Various Artists - Engineer's Choice 2 / Various - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

This is the second volume in the EP series 'The Library'. The idea behind this series is to explore both the history, and the new horizons, of The King's Singers close-harmony repertoire. Close-harmony is the part of their work for which they are best known, and their library of thousands of arrangements is one they're determined to explore, maintain and develop. The track -listing is designed to celebrate some old favorites from the library alongside brand new arrangements and adaptations, created especially for these recordings, which may perhaps become 'old favorites' of the future. Volume 2 was recorded in the beautiful surroundings of Snape Maltings, Suffolk (UK) - a place most famous for it's association with Benjamin Britten - and it proved to be a relaxing and inspiring place to work for two beautiful wintry days. The King's Singers were founded on 1 May 1968 by six choral scholars who had recently graduated from King's College Cambridge. Their vocal line-up was (by chance) two countertenors, a tenor, two baritones and a bass, and the group has never wavered from this formation since.

Zemlinsky, Korngold and Bloch also shared the fate of so many other important musical voices of the early twentieth century when their music was banned, and their lives and careers upended, by the Nazi regime.  All three names can be found in the infamous Lexikon der Juden in der Musik, first published under the auspices of the Nazi Party in 1940. These policies, and others, created a rupture in the seamless heritage of German music, removing thousands of worthy works from performance, from publication and-for many- from posterity. It is the hope that musicians and music-lovers everywhere will hear these three works, and be intrigued to listen to-and to play-these and other chamber works by the many composers whose fortunes were curtailed by unfortunate timing on the stage of twentieth-century Europe. James Conlon.

Various Artists - Historical Recordings 2 / Various [COMPACT DISCS] date 01/01/2000