the setting of the poet Rumi, where the lute has very oud-like flavour. The CD ends with a new duo setting of ‘Now, O now’. You might consider Croton to be a brave man in attempting to set such well-known words, but for me, within a few moments of listening I had forgotten the original and was captivated by this version. If you are looking for a fresh approach to traditional material, for new ways in programming, then try this CD, it is full of surprises!”
Lute
Society of
"This is a
disc of many colors. Croton is firmly versed in the lute's culture and
history
but has happily succumbed to the modern pull of his love of song, so the
CD
flits between our age and Dowland's. Where Croton takes printed texts
for his
own compositions he is the renaissance composer, albeit with modern
notes and
rhythms. Where he sets Dowland's songs to the lute where no lute solo
existed
before, he sets them with the uncanny wit and style of an anonymous
scribe in a
renaissance manuscript. "Sorrow stay," for example, would be a
delight for any lute soloist if conveniently found in some ancient book.
Derek
Lee Ragin's tenor is another exciting contrast of modern song -
especially in
Dowland's "Now, oh now" - with a perfectly subtle renaissance
sensibility, in contrast to soprano Theresia Bothe's modern shaping of
voice.
Croton offers two visions of this song: once with Dowland's melody with
Thus the music dances on both shores of the 400-year ocean that divides these ages. Croton builds his sound on a light Gottlieb lute with modern wound strings, with a sustain that echoes Bothe's long soprano lines. Croton intrepidly reaches for every bit of nuance in the poems of Roethke and Shakespeare, much as Dowland approached the poets of his day. This is an exciting record, though perhaps not for those of our current HIP persuasion."
The French Lute Society
Le Joueur de Luth, March 2010
(original in French)
"A recording of voice and lute beginning with a lute prelude, as if to start off an evening among music lovers, or a concert…what a wonderful idea! In the Preludium by Dowland, Peter’s sound is pleasing, the phrasing free and varied; he makes the most of the lute, as he does throughout the entire recording, in which there are plenty of, introductions, arrangements and interludes. The following piece (Remembrance) begins in the same style, with a classic, fantasia-like theme - but soon a number of dissonances appear….we find ourselves in the twenty-first century! Then the voice enters, with a skipping melody but sung quite smoothly, accompanied by some delicate notes from the lute (few chords, but quite skillful imitations); the piece is well-constructed with lovely contrasts. In another work by Peter Croton, also based on a text by Shakespeare, the lute introduces a diatonic theme consisting of descending slurred notes, while the voice, exploring its entire range, approaches Sprechgesang to finish with the cry “awake!” A dozen Dowland songs follow, several “hits” (Flow my tears, Now O now I need must part, Come heavy sleep, Come again – however with the words All the day…), but also some sublime “ayres” as well, such as Go crystal tears or Sorrow stay. The originality of this recording lies in the numerous and convincing arrangements of these songs which Peter has created for solo lute, and uses as preludes, ritornellos between verses or postludes. He accompanies effectively, the bass nicely present and well articulated, while the voice, though perhaps not quite dark enough in the tragic pieces, is light, clear and natural in the lively ones. The last three pieces, by Peter Croton, are dialogues for two voices and lute. The first piece is particularly interesting because of the fine interaction among the three musicians (harmonious lute arpeggios, voices imitating each other and in parallel movement). The second piece, based on a poem by Rumi (a mystical Sufi poet of the thirteenth century) sounds vividly oriental, full of ornamentation, with music which truly does justice to the text. As for the third piece: surprise! Croton preserves the words and rhythms of Now O now I need must part, but composes it for two voices, with an original melody, accompanied by arpeggios…a mischievous wink to round off this highly original recording which gently introduces lutenists to contemporary music. "
"'This is an unusual offering, and it’s very far from a conventional single disc survey of Dowland’s music, either for lute or voice. Instead it offers re-creationist possibilities and a more curious interplay between his music and that of the performer-composer Peter Croton who has been inspired by it. He has arranged a number of Dowland’s songs for lute, Croton’s own instrument, and there are several of his own compositions as well. Croton is a fine lutenist, with an acute ear for colour, and he possesses a strong technique… What gives this project even greater resonance is the chosen singer, Theresia Bothe. Her voice continues the theme of cross-current enshrined in the disc; it embodies elements of classical purity in places but also has a decided folk influence more commonly to be found among the Waterson and Wainwright clans. This is deliberate of course, the better to inflect these arrangements with a sense of intimacy, though whether it actually succeeds in transmuting – or limiting – the original source material from the Books of Songs is very much a matter of taste… Croton’s own compositions occupy an equally modern ground, one akin to music theatre, which is how Bothe delivers Remembrance of things past. For the three remaining songs Derek Lee Ragin joins Croton… Do I detect however, in Croton’s writing and playing, hints of the oud in the exotic Rumi setting, giving it an even greater sense of place? So this is a somewhat out of the way disc, pursuing a very individual slant on Dowland, and succeeding more often than not."
www.allmusic.com
"This is a very unorthodox recording of John Dowland's lute songs… experimental in several ways… there are absolutely compelling moments here, and this disc belongs in any serious Dowland collection or in that of anyone who simply enjoys speculative modes of performance. The designer of the performance seems to be lutenist Peter Croton, who treats the Dowland songs in various ways: playing them straight, ornamenting them, and adding preludes and central sections. The most immediately unusual thing general listeners may notice is the voice of soprano Theresia Bothe… Her singing is almost vibrato-free (vibrato creeps in as a feathery ornament at phrase ends or as a point of emphasis elsewhere), spot-on accurate when it comes to pitch, and yet well supported from below with just a hint of roughness. It is not a "pure" voice, but it is nevertheless suited to the pitch demands of Dowland's music. Bothe may be a matter of taste, but for some listeners she'll be a matter of serious addiction. If all this is not enough, Croton composes new lute songs loosely based on Renaissance models where the tonality and phrasing are pushed, but the idiom is recognizable… and a set of three at the end, (with) Derek Lee Ragin, also a compelling and distinctive vocalist… there are plenty of really gorgeous moments along the way, and the entire disc benefits from an X-factor related to genuine risk-taking. Sample Bothe's absolutely limpid take on Go crystal tears (track 8), or Croton's orginal setting of Theodore Roethke's poem "The Waking" (track 17), which, like the other Croton pieces, is a world premiere. Add in unusually good lute-song sound that is absolutely clear with a minimum of fuss from Switzerland's Guild label, and you have a really noteworthy offbeat release."
"Einen aussergewöhnlichen Blick auf John Dowland und seine Welt bietet der Lautenist Peter Croton."
American Record Guide
Januar/Februar 2011
“Peter Croton and Theresia Bothe have worked together for some years now, and they have a fine partnership. Bothe has a good voice for these songs – pure and sweet.”
"...music by John Dowland together with world premiere recordings of five new lute songs written and played by the excellent Peter Croton."