June 30, 2015

Feeling hot, hot, hot!

Well the UK is certainly putting on a show with the weather at the moment. This week was supposed to be something of a heatwave and it's certainly living up to the hype!These few days at home will be spent, much like the rest of my colleagues, revising some of the new repertoire for our show in Cheltenham on Thursday. It's a wonderful programme and I do hope that there are some gems that we can keep for our more regular programming ideas - such as the beautiful close harmony piece which opens this concert, Alice in Wonderland by the masterful Gordon Langford. I remember hearing this piece on the group's fantastic album release, Chanson d'Amour (https://www.kingssingers.com/products/chanson-damour/) and was instantly hooked to that special KS sound! Gordon Langford certainly has to be up there with the most important KS arrangers of all time. He spent time arranging for brass bands and used this same philosophy of tightly spaced chording ('close harmony') when writing for The KS. He wrote a huge amount for this group and each time I walk into the library, I glance over at the extensive Langford section and smile to myself. What a legend.....