Dowland, John - Seven Tears Upon Silence

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When John Dowland composes the seven pavans that form the famous Lachrimae, he gives the instrumental repertoire one of its first masterpieces. The Sit Fast consort, lead by Atsushi Sakaï, features a precious version of those timeless pages. Who says the viole should be earmarked for early music? In fact, the pure sonority of this intrument, the ideal vehicle for inner grief, inspired George Benjamin too. Upon Silence, written in 1990 for five violes and a mezzo-soprano on a poem by Yeats, extends and updates the poetics tears of John Dowland. Four centuries separate the two composers but their polyphonic writings and their longing for genuine feelings gather them in that disc, smartly recorded by the elegant Sit Fast consort.