AN EVENING WITH THE KINGS SINGERS

Choral Foundation Concert at Chelmsford Cathedral

15.10.10

The last of this year's Chelmsford Cathedral Choral Foundation concerts brought us an evening with the renowned Kings Singers, currently boasting in the ranks counter-tenor Timothy Wayne-Wright, erstwhile KEGS boy and Cathedral chorister.

A varied programme, impeccably delivered.

There was plenty of light entertainment, with a sequence of Gilbert and Sullivan, including witty and imaginative arrangements of The Pirate King and The Ghosts' High Noon. And of course some close harmony treats to finish – Danny Boy, sounding as rich and smooth as draught Guinness, and nods to Nat King Cole and Michael Bublé.

Other new music included commissions for the Queen's Jubilee in 2002 – Jocelyn Pook's Mobile set words by Andrew Motion, and featured lots of amusing effects, not least the phrase of Torrega which became the most annoying ringtone …

But the most satisfying sequences were the two Master and Pupil juxtapositions – Byrd and his teacher Tallis, and Gerald Finzi with his largely forgotten tutor, Sir Edward Bairstow.