The King's Singers: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
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- Опубліковано 10 лют 2025
- July 23, 2018 | Tom Huizenga -- Fifty years ago, a group of six guys walked on a London stage to perform for the first time as The King's Singers. They were choral scholars and graduates from King's College, part of England's venerable Cambridge University.
The group quickly earned a reputation for its precise and warm close-harmony singing, which is as strong as ever today. There have been more than 150 King's Singers recordings, Grammy and Emmy awards, and countless concerts and television appearances. New singers, of course, have cycled through over five decades, but the six-man vocal setup has remained constant: two countertenors, one tenor, two baritones and a bass. Also unchanged is the group's penchant for singing just about every style of music.
So it is no surprise that the current iteration of The King's Singers - in the midst of their 50th-anniversary tour - brings a diverse set list to the Tiny Desk, including a Beatles tune and a bawdy madrigal from the 1500s.
Notice the glistening top end on Lennon and McCartney's "I'll Follow the Sun," courtesy of countertenors Timothy Wayne-Wright and Patrick Dunachie. "Shenandoah," the traditional American song, sports a velvety carpet of accompaniment for baritone Christopher Bruerton's lead. The blend of light and color shifts beautifully in Bob Chilcott's diaphanous arrangement.
"Horizons," with its cinematic hissing, humming and other special effects, tells a tragic story of the San people of Southern Africa, while the rhythmic and risqué "Dessus le marché d'Arras" channels a bustling 16th-century French marketplace.
The King's Singers remains a vocal juggernaut, playing 150 concerts in this anniversary year. With its power, finesse and silky blend, the group is like some close-harmony Ferrari that can purr and growl, leaving you amazed at the splendor of the human voice.
Set List
"I'll Follow the Sun" (Lennon-McCartney, arr. Bill Ives)
"Shenandoah" (arr. Bob Chilcott)
"Horizons" (Peter Louis van Dijk)
"Dessus le marché d'Arras" (Lassus)
Musicians
Patrick Dunachie, Timothy Wayne-Wright (countertenors); Julian Gregory (tenor); Christopher Bruerton, Christopher Gabbitas (baritones); Jonathan Howard (bass)
Credits
Producers: Tom Huizenga, Morgan Noelle Smith; Creative Director: Bob Boilen; Audio Engineer: Suraya Mohamed; Videographers: Niki Walker, CJ Riculan, Maia Stern; Production Assistant: Joshua Bote; Photo: Eslah Attar/NPR.
I went to a King's Singers concert while at university in 1983. It is a joy to see this wonderful tradition still going strong 35 years on. The tight harmonies, the powerful projection, and the fun they clearly have while singing is delightful. Happy 50th Anniversary to the King's Singers, and thank you, Tiny Desk, for consistently featuring fine music, some new, some old.
The list of Noblemen that come form Kings over 50s years is Amazing
I saw them in about 1990. It was a wonderful experience. I knew they were still singing, but did not realize they had transitioned to this young (comparably) lineup.
What do you guys mean? They are renewed?
I saw them in 1992 at Ambassador College in Pasadena. Sat on the front row. No one is left from that group. They sounded great then and just as great now after numerous member turnovers.
Whoever does the audio for these needs to be paid more. No amount of money is too much
wait was the audio editing after recording ? like autotune ?
Shut up
Whoever does the audio? Named at 17:33 Audio Engineer: Suraya Mohamed
@@FAXLN autotune on king's singers? i hope you are joking
@FAXLN no, the opposite. Clean, clear, balanced. How it sounds live in this setting. (A dry venue).
Lovely surpise from NPR. THAT'S being open minded in music. Thank you!
Remember live music? Virtual lockdown choirs are a nice novelty but nothing compares with seeing and hearing people singing as one, together. Thank you for this beautiful concert. Beautiful.
Mr Bruerton!! Man, this guy is one of the greatest people I've ever met... Taught me in High School and in a couple choir groups - always made it heaps of fun and had an obvious passion for music that encouraged us all to do our best!! He even helped me out with some personal issues that I was having at the time, which is something I'll never forget!!
Glad to see your doing well man, the performance was even more incredible than I would have imagined!! Cheers for everything, hope you know that a lot of us Burnsiders really appreciate the time and effort you put in to teaching us :)
Saw these guys last year... awesome performers. If you think their voices sound good in this soft-surfaced room, just imagine the enormous reverb that fills a hard-surfaced cathedral. It was incredible!
As a South African youth experiencing the aftermath that is the legacy of colonisation and apartheid, I'm happy they performed the Horizons song in the way that they unpacked it.
I've never heard Horizons before this but it gives me chills every time I hear it. Those harmonies and cadences nearly bring me to actual tears when I listen to it. I'm blown away by it all.
Its one of my favourite choral pieces ever gah it's so beautiful
Who is the composer?
Joe -the composer is Peter Louis Van Dijk!
To the people criticizing, listen to it again but with headphones on. There a lot of nuances that get lost with speakers
Pedro Araujo R. F. Rocha if they are criticizing this, they just don’t get it and they never will
I think the acoustics are bad in there or something, at least sounds worse then you´d expect from the kings singers. Thats still very good don´t get me wrong.
yeah you are totally right. headphones make a world of difference!
@SuperGamli its not the acoustics are bad, its just there is no reverb. they try to keep it natural, but a choir needs a little reverb.
No one ever knows quite how to react after a Medieval or Renaissance musical number from King's Singers. Some silence as people try to figure out what they just heard, followed by slight, subdued laughter, then polite applause. Such a different style than our ears are accustomed to.
The angels are singing 🤩
They are quite amazing. No monitors. No headphones or earbuds. Just talent. Just lovely.
0:00 I Will Follow The Sun
3:35 Shenandoah
7:56 Horizon
16:05 Dessus Le Marché d'Arras
Wow! Horizon is 8 minutes long? Goes by like nothing
Thanks!
I grew a pair of wings and a halo around my head just by listening to the ooohs
I was so happy to have a snippet of "Caledonia" rehearsal by the Singers pop up on my Facebook feed, so I could share it with friends in the community choir I'm in that sang an arrangement a few years ago. I was thrilled to see the group perform in Vancouver in 2019, having listened to their recordings for 4 decades.
High frequency music and singing with a slight twist of poppiness. Very awesome thanks
NPR, you're concerts are just fantastic!!
Wow, that's great, love u guys
Wow, that's some beautiful geometry. I really enjoyed the whole different background and quality of this.
It feels like someone lifting me up while I'm in the bad mood, then they shall show me the world is still beautiful.
Aw I love this comment
Such pure and perfect sounds!
31 years ago. I had the privilege to have meet the Kings' Singer at Ithaca College, NY. I spoke with few of them after the concert. We ended up talking about good food in Italy...........Lol
Fantastic! I love all of the songs!
Rennaisance 'pop songs' - love it! All brilliant as always - thanks for the shared enjoyment.
I love The King's Singers!!!!!!
My Father would have absolutely loved this
Ahhh I absolutely love Tim's countertenor voice, it's one of my favorites. I do miss him
Agree 100%
YES!!! Love The King Singers. Thank-you for having them on NPR!
The guy on the right, cracking me up the whole time! Beautiful voices!!!
If that office is anything like other offices, it must have been so difficult to hear the other singers' parts and to stay in tune. What these guys are doing is equivalent to painting in the dark.
Beautiful
Tiny desk is the best. This is phenomenal
Omg....this is so beautiful...im verklempt...these guys are fantastic! And so good lookin
probably the best tiny desk ever
Wonderful!
WONDERFUL TKS are always AWESOME .. :D
incredible.
Beautiful Performance
Gentlemen 🎶
This concert never gets old. I've watched it a dozen times this year. Thank you. Beautiful.
4:44 is the best major chord i've ever heard sung
Here Comes Treble
As a Baritone, I would give anything to sound like Christopher Bruerton. What a guy!
What an awesome and varied performance that was! Now I need to catch these guys live. It was all great but "Horizons" was the highlight for me, such a surprising and moving piece!
Good lord I'm all okay with critique but many of these negative comments come off as... Uninformed? It is as if this type of music is foreign to many NPR watchers... Just listen to the damn music..
Thank you NPR for exposing many to such a variety of music.
AWESOME!
Absolutely wonderful. Best Channel on UA-cam
I like quite a lot.!
Beautiful. 💜
These guys can arrange songs wow👍🏾🔥🔥🔥
Man, that version of Shenandoah brought tears to my eyes.
Chord at 9:48 absolutely blew me away
King desk - BIG HEART
Fourth man from the left, with shirt untucked (!), is Chris Bruerton. He was a student then music teacher at my highschool. I can't count how often I was told off by him for uniform violations. Cool to see he's doing so well.
I enjoyed this. I love that TDC always brings something different that I wouldn't hear otherwise. :)
Edit: I've been hearing shenendoah all my life and i didn't care for the arrangement, but the others were nice.
Exceptional
The seventh singer in the bookshelf behind them!
Waaahahahaaaaaa! Well spotted!
Masato lmao It was zoomed on him right when I read this and I spit out my coffee 🤣
Masato 😅
Amazing Yes Astoundingly NOBLE !!!
Best Boy Band in the world!
They are the best!!! Love the lower harmonies on -zon in horiZON - Song 3
Son fantasticos! Tremendas armonias, tremendo ensamble vocal.. Los arreglos son unicos!
5th guy is a pretty exceptional clapper.
You mean the 6th?
Woah! What precision! Those harmonies are so complex and could sound awful with the tiniest pitch problem. It was so perfect. Loved it-off for the album.
Mr. Teeple. Thank you.❤️
I adore Péter Louis van Dijk's Horizons at 07:34. Bravo to the King's Singers.
Great! Long life to The King's Singers!!
OMG! thank you
They're just amazing. And you know it .
I used to watch this goup when I was 10 ..... 40+ years ago. I want some of what's keeping them young.
I think they've got new guys since then. :)
Beautiful! How could you not love this?
So Beautiful! Please keep doing what you do forever!!!
Handsome men, angelic voices. Awesome!
Seeing you here is wild... last.fm gang!
Hey am I following you on Last.FM, and what's your username? :)
yeah! five-beer-plan
yep, i remember you, just saw your shout awhile back. Glad to see you here. :)
Worthy bearers...
Beautiful, dreamy tunes.
I love them around Christmas time
So I'll follow the Son! 😉
God bless you everybody! ☀️
Angelic 👍👍👍👍👍
Simply spectacular!!
Is nice to know you count on choir music too... great to hear this lovely voices. Thank you very much!
13:44 amazing!!
Wasn't sure, started to think ok not bad and then was blown away. Wow!!!!
This is not the type of music i enjoy, but i imagined myself AND did some voice-over-in while watching despite not knowing any lyrics!
Andy Bernard's wet dream
Stremer I’m cryingggggg
Fuckin majestic
the asian-looking short guy with glasses in blue longshirt in the middle is the cutest.
Amo el regreso de los borbotones
I dedicate this to my friend Audrey who left us behind for now.
NPR, you missed out a credit!
16:06 Left hand of bass Jonathan Howard on basso continuo
Lovely, I Need to see Accent here now!
Ben folds should do a University A Cappella vol. 2 and collaborate with these guys! Fun set!
4:26 these are alternate dimension sounds
I so thought Orlando Di Lassus' 'Bonjour Mon Coeur' was going to be the last song, until the "How much" tangent!
This is flippin' fantastic!
you guys should have here comes treble on this i heard that that any bernard has some pipes
This is great!
I saw this same batch of King's Singers when they came to Clemson, SC. I feel like the tenor (Julian) has a Rufus Wainright type voice, and of course the guy on the end looks like Harry Potter. I sang KS arrangements 20 years ago in high school so I'm glad they're still around.
I think the red-headed baritone is the only one that has a throughline to original members. He's not an original member obviously, but he sang with at least one of them I think.
This reminds me off he simpsons when homer was in the group and their hit was "baby on board"
This reminds me so much of the barber quartet in Bioshock Infinite~
God only knows
Damn - that's so many kind of wonderful things I don't even know where to start.
Fuck they chose a great song to start the set...not my avenue but I can appreciate the dedication to do this...
Andy Barnard. The Nard dog's band. LOL