High Flight Choral Music by Chilcott, Lauridsen and Whitacre
The King's Singers
Signum SIGCD262

Release date October 2011

High Flight is a glorious disc of choral works performed by the King’s Singers, featuring music by Eric Whitacre, Morten Lauridsen and former member Bob Chilcott. The inspiration for the recording was taken from three works (including Chilcott’s eponymous High Flight) written for the King’s Singers in 2008 as part of their 40th anniversary celebrations. They are scored for the group plus SATB choir - on this disc the Concordia Choir, one of America’s finest unaccompanied choirs, who here meld seamlessly with the King’s Singers. The disc showcases what the King’s Singers do best: beguiling a cappella choral singing of the very highest quality. The opening work is Chilcott’s Oculi Omnium, a simple setting of words from Psalm 145 which sets the mellow tone for this release. Lauridsen’s plaintive O Nata Lux, the central movement from Lux Aeterna, follows and, as the composer explains, is ‘an extended choral/orchestral meditative work on the theme of Light’. The disc also includes his Magnum Mysterium (his most well-known work, and for good reason). Both these interpretations are among the finest I’ve encountered. Eric Whitacre’s contributions include the softly emotive This Marriage (performed by Chanticleer at their Queen’s Hall concert during the Festival this year). It is entirely homophonic, suiting the King’s Singers’ style perfectly, with words by the Persian poet and philosopher Jalal al-Dim Rumi (1207-1273). This disc offers a wealth of choral delights too numerous to mention in detail here, with the King’s Singers on superlative form. I’d whole- heartedly recommend this to any contemporary choral music fan.


Reviewed by Dawn Gibson