The King’s Singers

The King’s Singers embody the highest standard of a cappella singing, imaginative, boundary-pushing, and stunning in their distinct sounds, making no harmony or rhythm too complex and no sound too strange,” wrote Gramophone about this British ensemble that has been singing at the highest level for decades, winning two Grammy Awards and an Emmy Award. They now present music that reflects three parts of the day, aligned with three traditional monastic services: sunrise, sunset, and darkness. “Routines bring comfort, structure, and familiarity to our daily lives. We need them today, but they’ve existed for centuries and often have their roots in the rituals of church life.”

The program ties into the rituals of daily life in 16th-century England. “We explore the glorious, resonant music that first sounded in the grand English cathedrals of the Renaissance.” From Videte miraculum, the simplicity of Gregorian chant, to the more resounding Sanctus & Benedictus by William Byrd. From the 12th-century Benedictine abbess Hildegard von Bingen to a Magnificat by Thomas Tallis. “For us, this is personal. We grew up with this music, learned our craft in the ancient English choral tradition. Renaissance is our tribute to this precious heritage, captured in ancient stones and colored church windows.

Program

Sunrise 
Videte miraculum Plainchant (Feast of the Purification) 
Nicholas Ludford – Gloria (from Missa Videte Miraculum) 
William Byrd – Vigilate  
William Byrd – Sanctus & Benedictus (from Mass for Five Voices) 
Agnus Dei Plainchant (Missa Pro Defunctis) 

Sunset 
Thomas Weelkes – Hosanna to the son of David 
Robert Stone – The Lord’s Prayer 
Thomas Tallis – Magnificat (from the ‘Dorian’ Service) 
William Mundy – Sive vigilem 
John Taverner – O Wilhelme, pastor bone 

Darkness 
Hildegard von Bingen – O Euchari (Antiphon) 
Thomas Tallis – E’en like the hunted hind (Archbishop Parker’s Psalter) 
John Sheppard – In manus tuas Domine (I) 
Christopher Tye – Nunc Dimittis 
Robert White – Christe qui lux es et dies (IV)