The King’s Singers have set the gold standard in a cappella singing on the world’s greatest stages for over 55 years. They are renowned for their unrivalled technique, musicianship and versatility, which stem from the group’s rich heritage and its drive to bring an extraordinary range of new and unique works, collaborations and recordings to life. The King’s Singers’ extensive discography has led to numerous awards including two Grammys, an Emmy and a place in Gramophone magazine’s inaugural Hall of Fame.
The King’s Singers were officially 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 comprised two countertenors, a tenor, two baritones and a bass, and they have kept this formation ever since. Growing the global canon of choral music has always been one of their key aims, and The King’s Singers have now commissioned more than 300 works by many of the most prominent composers of the 20th and 21st centuries. All this new music joins their body of bespoke a cappella arrangements, including many by King’s Singers past and present. Alongside their demanding performing and recording schedule – with over 100 concerts worldwide every season – the group leads educational workshops and residential courses worldwide, working with ensembles on their approaches to group singing. To mark their 50th anniversary in 2018 they founded The King’s Singers Global Foundation (based in the USA) to provide a platform to support the creation of new music across multiple disciplines, to coach a new generation of performers, and to provide musical opportunities to people of all backgrounds.
Artists:
Peter Hicks countertenorEdward Button countertenor
Julian Gregory tenor
Joseph Edwards baritone
Nick Ashby baritone
Piers Connor Kennedy bass
Programme:
Ralph Vaughan Williams Over hill, over dale (from Three Shakespeare Songs)
Claude Debussy Trois Chansons
Edward Elgar Owls
Edward Elgar Deep in my soul
Trad Arr. Hugo Alfvén Och jungfrun hon går i ringen
Hugo Alfvén Aftonen
Franz Schubert Flucht
Fanny Mendelssohn Abendlich schon rauscht der Wald
Jean Sibelius Arr. Nick Ashby Finlandia (Be still, my soul)
Maurice Ravel Trois Chansons
Ralph Vaughan Williams The cloud-capp’d towers (from Three Shakespeare Songs)
The Romantic impulse spread like wildfire across Europe during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Lieder, chansons and part songs – imbued with musical richness – became vehicles for the deepest expressions of human feeling, desire and fantasy. This programme pays tribute to many of the greatest European composers of Romantic vocal music from that time: extraordinary storytellers who include Elgar and Vaughan Williams in England, Hugo Alfvén in Sweden, Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn in Germany, Schubert in Austria, and Debussy, Ravel and Saint-Saëns in France. The King’s Singers honour their collective imagination and brave emotional vulnerability by creating a magical journey that explores some of their most compelling thoughts on life, love, nature, death, and even the supernatural.
Ralph Vaughan Williams Over hill, over dale (from Three Shakespeare Songs)
Claude Debussy Trois Chansons
Edward Elgar Owls
Edward Elgar Deep in my soul
Trad Arr. Hugo Alfvén Och jungfrun hon går i ringen
Hugo Alfvén Aftonen
Franz Schubert Flucht
Fanny Mendelssohn Abendlich schon rauscht der Wald
Jean Sibelius Arr. Nick Ashby Finlandia (Be still, my soul)
Maurice Ravel Trois Chansons
Ralph Vaughan Williams The cloud-capp’d towers (from Three Shakespeare Songs)
The Romantic impulse spread like wildfire across Europe during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Lieder, chansons and part songs – imbued with musical richness – became vehicles for the deepest expressions of human feeling, desire and fantasy. This programme pays tribute to many of the greatest European composers of Romantic vocal music from that time: extraordinary storytellers who include Elgar and Vaughan Williams in England, Hugo Alfvén in Sweden, Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn in Germany, Schubert in Austria, and Debussy, Ravel and Saint-Saëns in France. The King’s Singers honour their collective imagination and brave emotional vulnerability by creating a magical journey that explores some of their most compelling thoughts on life, love, nature, death, and even the supernatural.
