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Does anyone else on this board get a thrill in listening to treble music? For me its sends chills up and down my spine. My current kick is Libera, but my first love will always be The Vienna Boys Choir. (Remember the movie, "The Trouble With Angels"? I first viewed it in the early sixties and fell in love with the music.) I have been very lucky to see the VBC live in concert serveral times and attended their Mass presentation in Vienna in 1982. I also love the soundtrack from "The Choirboys".
Any suggestions for other artists/choirs?
Hugs, Charlie
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13796
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There is someting so crystal clear about a boy treble's voice. Many of the best are unknowns on little local choirs and churches.
Each year the BBC here runs a "Choirboy of the year" competition. I suspect it is now "Chorister", but a girl voice spoils a choir for me. Too "rounded".
And before someone says "It's all about liking little boys", most of the good trebles are wholly unappealing.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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There is an album out that you would like if you already dont have it. Its called "Voices of Angels". Its all Bach Choirs and Sonatas. Bach deliberately wrote all his choirs and sonatas for the voices of boys. Timmys right a girls voice just isnt right for Bachs writtings. Hate to say this, but boys voices are far supperior to girls. (I know, I know, its sexest, but thats the way it is) A boys voice is clearer and sharper than a girls untill the boys voice breaks. Not to be too terribly sexist, I absolutely love Sarah Brightman. then again, Andrea Bocelli gets me excitted in a whole different way ;-D
I believe in Karma....what you give is what you get returned........
Affirmation........Savage Garden
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Thanks, Brian. I will check Amazon and other sites to look for that CD.
I agree with both of you. There is just something that is sooo clear and penetrating about a boy's voice. One interesting item I noted on the Libera site is they still have a boy who is in his mid-teens singing with them. I believe his name is Ben Cardaway. The site seemed to indicate that even after a boy's voice breaks (puberty) he can still sing treble with the proper training. And with this boy at least, it is still very beautiful. Not falsetto.
Looking for more suggestions.
Hugs, Charlie
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pimple
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Likes it here |
Location: USA
Registered: March 2006
Messages: 375
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Greetings-
One of the great side bennies of high-speed at home has been the ability to listen to what I like from almost any source world wide. For me it is non-vocal Early Music (English, French, Persian) and American folk music.
I live far out in the prairie, no DSL or cable so only option was line of sight microwave. Pricie, and if I had to pay - I wouldn't, but being on call 24/7 they foot the bill.
S.R.
Joy Peace and Tranquility
Joyceility
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The unbroken voice has the opposite effect on me. I'm not a great fan of it.
Hugs
N
I dream of boys with big bulges in their trousers,
Never of girls with big bulges in their blouses.
…and look forward to meeting you in Cóito.
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Charlie said,
>One interesting item I noted on the Libera site is they still have a boy who is in his mid-teens singing with them. I believe his name is Ben Cardaway. The site seemed to indicate that even after a boy's voice breaks (puberty) he can still sing treble with the proper training. And with this boy at least, it is still very beautiful. Not falsetto.
Do you have a link for that? I'm afraid that's got to be rubbish. I've known boys whose voices haven't broken until they were 15 or 16, and until then they have been able to sing treble fine; but after that, that's it -- they have to move to tenor or bass. If that were really the case, you would get far more teenagers in boy and cathedral choirs; they would simply be more experienced than the younger ones.
The options in this case (and I don't know which one is correct, without listening to his voice):
i. his voice has not broken yet
ii. he has a very high tenor voice, maybe one that is still in the midst of breaking
iii. his voice has broken, and he is singing falsetto
As an ex-countertenor, I can say that the quality of the countertenor (falsetto) voice is variable, and that it is possible to make a more boyish sound if required than the highly artificial, trained sound that most countertenors rely upon. Though the range is smaller, and lower. But it strikes me as cheating if someone whose voice has broken is still singing in a boy choir, so I'd assume that the first possibility is the most likely.
Deeej
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I've never heard the Vienna Boys' Choir, I'm afraid.
I have to confess, I find Libera rather irritating -- it's sort of new-age "pop" pretending to be classical, usually with the most terrible lyrics (Latin, but with the inflexion and phrasing all wrong -- the words are forced to fit the music, rather than the music being written for the words). And -- oh my God -- one of their pieces is based on Pachelbel's Canon in D major, the most annoyingly repetitive piece of "classical" (actually baroque) music ever written, and the most oft copied in pop music.*
Nevertheless, I think the treble voice is very pleasant, and over the centuries a tremendous amount of music has been written specifically for it. I'm not sure why it is, but girls' voices simply don't work as well. Women's voices have a completely different sound: often wonderful, too, but the quality is so different that one cannot simply substitute a woman where the original score specifies a boy. Not without changing the whole character of the piece, at least.
My favourite choir, of course, has to be Winchester College Chapel Choir, of which I was a member (and who actually have had a few CDs available in recent years, though goodness knows who buys them!) -- and its treble subsection, the Winchester College Quiristers. The boys are not taught their normal academic subjects at Winchester (they are aged 8-13, and Winchester College is from ages 13-18), but they are part of the 620 year-old foundation, and are taught singing and music at the school.
David
*Please don't think I'm bashing Libera because I'm a musical snob. I'm the first to admit I don't know much about music. But I do know that they irritate me.
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When I am in Britain, alas, too seldom, I try to visit at least one of the cathedrals to calm down and to listen to its choir, usually during evensong. Sitting in the choir stalls only a few yards away from the boys gives me some idea, I think, about what heaven must be like.
British choirs are my favourites, with more emphasis on balance and homogeneity than those belonging to the German tradition, with a distinct difference of tonal quality between e.g. the Vienna Boys' Choir and the boys of almost any British cathedral choir. I know, though, that others will disagree with me. I don't know if I've heard the Winchester College Chapel Choir, Deeej, but I'm sure they are brilliant. I must try to find a recording with them. Would you care to suggest a particularly good one?
I used to have one favourite voice, but that lad is a grown-up man now, and has his own programme on BBC Radio 3: "The Choir". He is, of course, Aled Jones.
I have been told that if girls are trained to sing the same way as boys are, their voices, too, will have the slightly sharper tonal quality, but I don't know how true that is.
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pimple
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Likes it here |
Location: USA
Registered: March 2006
Messages: 375
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Greetings
What do you sail? The ship in my avatir is ex Bergen
SR
Joy Peace and Tranquility
Joyceility
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>I don't know if I've heard the Winchester College Chapel Choir, Deeej, but I'm sure they are brilliant. I must try to find a recording with them. Would you care to suggest a particularly good one?
To be honest, there aren't very many -- it's a school choir, foremost, so most of the work is on Sunday services and recitals at the school. When I say it's my favourite, it's mostly because of loyalty to my school, not because it's internationally recognised. (Though, honestly, it's not bad. Many -- maybe half -- of the choir go on to sing in world class Oxford and Cambridge choirs.) Before you ask, I wasn't on any of the CDs, though I did sing in a BBC Radio 4 live service. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone who recorded it, so it's unlikely I'll ever hear it.
If you're thinking of buying a CD, you could try this one:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0007NA18Q/qid=1142467759/sr=8-3/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i3_xgl/026-6226126-8194010
There are others available if you look for them -- including a recent one recorded on a tour of Hong Kong with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and some professional soloists. And others specifically by the Winchester Quiristers (just the boys). For what it's worth, three different Winchester College Quiristers won the BBC's Chorister of the Year award* in 2001, 2003 and 2004 (if I remember correctly), which is pretty good going for just one choir.
David
(*Timmy, there is still "Choirboy of the Year", but there's also an equivalent "Female Chorister of the Year" -- for some reason usually won by a girl who is in her mid-teens, not an equivalent age at all.)
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cossie
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On fire! |
Location: Exiled in North East Engl...
Registered: July 2003
Messages: 1699
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... but even more interesting is the fact that Aled Jones was NOT the treble who sang on the soundtrack of the film of Raymond Brigg's story 'The Snowman'. The voice in the film belongs to Peter Auty, who received only a modest flat fee for his contribution to a huge international success.
My personal favourite piece of treble singing is the theme to Stephen Spielberg's film 'Empire of the Sun'. It's a Welsh lullaby called (I think) 'Suo Gan', and it is BEAUTIFUL.
For a' that an' a' that,
It's comin' yet for a' that,
That man tae man, the worrld o'er
Shall brithers be, for a' that.
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Deeej, you have never impressed me as being a snob about anything. Pedantic, maybe, but no matter. Everyone has different tastes and feelings, otherwise would be so boring.
I will be diligently searching for Winchester College Quiristers. My interest has been piqued.
Hugs, Charlie
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Found it at Amazon and it is on its way. Muchas gracias.
Hugs, Charlie
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I think this is the very first thread I have ever started here to merit the flames. I am honored.  ::-)  )
Hugs, Charlie
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WOW too, another Libera fan!!! don't think i've ever met someone who knew about and loved Libera before i introduced them to it lol
new agey semi religious/classical music is really my thing... everything from Gregorian Chants and Mozart's Requiem to Libera and Enya...
Aden, tBP
Odi et amo: quare id faciam, fortasse requiris.
Nescio, set fieri sentio et excrucior
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I've been listening to a bit of Libera (yes, I actually bought a couple of their CDs once, to see what they sounded like, so I dug them out). I suppose what I object to is:
- the synthesizers and percussion; they just sound "wrong" for that sort of music
- the lack of bass (I prefer full SATB choirs)
- the rather simplistic harmonies
- the slightly clumsy arrangement to the words (as I mentioned before)
I have to say that most of the singing itself is very good; I give them full credit for that.
Does anyone else like Benjamin Britten's choral music? Random sample here, sung by Winchester College Chapel Choir:
http://www.davidjoy.org/jubilate.mp3
Incidentally, I've been looking through my music collection and came across several different recordings of Allegri's Miserere, which has one of the most divine top Cs (I think) in choral music. Ironically, the technically best recording is not by a boy (as it should be), but by a woman: the Tallis Scholars version, if anyone's interested.
David
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Hi, Simon!
I am on firm land most of the time and hardly sail at all these days. Almost all the men in my family, on both sides, were sailors or fishermen, so that's where I picked up my name.
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Thanks a lot, David!
I'll buy the "Hear my Prayer" CD.
And, please forgive an aging viking, soon ready for the geriatric nursing home. I do have the recent recording from Hong Kong. It's sweet and all that, but musically it doesn't hit me, neither in my head nor in my heart. What the boys do, they do very well, but the rest is a musical hotchpotch which is probably intended to appeal to the masses. Well, it didn't appeal a lot to me, which is probably why I had forgotten all about it.
Sailor
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By the way, Simon, are you a sailor or seaman yourself?
______
Sailor
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>I do have the recent recording from Hong Kong.
Really? That's a fascinating coincidence! I didn't know the choir had fans in Norway...
>musically it doesn't hit me, neither in my head nor in my heart.
I wasn't terribly impressed by it myself; that's why I didn't recommend it. On a technical level the recording quality wasn't great either. On the other hand, I'm sure it must have been a hoot to be there. No-one ever paid for me to go to somewhere exotic, unfortunately! (I was only in the choir for a year and a term, just before I left.)
If you're interested in "trying before you buy", this is the last track on the "Hear my Prayer" CD, which I happen to have on my computer -- I put it up mostly because it's the shortest, and also by Britten, whom I happen to like:
http://www.davidjoy.org/jubilate.mp3
David
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pimple
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Likes it here |
Location: USA
Registered: March 2006
Messages: 375
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Greetings
I work in waterborn transportation
Regards
SR
Joy Peace and Tranquility
Joyceility
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Cossie,
I have an mp3 copy of Suo Gan and if anyone would like to hear it I can try sending it to them:
King's, Clare, & St. John's College Choirs - Suo Gân - mp3 (3.39Mb)
It is one of those tunes that sticks in your head. I remember well the film 'Empire of the Sun' largely because of it. An exceedingly good film. (A bit like Mr.Kipling's cakes, LOL.)
Actually, having been press-ganged into being a chorister at the age of ten, I have quite a liking for choral music and am accumulation a fair collection if anyone is stuck trying to find any particular pieces.
Mike.g
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Dear Mike.g,
Yes, please,
I'd love to have a copy of that file!
______
Sailor
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Hi, Cossie!
Isn't that often the case - there are artists who are just as clever as the famous ones, or even better, but by coincidence they never make it to the headlines. Aled Jones did have a beautiful treble voice, though, but since I am only an uncivilized descendent of the vikings, my insight into haute culture is very limited.
Ok, I'll admit it: I'm envious!
Sailor
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I'd love to hear it too! Perhaps if you're emailing it, you could CC it and not have to send it seperately to all of us.
Best wishes,
David
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Thank you, dear friend, for the MP3 file! I think I'm going to like that CD. And, yes, Britten is great. The repertoire of the cathedral choirs is usually rather predictable (?), and Benjamin Britten's music is a breath of fresh air!
Sailor
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Double WOW! My kids think I am nuts because I force them to listen to that kind of music on occasion and really get into it when I am listening. Then they change their minds when I start on the AC/DC, Kansas, Queen, Lynard Skynard, and Korn. (I never said I was sane. ))
Then I really mess them up with Billy Gilman, Declan, and Michael Junior. But what really blows their minds is switching back and forth from Heintje to Hunter Hayes. Then I settle them down with Maroon 5, Matchbox 20, and 3 Doors Down. Next of course is George Strait, Trisha Underwood, and Clint Black. Then I top it off with the Beatles, James Taylor, and (naturally) Garth Brooks.
Top it off with Strauss, Wagner, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Copland.
Hugs, Charlie
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Never mind the technicalities, I have KCC's version (King's College Cambridge choir) and it's enough to send tingles up and down your spine!
Just a personal opinion, but I prefer TATB (Treble,Alto,Tenor,Bass)choirs like King's, David. A boy treble has a purer sound than lady sopranos to my ear. Hence the collection of King's recordings.
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Mike,
>Just a personal opinion, but I prefer TATB (Treble,Alto,Tenor,Bass)choirs like King's, David. A boy treble has a purer sound than lady sopranos to my ear. Hence the collection of King's recordings.
By SATB I did in fact mean TATB -- but SATB is the common abbreviation, usually referring simply to the existence of four different parts rather than the sex of the people who are singing them. Sorry if it wasn't terribly clear. I don't have any particular fondness for lady sopranos and altos in SATB choirs (though they can be very good) -- the fact is, most well-known choral music was written for male choirs, but is usually referred to as SATB music anyway.
If we're being pedantic, altos are technically women, so an all male choir should be something like TCTB (treble, countertenor/castrato, tenor, bass). But that abbreviation is never used as far as I can tell.
Yours pedantically,
Deeej
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