Tuesday, February 17, 2009

The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge

Founded more than 550 years ago these boys still give me goose bumps. On their web site they say:
“Internationally recognized as the pre-eminent representative of the great British church music tradition, the Choir owes its existence to King Henry VI who envisaged the daily singing of services in his magnificent chapel. This remains the Choir's raison d'être, and is an important part of the lives of its sixteen choristers, who are educated on generous scholarships at King's College School, and the fourteen choral scholars and two organ scholars, who study a variety of subjects in the College itself. Today's Choir derives its worldwide fame and reputation from the annual broadcast of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols which is heard on radio by millions all over the world. The Choir also performs in London, appearing regularly in all the major halls.”

If I ever make it to England I really hope to see the King’s College choir perform (right after I go to Croyden to see the Saint Philip's choir). I have a couple of DVD’s that I enjoy but seeing them live would be amazing. They sing some very complicated pieces and they make it look easy.
I also have a few of their CD’s and I’m looking forward to collecting more.

My favorite CD is Heavenly Voices. This is what I think traditional cathedral music sounds like. I close my eyes and feel as if I’ve gone back in time a century or two.
The deep bass notes from that pipe organ go beyond bass and into almost the sub-sonic range. Living in the country I don’t have a problem with turning up the volume on my sound system and letting the sub-woofer rattle the windows.

1 comment:

  1. A British national treasure.

    Their triple CD set of the Bach Magnificat, a selection of motets, and other cantatas, all under the direction of Stephen Cleobury (who also sang in the choir at one time) is somewhere in the Fifty Greatest Bach CDs ever recorded.

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