THE KING'S SINGERS: THE COMPLETE RCA RECORDINGS (11 CDS)

As The King’s Singers close in on 50 years at the top of the world of a cappella, Sony Classical’s 11-album set of classic releases from the 1990s shows their extraordinary combination of talent and versatility. With music from Josquin to Joel, Stravinsky to Sullivan, this winning collection is crucial listening for singing aficionados of all stripes. Few ensembles have ever straddled the boundary between classical and popular music as successfully as The King’s Singers – and just as few have achieved success in both early and contemporary repertoire. But in this collection, an album of Josquin songs and motets sits comfortably alongside a set of their renowned pop music arrangements, while a single album can run the gamut from Schubert to Andrew Lloyd Webber. As well as tackling Josquin Desprez on their album Renaissance, The King’s Singers also devote a disc to William Byrd and Thomas Tallis, recording a selection of motets as well as Tallis’ Lamentations of Jeremiah. Another album – Fire-water: The Spirit of Renaissance Spain – is a collaboration with harpist Andrew Lawrence-King and The Harp Consort which places the spotlight on some fascinating lesser-known repertoire, in distinctive arrangements in which the six voices blend with an ensemble of early instruments. The group, founded in 1968, have premiered countless works over the years, and two albums here contain music written just for them. Street Songs, a collaboration with the percussionist Evelyn Glennie, contains music by Steve Martland, Stanley Glasser and others, while the contemplative Sermons and Devotions mixes commissions from Veljo Tormis, Geoffrey Poole and Richard Rodney Bennett with classic 20th-century vocal works by Górecki, Stravinsky and Tavener. Countless imitators later, The King’s Singers remain unique for their musical intelligence, virtuosity and sheer good humour – all qualities this collection has in spades.

CD1 - Good Vibrations (1991)

1. Good Vibrations
2. Cecilia
3. Father to Son
4. The Boxer
5. Texas Girl at the Funeral of Her Father
6. Seaside Rendez-Vous
7. And So It Goes
8. American Pie
9. Some Folks' Lives Roll Easy
10. Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover
11. That Lonesome Road
12. Freddie Feel-Good
13. M. L. K

CD2 - Renaissance (1992)

1. Benedicta Es
2. Vous L'arez S'il Vous Plaist
3. Vous Ne L'arez Pas
4. A la Mort - Monstra Te Esse Matrem
5. O Virgo Virginum
6. Nymphes, Nappés
7. En L'ombre D'ung Buissonet
8. Regretz Sans Fin
9. Allegez Moy
10. Absolve, Quaesumus
11. Pour Souhaitter
12. Mille Regretz
13. Si Congié Prens
14. Ce Povre Mendiant - Pauper Sum Ego
15. O Virgo Prudentissima
16. Petite Camusette
17. Nymphes Des Bois
18. À L'ombre D'ung Buissonet
19. Basiés Moy I
20. Basiés Moy II
21. Pater Noster - Ave Maria

CD3 - Chanson d’amour (1992)

1. Chanson D'amour
2. Now Those Days Are Gone
3. La Valse À Mille Temps
4. Con Amores, la Mia Madre
5. Who Is Sylvia?, D. 891
6. Chitarra D'amor (Gitaren Spielt Auf)
7. I Get Along Without You Very Well
8. All I Ask of You
9. Dein Herzlein Mild
10. My Romance
11. She's Like the Swallow
12. Quand Tu Dors PRÈS de Moi
13. Love's Philosophy
14. Alice in Wonderland
15. Plaisir D'amour
16. If Music Be the Food of Love
17. Le Papillon Et la Fleur
18. Lydia
19. Phyllis Is My Only Joy
20. Wenn Ich in Deine Augen Seh'
21. Down with Love

CD4 - Here’s a Howdy Do! – A Gilbert and Sullivan Festival (1993)

1. A British Tar (From "HMS Pinafore")
2. The Sun Whose Rays (From "The Mikado")
3. Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes (From "The Gondoliers")
4. The Ghosts' High-Noon (From "Ruddigore")
5. Ah, Leave Me Not (From "The Pirates of Penzance")
6. A Wand'ring Minstrel I (From "The Mikado")
7. The Pirate King (From "The Pirates of Penzance")
8. Tit Willow (From "The Mikado")
9. With Cat Like Tread (From "The Pirates of Penzance")
10. Brightly Dawns Our Wedding Day (From "The Mikado")
11. A More Human Mikado (From "The Mikado")
12. Rising Early in the Morning (From "The Gondoliers")
13. Gilbert & Sullivan Medley
14. Patter Matter
15. Here's a Howdy Do (From "The Mikado")

CD5 - English Renaissance (1993)

1. Haec Dies
2. Te Lucis Ante Terminum (I)
3. Beata Viscera Mariae Virginis
4. Ave Verum Corpus
5. Vigilate
6. Viri Galilaei
7. Te Lucis Ante Terminum (II)
8. Lamentations of Jeremiah (I) / Incipit Lamentatio
9. Lamentations of Jeremiah (I) / Aleph
10. Lamentations of Jeremiah (I) / Beth
11. Lamentations of Jeremiah (I) / Ierusalem
12. Lamentations of Jeremiah (II) / de Lamentatione
13. Lamentations of Jeremiah (II) / Gimel
14. Lamentations of Jeremiah (II) / Daleth
15. Lamentations of Jeremiah (II) / Heth
16. Lamentations of Jeremiah (II) / Ierusalem
17. If Ye Love Me
18. O Lord, Make Thy Servant Elizabeth, Our Queen
19. Sing Joyfully
20. Laudibus in Sanctis

CD6 - Sermons and Devotions (1995)

1. Totus Tuus
2. Piispa Ja Pakana (The Bishop and the Pagan)
3. Pater Noster
4. Ave Maria
5. Wymondham Chants / Prologue: Ave, Rex Angelorum
6. Wymondham Chants / Scherzo: Tutivillus
7. Wymondham Chants / Prayer: Mary Modyr
8. Wymondham Chants / Epilogue: Blessed Jesu
9. Funeral Ikos
10. The Lamb
11. Sermons and Devotions / a Statue of Snowe
12. Sermons and Devotions / a Flower at Sun-Rising
13. Sermons and Devotions / Poore Intricated Soule!
14. Sermons and Devotions / the Seasons of His Mercies
15. Sermons and Devotions / the Bell Doth Toll

CD7 - Circle of Life - Close-harmony Arrangements of timeless Songs from famous Movies (1996)

1. The Circle of Life
2. Kiss from a Rose
3. Kokomo
4. Wind Beneath My Wings
5. It Had to Be You
6. Live and Let Die
7. The Time of My Life
8. I Heard It Through the Grapevine
9. Everything I Do, I Do It for You
10. The Rose
11. I Will Always Love You
12. Groovy Kind of Love

CD8 - Nightsong (1996)

1. Zur Guten Nacht, D. 903
2. Abendständchen, Op. 42, No. 1
3. Der Gondelfahrer, D. 809
4. Der Abend, Op. 64, No. 2
5. Abendlied, Op. 69, No. 3
6. Ständchen, D. 920
7. Nachtlied, Op. 138, No. 3
8. Mondenschein, D. 875
9. Die Nacht, D 983C
10. Nachthelle, D. 892
11. Nachtwache I, Op. 104, No. 1
12. Nachtwache II, Op. 104, No. 2
13. Nachtgesang Im Walde, D. 913
14. Frühe, Op. 137, No. 4
15. An Die Heimat, Op. 64, No. 1

CD9 - Spirit Voices (1997)

1. Lift the Wings
2. Spirit Voices
3. She Moved Through the Fair
4. In Your Eyes
5. Fragile
6. Kokomo
7. Please Let Me Wonder
8. Weather with You
9. Vienna
10. Golden Brown
11. Love Is Stronger Than Pride
12. Magic Castle
13. Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime
14. The Lord's Prayer

CD10 - Street Songs (1997)

1. Street Songs / Poor Roger
2. Return of the Moon / in a Far Off Place
3. Return of the Moon / Prayer to the New Moon
4. Return of the Moon / Blue Mist Like Smoke
5. Return of the Moon / Rainmaking with a Bowstring
6. Return of the Moon / Song of the Broken String
7. Street Songs / Oranges and Lemons
8. Horizons
9. Reaching Out - Evelyn Glennie
10. Lalela Zulu / Ilihubo
11. Lalela Zulu / Mambabo!
12. Lalela Zulu / Lala Mntwana
13. Lalela Zulu / Uhambo Ngesitimela
14. Lalela Zulu / E-Goli
15. Lalela Zulu / Umdanso Wasegoli
16. Street Songs / Green Gravel
17. Giles - Evelyn Glennie
18. Street Songs / Jenny Jones

CD11 - Fire - Water, The Spirit of Renaissance Spain (1999)

1. Vuestros Son Mis Ojos (Villancico) - Gabriel Crouch / Andrew Lawrence-King
2. Enemiga Le Soy, Madre (Villancico)
3. Aquel Pastorçico, Madre (Villancico) - David Hurley / Paul Phoenix / Gabriel Crouch
4. Por Las Sierras de Madrid (Quodlibet)
5. Benedictus (From Missa Pro Defunctis)
6. Otro Tal Misacantano (Villancico)
7. La Bomba (Ensalada)
8. Dindirín, Dindirín (Romance)
9. Rodrigo Martínez (Villancico) - Andrew Lawrence-King
10. Antes Que Comáis a Dios (Motet/Canción) - Andrew Lawrence-King
11. El Fuego (Ensalada)
12. Las Vacas (Diferencias) - Andrew Lawrence-King
13. Aleph, Quomodo Sedet Sola Civitas (Lamentatio/Feria V in Caena Domini)
14. La Viuda (Ensalada)
15. Oh, Qué Bien Que Baila Gil! (Villancico) - Andrew Lawrence-King
16. Zarambeques (Baile de Negros)
17. Hoy, Gil, en Conçejo Abierto (Ensalada)