If on a Winter's Night

by Sting

Overview

It's no secret that Sting is a serious man, so it's only logical that his holiday album -- his first new music since the Police reunion, not that it really matters -- is a serious endeavor, thank you. No niceties for him, no comforts of carols; he favors formal over familiar, writing madrigals, not ditties. It is music made by someone who lives in a castle, which isn't necessarily such a bad thing: the austerity is genuine, not affected, and the cerebral nature of the album is fascinating, albeit mildly so, as this is as sleepy as it is thoughtful. And it's that thoughtfulness that does distinguish If on a Winter's Night...; no other Christmas album exists in the head like this. It's a holiday album for people who have never wanted to hear a holiday album, let alone own one. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	10/26/2009
Label:	Cherrytree Records / Decca / Deutsche Grammophon
UPC:	0602527017433

Tracks

1. Gabriel's Message
2. Soul Cake
3. There Is No Rose of Such Virtue
4. The Snow It Melts the Soonest
5. Christmas at Sea
6. Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming
7. Cold Song
8. The Burning Babe
9. Now Winter Comes Slowly
10. The Hounds of Winter
11. Balulalow
12. Cherry Tree Carol
13. Lullaby for an Anxious Child
14. The Hurdy-Gurdy Man
15. You Only Cross My Mind in Winter

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Sting   Primary Artist,Lute,Guitar,Vocals,Percussion,Drums (Snare)
Peter Tickell   Violin
Daniel Druckman   Drums (Snare)
Charles Curtis   Cello
Svetlana Tsoneva   Violin
Stile Antico   Ensemble,Orchestra,Vocal Ensemble
MusicAeterna   Strings
Julian Sutton   Melodeon
John Ellis and His SDB   Clarinet (Bass)
Strings of Musica Aeterna   Ensemble,Orchestra
David Sancious   Organ
Dean Parks   Guitar,Mandolin
Kathryn Tickell   Violin,Northumbrian Smallpipes
Jasmine Thomas   Vocals (Background)
Christopher Gekker   Trumpet
Leslie Neish   Tuba
Chris Dudley   Trombone
Rhani Krija   Percussion
Daphna Mor   Recorder
Ira Coleman   Bass
Jack DeJohnette   Drums
Chris Botti   Trumpet
Christopher Dudley   Trombone
Daniel Hope   Violin
Bashiri Johnson   Frame Drum,Percussion
Dominic Miller   Guitar
David Hartley   Harmonium
David Mansfield   Dulcimer,Mandolin,Mandocello,Guitar (12 String)
Joe Sumner   Vocals (Background)
Marcus Rojas   Tuba
Robert Sadin   Conductor,Percussion
Cyro Baptista   Percussion
Dov Scheindlin   Viola
John Clark   Horn
Bijan Chemirani   Percussion
Kenny Garrett   Sax (Soprano)
Vincent Segal   Cello
Lisa Fischer   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Daniel Freedman   Percussion
Webb Sisters   Vocals (Background)
Mary MacMaster   Harp,Vocals
Bassam Saba   Ney,Oud
Donald Hay   Percussion
Ibrahim Maalouf   Trumpet
Melissa Meell   Cello,Cello
Edin Karamazov   Lute

Technical Credits

Tony Molina   Photography,Cover Photo
Evelyn Morgan   A&R
Noel Paul Stookey   Composer
Bob Ludwig   Mastering
John Dryden   Composer,Composer
Peter Warlock   Composer
Tracy Bufferd   Publicity
Martin Hollis   Assistant Engineer
Elkanah Settle   Composer
David S. Butchart   Project Manager
Wilhelm Mueller   Composer
Jochen Rudelt   Booklet Editor
Robert Louis Stevenson   Composer
Donal Hodgson   Mixing,Engineer
Daniel Barnidge   Research,Production Assistant
Paul Stookey   Composer
Chris Wood   Composer,Composer
Tracey Batteast   Composer
Jean Ritchie   Arranger
Martin Kierszenbaum   A&R
Mark Wilder   Mastering
Tim Mitchell   Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Sting   Mixing,Arranger,Composer,Adaptation,Liner Notes,Translation
Kathryn Schenker   Management
Mark S. Crowley   Assistant Engineer
Lucy Maxwell Stewart   Publicity
Amy Merxbauer   A&R
Thomas Betterton   Composer
Danny Quatrochi   Guitar Technician
Allen Blustine   Contractor
Adam Miller   Assistant Engineer
Royce Jeffres   Assistant Engineer
Dominic Miller   Composer
Ralph Vaughan Williams   Composer
Robert Sadin   Mixing,Arranger,Soundscape
Henry Purcell   Composer
Todd Whitelock   Engineer
William Blake   Composer
Dave Darlington   Mixing,Engineer
Franz Schubert   Composer
Maria Triana   Mastering Assistant
Clark Germain   Engineer
Joshua "Cartier" Cutsinger   Assistant Engineer
Michael Praetorius   Composer
Mary MacMaster   Arranger,Composer
Robert Southwell   Composer
William Shakespeare   Text
Theodore Baker   Translation
Tracy Batteast   Composer
Elena Mezzetti   Composer
Traditional   Composer