Over the years, there have been a number of a capella performances that have really moved me, and so I’ve decided to share some of them with you tonight.
Starting with a capella powerhouse Take 6, here is an early live performance of their version of “A Quiet Place”:
As a complex harmony junkie, this arrangement is nothing short of a trip through the vast depths of space for me. It provided a pleasant and total escape many, many times during my college years.
Next are the amazing Nordic Voices, an a capella group from Norway, with whom we had the privilege to have a master’s class while I was in the Chamber Singers choir at Dartmouth. Here is their touching version of a Norwegian lullaby:
I always think of a mother trying to lull her child to sleep in the cold, hungry winter, when the days are short and the nights are long. The ending is bittersweet – it doesn’t spell out with certainty the fate of that mother and child.
On a more positive note, here is the a capella group called Committed, who won The Sing Off in 2010, and their beautiful version of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together”:
Sooo suave, it’s like letting yourself float on your back in the sea. And the sea is made of smooth satin. You get the point.
Tonight’s selection ends with my recent favorites – the Pentatonix – winners of The Sing Off in 2011. Their musicality is really out of this world:
Hope you liked it!
ruslandimov 