THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 28, 1996 TAG: 9601260115
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUE VANHECKE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
CLASSICAL MUSIC purists might cringe, but England's acclaimed King's Singers - who perform in Hampton on Monday - could not care less. A good song is a good song, whether it was crafted by Gilbert and Sullivan or Lennon and McCartney. That's why the all-male a cappella group's expansive repertoire - more than 2,000 songs at last count - places pop songwriters such as Paul Simon, Phil Collins and Billy Joel alongside Renaissance composers Thomas Tallis, Thomas Tomkins and William Byrd.
``The group's always done a tremendous variety of stuff,'' countertenor David Hurley explained recently from his home in southern England. ``We try and cover as much ground as we possibly can with really just one proviso - and this counts not simply for the pop songs, but for everything we sing: The material must be good.
``It's a living organism,'' he said of the group's versatile catalog, which appeals to audiences of all ages. ``At any one time there are pieces that are being introduced into the repertoire, and pieces that are likewise being taken out. We're always looking for new pieces. We need to be kept on our toes.''
Formed in 1968 as a lighthearted, entertaining addition to tours by the King's College Choir at Cambridge University, the troupe - with voices ranging from booming bass to Hurley's falsetto countertenor, or male alto - has since earned worldwide notoriety for its artistry. The group is noted for its seamless unison and harmony singing, practical soloing and uncanny mimicry of orchestral and other sounds.
The sextet has performed in almost every country and issued more than 60 recordings. Their appearances on American television include ``The Tonight Show,'' the special ``A Tribute to Paul McCartney with the Boston Pops'' and their own six-part A&E cable network series, ``The King's Singers Madrigal History Tour.''
Monday's genre-jumping program at Ogden Hall on Hampton University's campus is quintessential King's Singers. On the bill will be Irish folk songs, modern madrigals (including four written in 1958 by Norfolk's Thea Musgrave and revived for the current U.S. tour), plus colorful, contrasting selections by French Renaissance composers Clement Janequin and Josquin des Prez.
The concert's second half includes pieces penned especially for the King's Singers by South African composer Stanley Glasser, and will finish up with the group's much-loved pop song arrangements, ``chosen like the specials in a restaurant - the plats du jour,'' Hurley said. ``By the end of the night people are usually ready for something lighter, something fun. It sends people home smiling.''
Hurley's background in the male choirs of English churches and schools is typical of most of the King's Singers members. He became a chorister at Winchester Cathedral at age 8, then spent five years at Winchester College before winning a choral scholarship at New College, Oxford. After six years as a free-lance vocalist, he was asked to join the King's Singers in 1990.
The selection process for new members can be arduous, Hurley said. When a singer announces his intent to retire, the other members and their associates put out feelers, trawling within the vocal circles of Britain for possible replacements. Prospects then stand in for a 40-minute rehearsal, with the departing member listening in.
``But there's an element in which the moment it happens, you know they're the right person,'' Hurley said. ``We live half the year on the road together, plus the U.K. concerts, plus recording. You're going to spend an awful lot of time together. Therefore, there has to be a chemistry of some sort.''
That he is now a King's Singer still astonishes Hurley: He had been a fan of the ensemble since childhood. It was a special thrill, then, when the group performed a few weeks ago in Hurley's hometown of Winchester, England.
``The concert was held in the concert hall of the school I went to,'' he said. ``There was I standing on the stage. It was the most petrifying concert I've ever done.
``It was a case of looking at all those (familiar) faces and the realization that 18 years ago as a schoolboy I went to a King's Singers concert in that very same hall. That was, in fact, the only time I'd heard the group live before I was given the job.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
STEVE HICKEY
KEYWORDS: PROFILE MUSIC VOICE by CNB