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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΅ώΒαΓΆ°ω°μ
Triumph of a Heart
Performer: ΅ώΒαΓΆ°ω°μ.- 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 GalΓ‘s
Wild Women with Steak Knives
Performer: Diamanda GalΓ‘s.- The Litanies of Satan.
- Mute.
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Alles fΓΌhlt der Liebe; Der HΓΆlle Rache (The Magic Flute)
Singer: Edita GruberovΓ‘. Conductor: Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Singer: Peter Keller. Orchestra: Philharmonia ZΓΌrich. -
Thomas Adès
The Tempest
Performer: Cynthia Sieden. Performer: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Performer: Thomas Adès.- EMI.
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Minnie Riperton
Loving You
- Perfect Angel.
- Import.
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΅ώΒαΓΆ°ω°μ
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 Nβ Roses
Sweet Child O Mine
Performer: Guns Nβ 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 Nβ 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 KΔΌava.- Ondine.
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JoaquΓn Rodrigo
InvocaciΓ³n y danza (ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔnaje a Manuel de Falla)
Performer: MiloΕ‘ KaradagliΔ.- 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: PΓ©ter EΓΆtvΓΆs.- ERATO.
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Karlheinz Stockhausen
Gesang Der JΓΌnglinge
- 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 Sadlerβs Wells Opera & Gordon Sandison
Ruddigore - My Eyes are Fully Open
Librettist: William Gilbert.- Thatβs 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 17:00ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3
- Sun 16 Aug 2020 19:00ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3
- Fri 21 Aug 2020 16:30ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3
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We like to think we can separate βnoiseβ from βmusicβ, but is it that simple?
Podcast
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The Listening Service
An odyssey through the musical universe, presented by Tom Service