January 22, 2020

Finding Harmony, The Scotsman

The King’s Singers: Finding Harmony (Signum Classics) ****

“This latest album from the evergreen King’s Singers is signature a cappella. Its binding theme is the harmony that songs ultimately bring to issues of conflict throughout history. Bach’s Ein Feste Burg, prefaced by a primitive monodic verse, harks back to Luther’s Reformation. A whimsical puirt à beul and James MacMillan’s haunting arrangement of O, chì chì ma ni mòrbheanna reference the Highland clearances, while Bread and Roses is a spirited feminist protest. Elsewhere there are musical responses to the Holocaust, oppression in Africa, the Civil Rights movement in the United States and even the underground plight of 15th century Catholic worshippers expressed in William Byrd’s motet Ne irascaris Domine. All these works are expressed through the ensemble’s liquid homogeneity and beautiful harmonies – more exquisite arrangements to add to the King’s Singers’ unsurmountable repertoire.

Ken Walton

Read the article at scotsman.com