SYMPHONICITIES

STING
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1. Next To You Sting, Vocals; Jo Lawry, Backing Vocals; Rob Mathes, Piano; David Finck, Acoustic Bass; David Cossin, Percussion; Joe Bonadio, Percussion; Featuring the New York Chamber Consort (Lisa Kim, Concertmaster); Conducted by Rob Mathes 2. Englishman In New York Sting, Vocals; Jo Lawry, Backing Vocals; Rob Mathes, Piano; David Finck, Acoustic Bass; Aaron Heick, Clarinet Solo; David Cossin, Percussion; Joe Bonadio, Percussion; Featuring the New York Chamber Consort (Lisa Kim, Concertmaster); Conducted by Rob Mathes 3. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic Sting, Vocals; Jo Lawry, Backing Vocals; Rob Mathes, Piano and Acoustic Guitar; David Finck, Acoustic Bass; David Cossin, Percussion; Featuring the London Players (Jackie Shave, Concertmaster); Conducted by Rob Mathes 4. I Hung My Head Sting, Vocals; Jo Lawry, Backing Vocals; Dominic Miller, Guitar; Ira Coleman, Bass; David Cossin, Percussion; Featuring the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra (Gerald Gregory, Concertmaster); Conducted by Steven Mercurio 5. You Will Be My Ain True Love Sting, Vocals; Jo Lawry, Vocals; Dominic Miller, Guitar; Ira Coleman, Bass; David Cossin, Percussion; Featuring the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra (Gerald Gregory, Concertmaster); Conducted by Steven Mercurio 6. Roxanne Sting, Vocals; Jo Lawry, Backing Vocals; Rob Mathes, Piano and Acoustic Guitar; David Finck, Acoustic Bass; David Cossin, Percussion; Anthony Pleeth, Cello Soloist; Featuring the London Players (Jackie Shave, Concertmaster); Conducted by Rob Mathes 7. When We Dance Sting, Vocals; Jo Lawry, Backing Vocals; Dominic Miller, Guitar; Ira Coleman, Bass; David Cossin, Percussion; Featuring the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra (Gerald Gregory, Concertmaster); Conducted by Steven Mercurio

8. The End Of The Game Sting, Vocals; Jo Lawry, Backing Vocals; Dominic Miller, Guitar; Ira Coleman, Bass; David Cossin, Percussion; Featuring the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra (Gerald Gregory, Concertmaster); Conducted by Steven Mercurio 9. I Burn For You Sting, Vocals and Acoustic Guitar; Jo Lawry, Backing Vocals; David Cossin, Percussion Soloist; Joe Bonadio, Percussion; Ben Wittman, Loop Programming; Featuring the New York Chamber Consort (Lisa Kim, Concertmaster); Conducted by Rob Mathes 10. We Work The Black Seam Sting, Vocals; Jeff Kievit, Lead Trumpet; Jim Hynes, James Delagarza, Dylan Schwab, Trumpets; Larry DiBello, Chad Yarborough, David Peel, Theo Primus, Horns; Birch Johnson, Dick Clark, Trombones; Jeff Nelson, Bass Trombone; Marcus Rojas, Tuba; Joe Bonadio, Percussion; Conducted by Rob Mathes 11. Shes Too Good For Me Sting, Vocals and Acoustic Guitar; Jo Lawry, Vocals; Dominic Miller, Electric Guitar; Rob Mathes, Acoustic Guitar; Ira Coleman, Bass; Joe Bonadio, Percussion; Chris Botti, Ed Cherney, Tracy Bufferd, Rob Mathes, Kathryn Schenker and Sting, Rabble Rousers; Featuring the New York Chamber Consort (Lisa Kim, Concertmaster); Conducted by Rob Mathes 12. The Pirates Bride Sting, Vocals; Jo Lawry, Backing Vocals; Rob Mathes, Acoustic Piano; Dominic Miller, Acoustic Guitar; Joe Bonadio, Percussion; Shelley Woodworth, Oboe Soloist; Barbara Allen, Harp; Featuring the New York Chamber Consort (Lisa Kim, Concertmaster); Conducted by Rob Mathes Exclusive Digital Track 13. Straight To My Heart Sting, Vocals; Jo Lawry, Backing Vocals; Dominic Miller, Guitar; Ira Coleman, Bass; David Cossin, Percussion; Featuring The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra (Gerald Gregory, Concertmaster); Conducted by Steven Mercurio

Produced by Rob Mathes and Sting All songs arranged by Rob Mathes, except I Hung My Head arranged by David Hartley, You Will Be My Ain True Love and When We Dance arranged by Steven Mercurio, Straight To My Heart arranged by Jorge Calandrelli All songs recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, UK by Jonathan Allen, assisted by Lewis Jones except Next To You, Englishman In New York, I Burn For You, Shes Too Good For Me, and The Pirates Bride Recorded by Elliot Scheiner, assisted by Tim Mitchell at Clinton Recording Studios, New York, NY We Work The Black Seam recorded by Alex Venguer at Clinton Recording Studios and MSR Recording Studios, New York, NY Album Mixed by Elliot Scheiner, assisted by Mathew Scheiner, except Next To You, and Shes Too Good For Me, Mixed by Claudius Mittendorfer, We Work The Black Seam, Mixed by Alex Venguer and The Pirates Bride, Mixed by Ed Cherney Pro Tools editing by Alex Venguer and Tim Mitchell Additional editing by Lars Fox Overdubs for Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic and Roxanne recorded at MSR Studios, New York, NY by Alex Venguer Lead Vocals for Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic and Roxanne recorded at Clinton Recording Studios, New York, NY by Elliot Scheiner Lead Vocals for Next To You, Englishman In New York, I Burn For You, recorded at Capitol Recording Studios, Los Angeles, CA by Steve Genewick Lead Vocals for The End Of The Game, We Work The Black Seam, Shes Too Good For Me and The Pirates Bride recorded at Capitol Recording Studios, Los Angeles, CA by Ed Cherney, assisted by Aaron Walk Mastered by Scott Hull at Masterdisk, New York, NY Director of Audio Operations for Sting: Donal Hodgson Music Preparation: Mike and Lori Casteel Guitar Technician: Danny Quatrochi All songs contracted by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Ltd. except Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic and Roxanne contracted by Isobel Griffiths and Next To You, Englishman in New York, I Burn For You, We Work The Black Seam, Shes Too Good For Me, and The Pirates Bride, contracted by Sandra Park

The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra

FIRST VIOLINS Gerald Gregory Maria Oldak Dorina Markoff Jennifer Dear Kirra Thomas Alison Gordon Miranda Allen Nia Bevan Martin Lissola SECOND VIOLINS Stephen Kear Susan Watson Johanna McWeeney Clare Raybould Non Peters Vernon Dean Julia Stewart VIOLAS Grame Mckean Amanda Denley Cristina Gestido Henrietta Ridgeon Nozomi Cohen CELLOS Anna Mowat Tim Steggals Roz Gladstone Toby Turton Tim Smedley DOUBLE BASSES Kylie Davies Rebecca Welsh Nicola Davenport FLUTES Ian Mullin David Cuthbert OBOE Helen Barker CLARINETS Charys Green Massimo Di Trolio BASSOON Jacqueline Hayter FRENCH HORNS Samuel Jacobs Tim Anderson Mark Wood TRUMPETS Chris Cotter Miles Maguire TROMBONE Graham Lee TIMPANI Steve Quigley PERCUSSION Gerald Kirby HARP Daniel De Fry PIANO/KEYBOARD Clive Dunstall MANAGEMENT MANAGING DIRECTOR Ian Maclay FINANCE DIRECTOR Michelle Johnson CONCERTS DIRECTOR Elizabeth Forbes TOURS MANAGER Graham Midgley TOURS ASSISTANT Jenny Chadwick ORCHESTRA MANAGER Ian Brignall STAGE MANAGER Chris Ouzman Steve Blendell

The London Players

VIOLINS Jacqueline Shave Patrick Kiernan Magnus Johnston Thomas Bowes Emlyn Singleton Warren Zielinski Julian Leaper Boguslaw Kostecki Chris Tombling Rita Manning Dermot Crehan Cathy Thompson Mark Berrow Jonathan Rees Kathy Shave Miranda Dale Tom Pigott-Smith VIOLAS Pete Lale Bruce White Don McVay Bob Smissen Claire Finnimore Katie Wilkinson CELLOS Anthony Pleeth Caroline Dale Dave Daniels Caroline Dearnley Ben Chappell BASSES Chris Laurence Steve Williams Leon Bosch FLUTE Philippa Davies FLUTE/PICCOLO Helen Keen OBOE/COR ANGLAIS David Theodore CLARINET Nicholas Bucknall CLARINET, BASS CLARINET Anthony Pike BASSOON Richard Skinner HORNS Richard Watkins Mike Thompson TRUMPETS Andy Crowley John Barclay BASS TROMBONE Patrick Jackman TUBA Owen Slade HARP Skaila Kanga PERCUSSION Gary Kettel

The New York Chamber Consort

VIOLINS Peter Bhang Eva Burmeister Tom Carney Katherine Fong Joyce Hammann Erin Keefe Lisa Kim Hyunju Lee Ann Lehmann Liz Lim Joanna Maurer Yurika Mok Suzanne Ornstein Annaliesa Place Sein Ryu Laura Seaton Rob Shaw Jeanine Wynton Sharon Yamada Jung Sun Yoo VIOLAS Desiree Elsevier Vivek Kamath Shmuel Katz Daniel Panner Robert Rinehart Becky Young CELLOS Jerry Grossman Maria Kitsopoulos Jeanne LeBlanc Melissa Meell Joel Noyes Mina Smith Alan Stepansky Jeremy Turner BASSES Rachel Calin David Grossman Jeremy McCoy John Patitucci HARP Barbara Allen FLUTES, ALTO, C Diva Goodfriend Kathleen Nester OBOE, ENGLISH HORN Shelley Woodworth CLARINETS, B FLAT, BASS Aaron Heick BASSOON Marc Goldberg HORNS Lawrence Di Bello David Peel Theo Primis Chad Yarbrough TRUMPETS Barry Danielian James De La Garza Jim Hynes Tony Kadleck Jeff Kievit Dylan Schwab TROMBONES Richard Clark Mike Davis Birch Johnson Jeffrey Nelson TUBA Marcus Rojas

Management: Kathryn Schenker/KSM, Inc. A&R: Martin Kierszenbaum and Chris Roberts A&R Administration: Evelyn Morgan and Amy Merxbauer P r o d u c t i o n C o o r d i n a t i o n : Tr a c y B u f f e r d a n d D a n a W i s e P u b l i c i t y : Tr a c y B u f f e r d / F o r g e A h e a d M e d i a ; L u c y M a x w e l l Stewart/Red House PR C o v e r a n d Pa c k a g e D e s i g n : S t e f a n S m i t h Photograph: Fabrizio Ferri Liner Notes Editor: Jennifer Fusco Thanks to the staff at Deutsche Grammophon and Decca Label G r o u p : M i c h a e l L a n g , D a v i d B u t c h a r t , L u t B e h i e l s , Pa u l F o l e y, B o b Kranes and Olga Makrias S p e c i a l T h a n k s t o W i l l i a m F r a n c i s , T h e r e s a L o w r e y, J o s e p h B r e n n e r, J o s e p h Pe n a c h i o , A l i c i a D e R o s a , C h a r l i e H e r n a n d e z , C h a r l e s Z i m m e r, R o b e r t M o l n a r, B i l l Z y s b l a t , D e b b i e K a s s a n a n d t h e s t a f f a t R Z O, M a n f r e d S e i p t a n d t h e s t a f f a t U n i v e r s a l M u s i c Classical Management and Production Rob Mathes would like to thank all the musicians, the engineers, Chris Roberts, everyone at KSM, Jonathan Daniel, Evelyn Morgan, A l e x Ve n g u e r, Ta m m y M a t h e s f o r e v e r y t h i n g a n d S t i n g f o r m a k i n g such beautiful music

All songs written by Sting Next To You 1978 GM Sumner, Administered by EMI Music Publishing, Ltd. Englishman In New York 1987 GM Sumner, Administered by EMI Music Publishing, Ltd. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic 1981 GM Sumner, Administered by EMI Music Publishing, Ltd. I Hung My Head 1996 Steerpike Ltd., Administered by EMI Music Publishing, Ltd. You Will Be My Ain True Love 2003 Steerpike (Overseas) Ltd., Administered by EMI Music Publishing, Ltd. Roxanne 1978 GM Sumner, Administered by EMI Music Publishing, Ltd. When We Dance 1994 Steerpike Ltd, Administered by EMI Music Publishing, Ltd. The End Of The Game 1999 Steerpike (Overseas) Ltd., Administered by EMI Music Publishing, Ltd. I Burn For You 1982 GM Sumner, Administered by EMI Music Publishing, Ltd. We Work The Black Seam 1985 GM Sumner, Administered by EMI Music Publishing, Ltd. Shes Too Good For Me 1993 Steerpike, Ltd, Administered by EMI Music Publishing, Ltd. The Pirates Bride 1996 Steerpike, Ltd, Administered by EMI Music Publishing, Ltd. Whenever I Say Your Name 2003 Steerpike (Overseas) Ltd., Administered by EMI Music Publishing, Ltd. Straight To My Heart 1987 GM Sumner, Administered by EMI Music Publishing, Ltd.

Dominic Miller appears courtesy of Rutis Music Ltd., UK/ Q-rious Music, Germany Chris Botti appears courtesy of Columbia Records

For fan club, tickets and the latest Sting information, visit www.sting.com www.universalmusicclassical.com www.deutschegrammophon.com/sting-symphonicities

Its been said that the proof of a great song lies in its ability to sustain indeed, to invite and thrive amid interpretation. That may be true, but it leaves the composers of those great songs in a difficult spot. Certainly they know the pleasure, the excitement, of hearing their songs transformed by other artists who find possibilities in them that might not even have occurred to the original writer. And, more sadly, they also know the grimaceinducing frustration of having their songs flattened by unimaginative performers. But how can songwriters find meaningful ways to interpret their own work? Every song goes through metamorphoses sometimes startling ones as it is being composed and recorded. Casual listeners, ardent fans and even knowledgeable, experienced critics often are stunned to hear studio outtakes and alternative versions that reveal the unlikely origins of a song that they thought they knew intimately. Where a song begins and where it ends up are, in many instances, two extremely different places.

Ultimately, however, good songs take the shape they do for specific and significant reasons, even if one of those reasons might simply be a desire for the relief of declaring a difficult process completed. And in the case of a songwriter as meticulous as Sting, songs typically end up the way they do for the absolute best reasons: Many other approaches were tried and rejected, and the most aesthetically satisfying one became the inevitable choice. When audiences hear a song, it should sound as if it couldnt possibly have turned out any other way. Thats an effect Sting has routinely achieved in his finest work with The Police and as a solo artist which is to say, in creating some of the most compelling popular music of the past half century. Restlessness and daring are two of Stings essential artistic gifts, and together they have made it possible for him to revisit his own songs in fresh musical ways. One of the fortunate results of that desire to push himself and his work into uncharted territory is the splendid new album, Symphonicities, on which twelve of Stings songs have not simply been rearranged, but fully reimagined in orchestral terms.

Ferdinand, Interpol) doing the mixes on Shes Too Good For Me and Next To You, Alex Venguer (John Legend) mixed We Work The Black Seam, and Ed Cherney (Bonnie Rait, Bob Dylan) mixed The Pirates Bride. In his arrangements, Mathes treated Stings songs with respect, but not with reverence. For these new interpretations to be vital, they could not simply be elegant (and aesthetically inert) glosses on the original versions. They had to feel new, surprising, alive and entirely satisfying in their own unique terms. And they do. A few examples illustrate why. Given Stings flair for a certain type of haunted, endlessly suggestive melody, its hardly a shock that a ballad like I Burn For You would lend itself beautifully to an orchestral treatment, as it does here. A tense rhythmic pulse maintains the songs ardency below, while the eloquent textures on top all but moan with desire. To hear an indisputable radio-hit masterpiece like Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic discover such a wonderful complementary life is truly remarkable. If anything, the songs wide-eyed sense of wonder at the intoxicating power of love finds fuller, dreamier realization here. Even more impressively, the song has lost none of its buoyancy. For all its delicacy, for all the ways in which new facets of its melody are deftly teased out, it still swings like a gorgeous girl in a flirty summer dress. Englishman In New York represents a similar triumph. You would not necessarily expect its particular virtues at once playful, literary and streetwise to translate easily into a symphonic setting. Once again, however, the players let no subtlety go unexplored, enhancing the songs sly humor, as well as its poignancy. The romantic agony the jealousy, yearning and desperation of Roxanne also gets a powerful rendering here. The understatement of the songs treatment somehow only manages to intensify the singers near-mad obsession. Its Roxanne brilliantly redrawn as Every Breath You Take.

In general, the concept is not a new one. Dating back to the Sixties, weve had many classical treatments of popular music. All too often, theyve proven uninteresting or worse for the same predictable reasons. The most typical one is an infuriating desire to elevate popular music, which insults both the composer of the original music and its fans. The arrangements resemble the soundtrack for a particularly dull music appreciation class. The classical players feel like theyre slumming, and the pop musicians sound nervously, embarrassingly eager to impress. Just as often the efforts are simply uninspired. Pop songs that succeed perfectly well on their own terms are tarted up until they either drown in syrupy arrangements or explode from over-inflated ones. The fact is that popular music does not require the redemption of classical respectability, and the classics have survived quite nicely, often for centuries, without exploiting the cultural immediacy of pop hits. None of those misguided ambitions are evident here. Symphonicities sets out to determine if its final performances can transcend the sum of their formidable parts, and it succeeds admirably. First of all, Sting understood that for this project to work, he had to free himself of his own preconceptions, as well as understand his own limitations. While Ive always loved symphonic music, he wrote in the program notes for his tour of this material, I dont have the adequate expertise to know how banks of string players are organized, or brass or woodwinds for that matter. For help with those matters he called on Rob Mathes (Lou Reed, Sade, Beck) to serve as one of the projects arrangers as well as its musical director. Elliot Scheiner (Eric Clapton, Van Morrison) handled most of the mixes, with Claudius Mittendorfer (Franz

You Will Be My Ain True Love retains its Anglo-American folk honesty, with the strings and horns providing added force. When We Dance attains a heavenly splendor; it is a paean to devotion that limns the connections between love in this world and the next. We Work The Black Seam, which was inspired by the miners strike in the UK in the mid Eighties, fluently incorporates a brass ensemble, a conscious echo of the colliery bands that Sting, who was born in Newcastle, heard growing up. That knowing touch deepens the songs personal and historical roots. Meanwhile, the song itself, in its contemplation of our competing needs for energy, full employment and a vital sense of community, has only grown more relevant to our times. Perhaps the albums most blinding moment is its spectacular version of Next To You. Straight-up rock songs are rarely given orchestral treatments, and for good reason. They almost always fail. That is far from the case here. As any great band loves to do to lead singers, this orchestra kicks Stings butt! Its thrilling to hear him call on all his extraordinary vocal gifts to hold his own against their onrushing power. Its a breathtaking performance in all senses of the term. That type of bracing artistic competition brings out the best in everyone, and thats the key to why Symphonicities is so invigorating. Sting is completely at ease in this setting, willing to allow the orchestra its full impact and confident enough to know that hes too strong a singer ever to be overwhelmed by it. The players understand that they are collaborating with a world-class talent, but they are not afraid to challenge him. The result is as effortlessly pleasing a blend of classical and pop expression as you could ever hope to experience smart, fun and exhilarating, a dazzling tribute to Sting, his extraordinary songs, and these strikingly gifted players. Anthony DeCurtis

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