The Last Rose of Summer

by The Queen's Six

Overview

On hearing the Queen's Six, a group of young male choristers based at Windsor Castle, you'll surely be reminded of the King's Singers, the venerable a cappella vocal group known for its intricate arrangements. You can't blame the present ensemble for offering something new; truth to tell, there is room for competition. The Queen's Six do not attempt to outdo the King's Singers' famously intricate arrangements, preferring to steer things back a bit toward the middle of the road. Your reactions to this may depend on your larger ones toward the idea itself, but the execution is solid. The program consists of folk songs of the British Isles, and as the album title suggests, the Queen's Six make sure to put a generous helping of the repertory's greatest hits on the program. You get not only the evergreen title track but versions of Scarborough Fair, O waly waly (known more often in the U.S. as The Water is Wide), "Danny Boy," and more. However, there are also some less familiar numbers, including a slam-bang finale in Welsh that doesn't entirely fit with the rest of the program but can't be called conventional. Other attractions include the large variety of arrangers, with just a few names repeated; the arrangements are well-chosen such that each one shows distinctive traits, but all fit together generally well. The extreme chromatic harmonies of the King's Singers are used only sparingly; one place they do appear is in the highly familiar Scarborough Fair, which needs something to set it apart. The sound engineering, at Ascot Priory, is top-notch, and the notes by Andrew Plant give a reasonable introduction to the mixed beast of folk music. Recommended, although if you compare it straight up to the King's Singers, you may not find what you're looking for. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	09/20/2019
Label:	SIGNUM CLASSICS
UPC:	0635212059821

Tracks

1. Dance to your daddy
2. The last rose of Summer
3. My love is like a red, red rose
4. Bushes and briars
5. Down by the Salley Gardens
6. Danny boy
7. Dashing away with the smoothing iron
8. The turtle dove
9. The lark in the clear air
10. The raggle taggle gypsies
11. My sweetheart's like Venus
12. Annie Laurie
13. Early one morning
14. Brigg fair
15. Scarborough fair
16. What shall we do with the drunken sailor?
17. My Lagan love
18. Bobby Shaftoe
19. O waly waly
20. The water of Tyne
21. Suo g¿¿n
22. Land of my fathers

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Queen's Six   Primary Artist,Vocal Ensemble

Technical Credits

Gustav Holst   Arranger
Ralph Vaughan Williams   Arranger
Robert Burns   Text
Percy Grainger   Arranger
Jim Clements   Arranger
Andrew Plant   Arranger,Liner Notes
Sir Samuel Ferguson   Text
Alexander L'Estrange   Arranger
Thomas Moore   Text
Richard Bannan   Arranger
Danny Brittain   Arranger
William Butler Yeats   Text
John Byrt   Arranger
Timothy Byram-Wigfield   Arranger
Frederick Edward Weatherly   Text
Dave Rowell   Mixing,Engineer,Mastering
Paul Drayton   Arranger
Matthew Bennett   Editing,Producer
Keith Roberts   Arranger
Tim Carleston   Arranger
Ruairi Bowen   Arranger
David Manners   Arranger
Stephen Carleston   Arranger