Sing along with The King's Singers: The Gift to be Simple (arr. Chilcott)
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- Опубликовано: 22 май 2023
- These sing along videos are made thanks to generous donations to The King's Singers Global Foundation, which aims to give access to great choral music in innovative and inclusive ways such as this. If you enjoyed this video you can help us make more: www.kingssingers.com/donate
In the third of our 2023 Sing Along videos, we're sharing 'The Gift to be Simple', an American Shaker hymn which was arranged for us by our former tenor Bob Chilcott, who gives the accompaniment to a quartet of voices and the melody line to the remaining two. As you sing along, you may wish to try the famous melody line, or you may want to have a go at one of the backing parts! Let us know in the comments how you get on.
Patrick Dunachie - countertenor
Edward Button - countertenor
Julian Gregory - tenor
Christopher Bruerton - baritone
Nick Ashby - baritone
Jonathan Howard - bass
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Sound engineer: Tom Lewington
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These guys blend so well together, particularly Julian and Chris. Blows my mind every time.
In the moments where Bob sets up the two-part imitation, such as ‘When true simplicity…’, be conscious of whether you are the lead part or the echo part. If you’re the ‘echo’, listen carefully and make sure you copy the phrasing/expression of the lead.
'A King's Singers Classic'
If you’re singing the upward scales at the end, think in the OPPOSITE direction to the scale, to help your vocal support stay engaged as the pitch goes higher.
This is an old American song, not an English choral anthem; so we gently adapt the style of our text delivery to reflect this. It’s not all the way to Frank Sinatra, but for phrases like ‘where you ought to be’, we opt not to pronounce both ’t’ sounds, and instead go for something like ‘oughtta be’.
The final chord in particular should ring beautifully. The ‘ee’ vowel has lots of potential for lovely harmonics in the voice. If the note you are singing is Aflat or Eflat, listen for the people 1 octave away from you, and if needed adjust your pitch to make sure you are a true octave apart! If you are singing the major third (C), this doesn’t have to be very bright in pitch. Using ‘just intonation’ (based on the natural harmonic series), a major third is actually quite low compared to where it would be in ‘equal temperament’ (as a piano is tuned).
Whether you’re singing the solo line or the accompaniment, you will have ‘shared’ notes, where yours and another part momentarily share a single note. In a choral setting, we think it’s important to adjust the balance for these moments, so that the chord is balanced and the shared note doesn’t stick out too much. So consider ‘micro-balancing’ with your team mates and singing 50/50 with them for these brief moments.
It's a delight to sing with Eddie listening to the others!
Thank you so much. That was just beautiful. You are truly gift
Beautiful!!! 🎶🎶🎶
❤ Absolutely beautiful ❤
Oh how I love listening to you chaps sing!
If you want a simpler introduction to this piece, try singing the (famous) melody line, which Jules and Chris are singing here. For a greater challenge, choose your voice part in the 4-part accompaniment and sing along with Pat, Eddie, Nick or Johnny.
Thankyou for a most wonderful evening in Karlsruhe, Christuskirche!
This was lovely. Thank you!
I love the peaceful sounds. Simplifies my day
Magnificent simplicity ❤
EXCELLENT!!!
I have a lovely story that is about this beautiful Shaker song. I was friends with Sydney Carter, best known, I think, for his song/hymn, The Lord of The Dance. No doubt you are already aware that the melody for this song is very similar to Tis a gift to be simple. In fact Sydney told me that he considered that he borrowed the melody from the Shakers and wae ever grateful to them.
Huh, I know this melody from Copland's "Appalachian Spring", didn't know it was a folk tune!