The German men's vocal sextet Die Singphoniker was established in the early '80s and has made it its mission to take on a promiscuous variety of music, including plainsong, the repertoires of music for men's voices of the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern eras, as well as folk song and American popular song. In this album the group brings its commitment to diversity to new level. Taking Pierre de la Rue's Requiem, Missa pro fidelibus defunctis (ca. 1506) as its central work, the group intersperses its seven movements with a wild variety of other pieces, including the spiritual Deep River; a movement from Weill's Berliner Requiem; German folk songs; contemporary pieces by Einojuhani Rautavaara, Knut Nystedt, and Hans Schanderl; and arrangements of songs by Sting and Eric Clapton. Even as a recital, this assortment would make for a pretty eccentric mix, but the group takes the further provocative step of describing the album as a unified work: Fragile: A Requiem for Male Voices. Much space in the program notes is given over to debating the pros and cons of the propriety of making such a designation, but the prevailing argument is that the human voice provides the organic unifying element that does in fact allow the diverse pieces to be heard as parts of a larger whole. Listeners will certainly have a variety of opinions on the success of the enterprise, but for those who can approach it as the performers intended it, as a tool for contemplation rather than the subject of analytical dissection, the album has an intuitively meaningful flow.Die Singphoniker may not have quite the level of polish or the velvety blend of other a cappella groups like Chanticleer or the King's Singers, but it is still an excellent ensemble that delivers nuanced and spirited performances. The singing in the demanding de la Rue Requiem is especially beautiful and the group provides the rhythmic punchiness that really brings it to life. The five songs in English may be problematic for English speakers because of the accents of the singers, particularly noticeable in the Sting and Clapton and in Deep River. Oehms' sound is terrific: clean, detailed, warm, and very present

The German Die Singphoniker emerged from the Music Academy of Munich in 1980. These six educated fellows were enchanted by the Comedian Harmonists, who preceded them as one of Germany's most popular vocal harmony groups; Die Singphoniker sound much like them (and bear more than a passing resemblance to England's King's Singers, as well). The sextet's scholarship led them to the works of Schubert, Lasso, Mendelssohn and others, and has resulted in many recordings through the years. This particular CD takes as its theme the 'serenade,' a song performed to express love for another. From this departure point, songs as disparate as 'Paper Dolls' and Saint-Saens' 'Serenade d'Hiver' are devoted companions; whether a madrigal ('Bon Jour Mon Coeur, ' Lasso), or a standard ('Serenade In Blue,' Warren), every track is impeccable. Three of the songs are accompanied by piano.

The six German men who call themselves Die Singphoniker are virtuosos who specialize in very difficult pieces, from Gregorian chant to the Avantgarde, in this case bringing us some rarely-heard works of Romantic European music, partsongs by Richard Strauss and Max Reger. New interpreters of vocal chamber music of the 19th century, the group's success is measured in many awards and rave reviews: its last five CDs have received prizes. Included are 20 pieces, favorites are 'Frohlich im Maien,' 'Hut du dich!,' 'Liebe op. 42,1,' and Der Brauttanz op. 45,3' by Strauss; and 'Liebchens Bote,' Frohsinn op. 38,5,' 'Hochsommernacht op. 83,5' and 'Minnelied op. 83,7' by Reger. Difficult, eclectic choral music, effortlessly and beautifully performed.

Die Singphoniker, six talented German male singers, love to perform in concert and they love 19th century vocal chamber music, and audiences and judges clearly enjoy listening to them follow their hearts! Here we are treated to 23 such works by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847). All are delightful, but some particular favorites are 'Turkisches Schenkenlied,' 'Sommerlied,' 'Liebe und Wein,' 'Wanderlied,' 'Trinklied,' 'Abschiedstafel,''Jagdgesang,' 'Lob der Trunkenheit,' and 'Worauf kommt es uberall an.' Beautiful, rarely-performed material, sung with spirit and panache by one of the world's finest male sextets.

Focussing on little-known and rarely performed Romantic European vocal chamber music of the 19th century, the 6 men of Singphoniker bring us 12 difficult works by Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868), and two by Franz Schubert, 'La Pastorella' and 'Der Gondelfahrer.' Some favorites are 'Chant funebre' (which includes some drums), 'La Notte di Santo Natale,' (with piano), 'Choeur de chasseurs democrates,' 'L'invito,' 'La Danza,' 'Un Sou,' and 'Overture Guillaume Tell' (with piano). It's very clear, especially in this last cut, with the addition of silly sound effects, that the group is having big fun on stage and not taking themselves or the material too seriously. Good stuff!

Paul Simon is certainly one of America's finest contemporary songwriters and his songs with Art Garfunkel are pop classics. This recording is a wonderful choral setting of some of the best of these songs as performed by this top-notch vocal ensemble.

Their repertoire ranges from Gregorian chant to contemporary music - all the way to easy listening. After 25 years in the limelight, the six-voice vocal ensemble can look back on over 1000 concerts throughout the world. For the first time, however, the Singphoniker are releasing a CD with German folksongs. Their program consists of works by Silcher, Brahms and Reger, each of whom had a completely different approach to handling old tunes. Their common goal, however, was a desire to reacquaint their contemporaries with the vast treasures in the folk repertoire. The Singphoniker's CD will contribute to making known as well as unknown folksongs - which are not very at-home in the concert hall - resound again in the private environment: singing or humming along is expressly desired!

This release from the remarkable male vocal group is a celebration of the intimate connection between music and Christmas throughout the world, regardless of different customs and languages. In this case the focus is on Europe, but the point is that no other celebration is so closely associated with such an abundant repertoire of songs, many of which are shared and often adapted to suit a particular culture or tradition. As usual, the six singers (plus a couple of 'guests' on several tracks) perform first-rate arrangements (especially those by ensemble member Ludwig Thomas) of hymns and carols, including 'Adeste fideles', 'Es ist ein Ros entsprungen', 'Quelle est cette odeur agreable', and 'Stille Nacht'. Along the way we hear other songs (many less-familiar) from Norway, Italy, England, the Netherlands, and Catalonia.

Listen to Vom Himmel Hoch in RealAudio.