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Six
Various composers

The King's Singers

Six

Price: € 8.95
Format: CD
Label: Signum Classics
UPC: 0635212005620
Catnr: SIGCD 056
Release date: 01 January 2007
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Label
Signum Classics
UPC
0635212005620
Catalogue number
SIGCD 056
Release date
01 January 2007
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
EN
NL

About the album

Formed in 1968 by six Choral Scholars from King’s College, Cambridge, the King’s Singers quickly became a prominent musical force in the UK. The rest of the world soon followed so that today the group’s engagements are spread throughout the four corners of the globe.

The ensemble are renowned for their commitment to blend balance and intonation in their performances, but above all it is their simple enjoyment of what they do that has captured the imagination of the public, and kept the King’s Singers at the top of their game for over three and a half decades.

This album presents six pieces performed by the six vocalists over the years. The titles were selected to span the life of the group so far: After the explosive rock decade of the 1960s in which the group was founded, you can almost hear the hair lengthen in Neil Young’s 1970 song After the Goldrush. This was originally sung by the group with Nana Mouskouri on her BBC TV show, and has remained popular ever since; Irving Berlin’s much-loved jazz classic Blue Skies is here sung in a cool and reflective arrangement by Richard Rodney Bennett; the Beatle’s Blackbird is one of the most requested encores happily sung to ecstatic audiences, and Daryl Runswick’s arrangement perfectly maintains the feel of the original song.

The remaining three tracks are all newly recorded pieces from the 21st century. Down to the River to Pray, a spiritual, appeared in the Coen brothers movie “O Brother Where art Thou?”; Billy Joel’s Lullaby Goodnight My Angel is an example of the songwriter at his lyric best. Finally, The Wishing Tree was commissioned by the King’s Singers and the BBC for the 2002 Proms, celebrating the present Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Joby Talbot, formerly of The Divine Comedy, was asked to compose a work in which to reflect Queen Elizabeth II’s life, as well as incorporating a 16th century madrigal-element, in reference to the reign of the first Queen Elizabeth.

Een samenvatting van het repertoire van The King’s Singers in zes werken
De King’s Singers, opgericht in 1968 door zes koorstudenten van King’s College, werden algauw een prominent ensemble binnen het Verenigd Koninkrijk, en de rest van de wereld is inmiddels gevolgd. De King’s Singers zijn beroemd om hun inzet om balans en intonatie in hun uitvoeringen met elkaar te vermengen, maar het is vooral het eenvoudige plezier in wat ze doen wat het publiek tot de verbeelding spreekt, en wat het ensemble al voor drieënhalf decennium op het toppunt van hun kunnen houdt.

Dit album presenteert zes werken, die door de jaren heen door de zes vocalisten zijn uitgevoerd. De titels overspannen het leven van het ensemble tot nu toe. Na het explosieve rocktijdperk van de jaren '60 waarin de groep werd opgericht, kunnen luisteraars het haar bijna horen groeien in Neil Youngs lied After the Goldrush uit de jaren '70. Irving Berlins zeer geliefde jazzklassieker Blue Skies wordt hier gezongen in een kalme en weerspiegelende bewerking van Richard Rodney Bennett. Blackbird van The Beatles is een van de meest aangevraagde toegiften, en Daryl Brunswicks bewerking behoudt de sfeer van het originele lied uitstekend.

De overige drie werken zijn allemaal afkomstig uit de 21e eeuw. Down to the River to Pray, een spiritual, verscheen in de film O Brother Where art Thou? van de Coen brothers. Billy Joels slaaplied Goodnight my Angel toont deze songwriter op zijn lyrische hoogtepunt. Ten slotte is The Wishing Tree door het ensemble en de BBC opgedragen voor de Proms in 2002.

Artist(s)

The King's Singers

The King’s Singers have represented the gold standard in a cappella singing on the world’s greatest stages for over fifty years. They are renowned for their unrivalled technique, versatility and skill in performance, and for their consummate musicianship, drawing both on the group’s rich heritage and its pioneering spirit to create an extraordinary wealth of original works and unique collaborations. What has always distinguished the group is their comfort in an unprecedented range of styles and genres, pushing the boundaries of their repertoire, while at the same time honouring their origins in the British choral tradition. They are known and loved around the world, and appear regularly in major cities, festivals and venues across Europe, North America, Asia and Australasia, including Carnegie Hall, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Mozarteum Salzburg, Tonhalle Zurich, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Edinburgh International Festival, Helsinki Music Centre, Sydney Opera...
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The King’s Singers have represented the gold standard in a cappella singing on the world’s greatest stages for over fifty years. They are renowned for their unrivalled technique, versatility and skill in performance, and for their consummate musicianship, drawing both on the group’s rich heritage and its pioneering spirit to create an extraordinary wealth of original works and unique collaborations.
What has always distinguished the group is their comfort in an unprecedented range of styles and genres, pushing the boundaries of their repertoire, while at the same time honouring their origins in the British choral tradition. They are known and loved around the world, and appear regularly in major cities, festivals and venues across Europe, North America, Asia and Australasia, including Carnegie Hall, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Mozarteum Salzburg, Tonhalle Zurich, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Edinburgh International Festival, Helsinki Music Centre, Sydney Opera House, Tokyo Opera City and the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing. They also work with orchestras, recently including the NDR Radiophilharmonie and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, with whom they performed a specially commissioned work by Sir James MacMillan.
9 The King’s Singers’ extensive discography has led to numerous awards including two Grammy Awards, an Emmy Award, and a place in Gramophone magazine’s inaugural Hall of Fame. As part of their 50th anniversary celebrations in 2018, the group undertook a series of major tours worldwide, supporting the release of a special anniversary album GOLD (also nominated for a Grammy Award), which featured important works in the group’s history and new commissions by Bob Chilcott, John Rutter and Nico Muhly.
This commitment to creating a new repertoire has always been central to the group, with over 200 commissioned works by many leading composers of the 20th and 21st Centuries, including John Tavener, Judith Bingham, Eric Whitacre, György Ligeti, Luciano Berio, Krzysztof Penderecki and Toru Takemitsu. These join a unique body of close-harmony and a cappella arrangements, including those by individual King’s Singers past and present. Many of their early collaborators’ own experience with brass bands helped to inform the distinct ‘King’s Singers sound’ and a large number of their commissioned works and arrangements are available in their own signature series with Hal Leonard, selling over two million copies worldwide. A key to the group’s success has been their ability to evolve and innovate over many years – and through 28 individual members – while always retaining this special sound and musical integrity.
They also lead educational workshops and residential courses across the world, working with groups and individuals on their techniques and approaches to ensemble singing. In 2018 they founded The King’s Singers Global Foundation to provide a platform for the creation of new music across multiple disciplines, coach a new generation of performers and provide musical opportunities to people of all backgrounds.
The King’s Singers were formed in 1968, when six recent choral scholars from King’s College, Cambridge gave a concert at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. By chance, the group was made up of two countertenors, a tenor, two baritones and a bass, and the group has maintained this formation ever since that debut.
Patrick Dunachie countertenor Edward Button countertenor Julian Gregory tenor Christopher Bruerton baritone Nick Ashby baritone Jonathan Howard bass
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