Extreme Voices
Tom Service discovers some of the most extreme vocals in music, from Mozart and Rachmaninov to Stockhausen and Daft Punk, and finds out whether we're all extreme singers at heart.
Whether it's an eye-wateringly high soprano or profoundly low bass, lightning quick rappers, the star castrati of the 18th century, the screamers, the growlers, the robots or the singers that can produce two notes at once - there are a lot of extreme voices out there.
Tom Service takes a trip through the many purveyors of vocal pyrotechnics from Mozart and Rachmaninov to Stockhausen, Tom Waits and Daft Punk, has a lesson in throat singing from overtone singer Michael Ormiston, and finds out whether we're all extreme singers at heart.
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Music Played
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James Brown
Get Up Offa That Thing
Performer: James Brown.- Get Up Offa That Thing.
- Universal/Polydor.
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Alash
My Throat the Cuckoo
Performer: Alash.- Achai.
- www.alashensemble.com.
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Alexander Gretchaninov
Now the Powers of Heaven, Op.58
Choir: Conspirare. Director: Craig Hella Johnson.- Harmonia Mundi.
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叠箩枚谤办
Triumph of a Heart
Performer: 叠箩枚谤办.- Medulla.
- Elektra.
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Nicola Porpora
Alto Giove (Polifemo)
Singer: Philippe Jaroussky. Orchestra: Venice Baroque Orchestra. Conductor: Andrea Marcon.- ERATO.
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Tom Waits
Little Drop of Poison
Performer: Tom Waits.- Orphans (Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards).
- Anti.
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Daft Punk
Harder Better Faster Stronger
Performer: Daft Punk.- Discovery.
- Virgin.
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Diamanda Gal谩s
Wild Women with Steak Knives
Performer: Diamanda Gal谩s.- The Litanies of Satan.
- Mute.
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Alles f眉hlt der Liebe; Der H枚lle Rache (The Magic Flute)
Singer: Edita Gruberov谩. Conductor: Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Singer: Peter Keller. Orchestra: Philharmonia Z眉rich. -
Thomas Ad猫s
The Tempest
Performer: Cynthia Sieden. Performer: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Performer: Thomas Ad猫s.- EMI.
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Minnie Riperton
Loving You
- Perfect Angel.
- Import.
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叠箩枚谤办
It's Oh So Quiet
- Post Live.
- One Little Indian.
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Kate Bush
Wuthering Heights
- The Kick Inside.
- EMC.
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Giovanni Aldega
Domine Salvum Fac Pontificem Nostrum Leonem
Performer: Alessandro Moreschi.- Opal.
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Nicola Porpora
Nell' attendere il mio bene (Polifemo)
Singer: Philippe Jaroussky. Director: Andrea Marcon. Orchestra: Venice Baroque Orchestra.- ERATO.
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Bee Gees
Tragedy
Performer: Bee Gees.- Spirits Have Flown.
- RSO.
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Guns N鈥 Roses
Sweet Child O Mine
Performer: Guns N鈥 Roses.- Appetite for Destruction.
- Geffen.
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Frank Ocean
Thinkin Bout You
Performer: Frank Ocean.- Channel ORANGE.
- Island Def Jam.
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Guns N鈥 Roses
Knockin' On Heaven's Door
- Use Your Illusion II.
- Geffen.
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Sergey Rachmaninov
Nunc dimittis (Vespers)
Choir: Latvian Radio Choir. Conductor: Sigvards K募ava.- Ondine.
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Joaqu铆n Rodrigo
Invocaci贸n y danza (Homenaje a Manuel de Falla)
Performer: Milo拧 Karadagli膰.- Milos Aranjuez.
- DG.
- 6.
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Alash
IGIL/XOOMEI SOLO
Performer: Alash.- Achai.
- www.alashensemble.com.
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Karlheinz Stockhausen
Stimmung (conclusion)
Ensemble: Theatre of Voices. Director: Paul Hillier.- HARMONIA MUNDI.
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Tom Waits
Underground
Performer: Tom Waits.- Swordfishtrombones.
- Island.
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Vladimir Vysotsky
La chasse aux loups
Performer: Vladimir Vysotsky.- Le Vol Arrete.
- Chant du Monde.
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Napalm Death
Silence is Deafening
Performer: Napalm Death.- The Code Is Red...Long Live the Code.
- Century.
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John Zorn
Six Litanies For Heliogabalus
Performer: Mike Patton.- Tzadik.
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Pampidoo
Synthesiser Voice
Performer: Pampidoo.- Jammy's Records.
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Jonathan Harvey
Mortuos plango, vivos voco
Ensemble: Ensemble intercontemporain. Conductor: P茅ter E枚tv枚s.- ERATO.
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Karlheinz Stockhausen
Gesang Der J眉nglinge
- Gesang der junglinge.
- Stockhausen.
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Daft Punk
One More Time
Performer: Daft Punk.- Discovery.
- Virgin.
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Ella Fitzgerald
Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered
- Ella Fitzgerald sings the Rodgers and Hart Song Book.
- Verve.
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Arthur Sullivan, New Sadler鈥檚 Wells Opera & Gordon Sandison
Ruddigore - My Eyes are Fully Open
Librettist: William Gilbert.- That鈥檚 entertainment.
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Eminem
Rap God
Performer: Eminem.- The Marshall Mathers LP 2.
- Interscope.
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Phil Minton
The Feral Choir
Performer: The Feral Choir.- The Enigma Carols.
- Recorded.
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Van Morrison
Born to Sing
Performer: Van Morrison.- Born to Sing.
- No Plan B.
Broadcasts
- Sun 9 Jul 2017 17:00大象传媒 Radio 3
- Sun 16 Aug 2020 19:00大象传媒 Radio 3
- Fri 21 Aug 2020 16:30大象传媒 Radio 3
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Tom Service poses a very simple question (with a not-so-simple answer).
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How did the number 12 revolutionise music?
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Watch the animations
Join Tom Service on a musical journey through beginnings, repetition and bass lines.
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We like to think we can separate 鈥渘oise鈥 from 鈥渕usic鈥, but is it that simple?
Podcast
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The Listening Service
An odyssey through the musical universe, presented by Tom Service