Interview, The King's Singers at 50

On 1st May 1968 The King's Singers made their first official appearance (at the Queen Elizabeth Hall), and since then they've become one of the best-known all-male a cappella groups in the world; though the line-up of singers is now completely different from the original one, they've retained a unique, instantly identifiable sound and brand.

I spoke to Timothy Wayne-Wright (their Second Countertenor since 2009) about how the group went about putting together their own fiftieth birthday-present to their fans (including the selection of material, the commissioning of new arrangements, and revisiting repertoire which they've previously recorded), how their identity has evolved over the past five decades, and how they go about their audition and recruitment-process.

GOLD is very much a celebration of the musical diversity of The King’s Singers – but is it possible to see any particular tracks on the album as a ‘signature-song’? If you had to pick out two or three tracks which have a special significance for you, either personally or collectively, what would they be?

That's totally right. GOLD is a true celebration of the range of music which The King's Singers encapsulates. For me there are two tracks on the album, that truly optimise our mindset and musical vision as we move into our next 50 years. The first track is a brand new arrangement for our GOLD album of the song Kelele, originally written by the singer-songwriter and activist, Angélique Kidjo. This song seemed to completely mirror our ideals as a group - it celebrates the pure joy to be found in singing, making music and generally making noise! The second track which I also think is so powerful in adding a glorious contemporary edge to our GOLD season is We Are. Here we commissioned former tenor in The King's Singers, Bob Chilcott, to set music to text by Maya Angelou called The Human Family. The song is such a feel-good piece and the American poet's poignant text - 'We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike' runs throughout the piece. It's difficult not to smile when you're singing this one!

The new album includes quite a few works that were written especially for the ensemble: how do these usually come about? Do you tend to approach composers with commissions, or is it more often a case of them coming to you?

We wanted this album to really contain a balance of repertoire - not too many brand new commissions that the real hardcore KS fans would have never heard of before, but also importantly, not just looking back at repertoire that has been in our library for five decades. We feel that we've got this balance right. More often than not, it's a case of us approaching composers/arrangers and asking them if they would like to write for us. The wonderful thing about GOLD is that we have a spectrum of composers represented - ranging from Toby Hession, a relatively new name on the scene, to the master of the KS sound-world, Bob Chilcott.

You’ve re-visited some tracks that the group have previously recorded: did you compare and contrast the final edits with the older recordings and how different do they sound?

When we carefully selected a few tracks that had already been recorded on previous albums, it was difficult not to compare and contrast the two sounds. However, it's always surprising to me how similar the group sounds now to even some of the very old LPs that the group made back in the 1970s! Even though the timbre of individual voices have obviously changed over the years, the overall group sound really hasn't changed much at all. This is a huge strength of the group and one goal which we continuously strive to maintain.

A fair few of the tracks on this album are arranged by existing or former members of the group: how does the arrangement-process normally work, and do you all tend to have some degree of input into these new versions?

A great strength of the group is that it has always had arrangers from within the line-up. Members such as Philip Lawson, Bill Ives, Bob Chilcott and Simon Carrington together produced well-over 150 compositions and arrangements, many of which we still sing today. At least half of the group now arrange and for this GOLD project a couple of the chaps put their hands up for the task in hand. Christopher Gabbitas and Christopher Bruerton (our baritones) both arranged pieces which now appear on the album, and they're already proving very popular pieces with the public! As in everything we do, we all have input into the final decision - or in this case, the final draft of the arrangement. We sang the first draft of the arrangement through and made a tweak here and a tweak there and then, when we're all happy, we pop the red light on and record it!

The group has welcomed several new faces over the past decade: what is your audition-process like, and what are the main qualities you look for in a new King’s Singer?

The audition process is a truly intriguing thing. After I got offered the job back in 2008, I asked this very question and the chaps said, "You just know when the right person comes through the door and within the first few bars of music, you know whether or not the 'fit' is right or not". They were totally right. When a King's Singer decides to leave the group, we draw up a list of potential candidates which have been recommended to us by conductors and directors in the choral scene in the UK. The three main pools of singers are essentially in London, Oxford and Cambridge. From this list we ask the candidates to audition and attend a first round, which lasts around 15 minutes. In this first round audition, you are really listening to the beauty of the instrument but also, crucially, how well their instrument fits in with the other existing voices in the line-up. You can have the best voice on earth but if you can't blend, then you're not a King's Singer! The second round is more like a rehearsal - around 45 minutes in length. In this we can really test other elements of their musicianship - sight reading, memorisation and transposition for example, but we also have to consider facets such as stage-presence and personality which is a big consideration. We spend around 200 days each year on tour so if you don't have the right personality and temperament for this job, then that would not make for happy working conditions! All in all, it's always very clear which candidate is the right 'fit' and as soon as they accept the position, the music-learning starts!

Aside from the coming and going of particular singers, the last fifty years have seen some pretty significant changes in terms of how music in general is produced, marketed and performed – what have been the main changes and challenges the group have faced over the past five decades, in terms of repertoire, audiences or identity?

The constant challenge that the group faces is how to stay relevant. It's easy to rest on our laurels and simply say that the group is in a very fortunate position in the a cappella world, so let's just keep the status quo. However, in order to keep attracting new audiences in new territories all over the world, we have to change with the times. For example, there is now so much demand for visual footage of the group instead of solely audio. We've responded to this and just finished our first main batch of days working with a film crew who came with us on tour - creating a 'fly-on-the-wall' documentary as we approach our anniversary. The same film crew also shot some fantastic music videos of a few chosen tracks from our GOLD album which will be released very soon. As this milestone anniversary approaches, we really feel that this is the start of the next fifty years not the end of the first fifty, so we're always looking for ways to innovate and create new and exciting projects. Whether this is through commissioning new composers (such as Toby Hession) or through our collaborative work with fine instrumentalists and vocalists around the world, a huge strength of the group is that we don't take anything for granted. We strive for excellence in everything we do, and endeavour to make the next fifty years equally as successful as the first fifty.