The Sixteen

This English chamber choir, conducted by Harry Christoper, is currently touring the U.S., and if they come to your city, go see them!

As you know, I'm a choral singer, and the house manager for the concert hall where The Sixteen performed is a member of the church where I sing. When the concert seemed to be undersold, she arranged comps for us choir members to help fill the house.

The concert consisted of works by Thomas Tallis, John Tavener, and Michael Tippett, not exactly household names in the U.S., which may be one reason for the slow ticket sales. From the first notes of the first piece (Tavener's "Hymn to the Mother of God"), I was amazed at the singers' sound. Although there were only eighteen of them (not sixteen :shrug:), they sounded like a choir twice their size, and everyone seemed to have perfect control.

Even though they sang a lot of pieces that I know, I didn't detect any mistakes.

We sopranos were especially in awe of their sopranos, who had that boys' choir sound and sounded like one voice most of the time.

The concert ended with Tavener's Song for Athene, the anthem sung at the end of Princess Diana's funeral.

So, go hear The Sixteen if you get a chance. If you don't know Tallis (Elizabethan composer), or Tavener (still alive) or Tippett (died just a few years ago), you should--they're all well worth knowing.

I work in a music and book store, and one time a customer looked at the latest CD by the Sixteen and said, very loudly, "Who are the Sixteen Harry Christophers?" That's right up there with "If this is the Three Tenors, why are there four guys on the cover?"

Anyway, I've heard nothing but good about the Sixteen and have a real fondness for vocal groups. If the opportunity arises to see them, I'll go.

In the pop music realm, I used to think that Ben Folds Five was a sentence: Ben folds five (of something). Well, it wouldn't be any weirder than a lot of bands' names, would it?

I didn't realize that "Folds" was Ben's last name. :blush: