Close Harmony
The King’s Singers
Contents and performers listed after review
rec. 2019-2024, London, Suffolk & Surrey, UK
Due to copyright restrictions, no song texts are supplied
Reviewed as 16-bit/44.1kHz WAV download
Signum Classics SIGCD912 [2 CDs: 114]
The King’s Singers emanated from the King’s College, where the original six members were all choral scholars. Which meant that during their studies at university they sang as part of the choir in the daily services at the chapel of King’s College. When they finished their studies in the mid-1960s they continued singing on their own under a variety of names, and they made a record in 1965, which Sir Neville Marriner heard, and he then engaged them for a concert. This opened the doors to further performances, and they appeared under the name The King’s Singers on 1 May 1968, which became their official birthdate. Consequently they celebrated their half-century jubilee on 1 May 2018. It was then that the idea of a retrospective album was conceived, and here it is, filled with nostalgia – but also the repertoire that has developed since 2019.
The earliest piece revived here is Ron Goodwin’s What kind of things do the King’s Singers sing?, written in 1973, the year after Goodwin’s fêted score for Hitchcock’s horror film Frenzy. It was intended as a signature song for the group, but was seldom performed. Here it makes a latish comeback as a farewell greeting on CD 2. Other early hits are I’m a train and The Beatles’ intricate Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, both from 1975. The latter was a forerunner to the 1986 album The Beatles Connection from 1986, which was my – and I believe many others’ – eye-opener to the world of the King’s Singers. I’m happy that there are no less than four Beatles songs included in this album. All the characteristic features that constitute the unique King’s sound are here plentifully: the often complicated and thrilling arrangements, the technical and rhythmical expertise, the perfect homogeneity of the concerted singing, and the inventiveness. The songs in themselves are of course first class, but very often the arrangements ennoble them further into little masterpieces – and it is not just the technical wizardry that impresses. Many of the more lyrical songs are sung in simple six-part arrangements, so beautifully, so loveably.
There are folksongs like She moved through the fair, She’s like the swallow and Takeda lullaby that are almost otherworldly. Other melodious songs have composers. Singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran’s The hills of Aberfeldy is truly beautiful. Kacey Musgraves Rainbow is slow and intimate, Donald Swann’s Slow train is a third one that enticed me. As a matter of fact, there isn’t a song here that didn’t attract me. I’ve already mentioned my weakness for their Beatles. Ob-la-di is of course superb, and Daryl Runswick’s arrangement is really masterly, but Honey Pie with some rusty growling, and the ever popular When I’m 64 are also clear winners. The arranger in both cases is Paul Hart. The fourth Beatles’ song is another super hit, Penny Lane, and the arrangement is by Bob Chilcott, the former boy treble, who for many years was the tenor in the group and also a prominent arranger and composer.
The whole album gets off to a flying start with a go-ahead version of Elton John’s Crocodile Rock. Queueing up are artists such as Paul Simon, Queen, Cy Coleman and Joni Mitchell, but also composers with evergreen status. Jerome Kern’s classical The way you look tonight in an arrangement by John Rutter, a lesser known work by the Gershwin brothers, Oh! I can’t sit down, in a technically brilliant arrangement by Bob Chilcott, and towards the end of the programme Harold Arlen’s Somewhere over the rainbow, in an arrangement by George Shearing. This is the only piece with instrumental accompaniment, and a fine memento of the legendary jazz pianist, who also had a deep interest in classical music. This repertoire is also well catered for in two arrangements by Daryl Brunswick. Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the bumblebee is great fun with the group producing illusory insect sounds, and their version of Rossini’s overture to The Barber of Seville is hilarious, satanically and skilfully sung – a real tour de force. Another masterpiece is the arrangement of Duke Ellington’s Creole love call from 1927, when his orchestra was sometimes nicknamed the jungle band. Here we hear growling trombone, muted cornetts and other jungle sounds; it is extremely skilfully done.
Some concluding words about the longest composition here, and a constant hit in the group’s public performances. I quote the liner notes: “Master-Piece was written for the group by Paul Drayton in 1987, and aims to celebrate and also poke fun at the various styles of composers from throughout Western musical history. The piece starts with a pastiche of J. S. Bach, and through a sequence of composers new and old finds its way back eventually to Bach, with the final statement, ‘Bach again’! It’s become one of our most popular pieces worldwide after a video of a performance from 2004 went viral – and at our invitation before this recording, Paul made a few changes and additions to bring Master-Piece right up to date.” It also a sums up of the versatility of The King’s Singers. They are equally at home in every genre they approach, and if anybody has accidentally failed to register my delight in this issue, I’ll clarify it in plain English: I recommend it with all possible enthusiasm!
Göran Forsling
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Contents
CD1
CROCODILE ROCK Elton John arr. Andrew Jackman 04.05
FATHER, FATHER Laura Mvula, arr. Eric Whitacre, ad. Christopher Bruerton 04.59
FIFTY WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR LOVER Paul Simon, arr. Andrew Jackman 03.15
THE HILLS OF ABERFELDY Ed Sheeran and Foy Vance. arr. Jim Clements 04.08
GOOD OLD-FASHIONED LOVER BOY Queen, arr. Nick Ashby 03.17
THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT Jerome Kern, arr. John Rutter 02.27
OH! I CAN’T SIT DOWN George and Ira Gershwin, arr. Bob Chilcott 02.47
HOW LONG WILL I LOVE YOU? Mike Scott, arr. Christopher Bruerton 02.30
OB-LA-DI, OB-LA-DA John Lennon and Paul McCartney, arr. Daryl Runswick 04.31
SHE MOVED THROUGH THE FAIR Traditional, arr. Daryl Runswick 03.30
I’M A TRAIN Albert Hammon, arr. Peter Knight 02.06
MEET YOU IN THE MAZE James Blake 05.53
RAINBOW Kacey Musgraves, arr. Pat Dunachie 02.33
FLIGHT OF THE BUMBLEBEE Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, arr. Daryl Brunswick 01.21
SLOW TRAIN Donald Swann, arr. Gordon Langford 03.32
HONEY PIE John Lennon and Paul McCartney, arr. Paul Hart 02.47
CD2
RHYTHM OF LIFE Cy Coleman, arr. Peter Knight 02.17
CREOLE LOVE CALL Duke Ellington, arr. Paul Kuhn 03.33
SISOTOWBELL LANE Joni Mitchell, arr. Pat Dunachie 04.47
UNE GENTE BERGÈRE (A KIND SHEPHERDESS) Traditional, arr. Geoff Richards 02.56
WHEN I’M 64 John Lennon and Paul McCartney, arr. Paul Hart 03.31
SHE’S LIKE THE SWALLOW Traditional, arr. Bob Chilcott 04.35
OVERTURE TO THE BARBER OF SEVILLE Gioachino Rossini, arr. Daryl Brunswick 03.28
TAKEDA LULLABY Traditional, arr. Grayston Ives 03.19
PENNY LANE John Lennon and Paul McCartney, arr. Bob Chilcott 02.43
SONGBIRD Christine McVie, arr. Nick Ashby 03.22
SEASIDE RENDEZVOUS Queen, arr. Paul Hart 02.39
THE ROSE Amanda McBroom, arr. Nic Raine 03.39
SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW Harold Arlen, arr. George Shearing 06.08
MASTER-PIECE (2024) Paul Drayton 12.17
WHAT KIND OF THINGS DO THE KING’S SINGERS SING? Ron Goodwin, arr. Jeremy Jackman 02.00
Performers
The King’s Singers:
Patrick Dunachie (countertenor); Edward Button (countertenor); Julian Gregory (tenor); Christopher Bruerton (baritone); Nick Ashby (baritone); Jonathan Howard (bass)
Instrumentalists: (Somewhere over the Rainbow) Liam Dunachie (piano), Misha Mullov-Abbado (double bass)
