87-427: The Stanford Fleet Street Singers ( Fleet Street ) is a comedy a cappella group from Stanford University . The group performs original songs and sketch comedy , and wears a uniform of black vests and red bow ties. Fleet Street is perhaps best known for having published the first collegiate a cappella album composed entirely of original music. In total, Fleet Street has released 13 studio albums and has received
174-477: A "parody medley that [is] the best of its kind" with modern pop hooks "sung in madrigal fashion". In 2004, Fleet Street released their eleventh studio album, Fleet Street , the first album in collegiate a cappella to be composed entirely of original songs. The album was well-received, drawing praise for its lyrics and for the broad scope of its 15 original songs. Contemporary A Cappella Society president Deke Sharon called it "the most important collegiate
261-408: A dozen national awards. Fleet Street was founded in 1981, as a collegiate a cappella group focused on comedy, theatricality, and barbershop harmony . In its early years, the group arranged and performed many Stanford-related songs (which they often subverted for humorous effect), which earned them large audiences among Stanford students and alumni. Alongside a turn to more popular music,
348-578: A 2010 interview, music director Julian Kusnadi said, "We're not very concerned about being typical!" That perspective has run in the group for decades: "This is not something that singing groups normally do," said singer Rob Morris when interviewed about a Star Wars - themed computer-animated short film the group made in 1997, at a cost of 1,000 hours and $ 2,500. In 2010, The Stanford Daily described Fleet Street as "characterized by its creativity and off-the-wall silliness". In 2011, The Daily reported on Fleet Street's May show, calling it, "filled with
435-643: A 3-weekend a cappella festival held each February since 1975, where over a hundred collegiate groups have appeared, as well as International Quartet Champions The Boston Common and the contemporary commercial a cappella group Rockapella . Co-ed groups have produced many up-and-coming and major artists, including John Legend , an alumnus of the Counterparts at the University of Pennsylvania , Sara Bareilles , an alumna of Awaken A Cappella at University of California, Los Angeles , Mindy Kaling , an alumna of
522-536: A capella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment . The term a cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato musical styles. In the 19th century, a renewed interest in Renaissance polyphony, coupled with an ignorance of the fact that vocal parts were often doubled by instrumentalists, led to
609-496: A cappella album to be released in a decade". Noting that Sharon had urged collegiate groups to pursue original material, Broadway producer and a cappella critic Elie Landau said that Fleet Street had "answered Deke's call with probably the most gutsy and original collegiate album I've listened to in almost 20 years of active collegiate a cappella listening." In 2010, Fleet Street participated in America's Got Talent , reaching
696-640: A cappella arrangements through the use of a subway beat boxer character. Beat boxer and actor Chesney Snow performed this role for the 2010 Primary Stages production. According to the show's website, it is scheduled to reopen for an open-ended commercial run in the Fall of 2011. In 2011, the production received four Lucille Lortel Award nominations including Outstanding Musical, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League nominations, as well as five Drama Desk nominations including Outstanding Musical and won for Outstanding Ensemble Performance. In December 2016, In Transit became
783-520: A cappella choral development not only in Sweden but around the world, and finally there are a large number of very popular primary and secondary schools ('music schools') with high admission standards based on auditions that combine a rigid academic regimen with high level choral singing on every school day, a system that started with Adolf Fredrik's Music School in Stockholm in 1939 but has spread over
870-401: A cappella ensembles typically include one voice singing the lead melody, one singing a rhythmic bass line, and the remaining voices contributing chordal or polyphonic accompaniment. A cappella can also describe the isolated vocal track(s) from a multitrack recording that originally included instrumentation. These vocal tracks may be remixed or put onto vinyl records for DJs, or released to
957-502: A cappella groups can be found in high schools and colleges. There are amateur Barbershop Harmony Society and professional groups that sing a cappella exclusively. Although a cappella is technically defined as singing without instrumental accompaniment, some groups use their voices to emulate instruments; others are more traditional and focus on harmonizing. A cappella styles range from gospel music to contemporary to barbershop quartets and choruses. The Contemporary A Cappella Society (CASA)
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#17327755450051044-634: A cappella includes many vocal groups and bands who add vocal percussion or beatboxing to create a pop/rock/gospel sound, in some cases very similar to bands with instruments. Examples of such professional groups include Straight No Chaser , Pentatonix , The House Jacks , Rockapella , Mosaic , Home Free and M-pact . There also remains a strong a cappella presence within Christian music, as some denominations purposefully do not use instruments during worship. Examples of such groups are Take 6 , Glad and Acappella . Arrangements of popular music for small
1131-550: A cappella music began to develop in Europe around the 9th century AD with the practice of organum , reaching its height between the 14th and 16th centuries with compositions by composers in the Franco-Flemish school (such as Guillaume Du Fay , Johannes Ockeghem , and Josquin des Prez ). The early a cappella polyphonies were sometimes doubled with other instruments, which were often wind or string instruments, or organs. By
1218-512: A cappella musical to appear Off-Broadway, In Transit , premiered October 5, 2010, and was produced by Primary Stages with book, music, and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez, James-Allen Ford, Russ Kaplan, and Sara Wordsworth . Set primarily in the New York City subway system its score features an eclectic mix of musical genres (including jazz, hip hop, Latin, rock, and country). In Transit incorporates vocal beat boxing into its contemporary
1305-452: A cappella tradition is especially strong in the countries around the Baltic and perhaps most so in Sweden as described by Richard Sparks in his doctoral thesis The Swedish Choral Miracle in 2000. Swedish a cappella choirs have over the last 25 years won around 25% of the annual prestigious European Grand Prix for Choral Singing (EGP) that despite its name is open to choirs from all over
1392-434: A cappella) to critical acclaim; this ushered in a new era for the group, defined by a focus on original music. The name "Fleet Street" is a reference to the musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street , itself a nod to the group's musical roots in barbershop music. The group typically comprises a rotating set of 12 to 16 students, with new members selected by audition each September. Alumni of
1479-623: A cappella. In 1983, an a cappella group known as The Flying Pickets had a Christmas 'number one' in the UK with a cover of Yazoo 's (known in the US as Yaz ) " Only You ". A cappella music attained renewed prominence from the late 1980s onward, spurred by the success of Top 40 recordings by artists such as The Manhattan Transfer , Bobby McFerrin , Huey Lewis and the News , All-4-One , The Nylons , Backstreet Boys , Boyz II Men , and *NSYNC . Contemporary
1566-419: A co-ed group. As of 2020, Fleet Street has released 13 full-length albums: Before 1992, there were no awards organizations related to a cappella. The Contemporary A Cappella Society announced Recording Awards for the first time in 1992. As of 2020, Fleet Street has won ten such awards. The International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) judged live a cappella performance competitions for
1653-525: A large choral setting. Movements in modern a cappella over the past century include barbershop and doo wop . The Barbershop Harmony Society , Sweet Adelines International , and Harmony Inc. host educational events including Harmony University, Directors University, and the International Educational Symposium, and international contests and conventions, recognizing international champion choruses and quartets . Many
1740-710: A successful out-of-town run at the Stoneham Theatre, in Stoneham, Massachusetts. Perfect Harmony features the hit music of The Jackson 5 , Pat Benatar , Billy Idol , Marvin Gaye , Scandal , Tiffany , The Romantics , The Pretenders , The Temptations , The Contours , The Commodores , Tommy James & the Shondells and The Partridge Family , and has been compared to a cross between Altar Boyz and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee . The fourth
1827-639: A time) with instrumental accompaniment, it is not surprising that Protestant reformers who opposed the instruments (such as Calvin and Zwingli) also opposed the polyphony. While Zwingli was destroying organs in Switzerland ;– Luther called him a fanatic – the Church of England was burning books of polyphony. Some Holiness Churches such as the Free Methodist Church opposed the use of musical instruments in church worship until
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#17327755450051914-517: A type of folk music , is an a cappella style of religious singing with shape notes , usually sung at singing conventions. Opponents of musical instruments in the Christian worship believe that such opposition is supported by the Christian scriptures and Church history. The scriptures typically referenced are Matthew 26:30; Acts 16:25; Romans 15:9; 1 Corinthians 14:15; Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16; Hebrews 2:12, 13:15 and James 5:13, which show examples and exhortations for Christians to sing. There
2001-474: Is a membership option for former students, whose funds support hosted competitions and events. A cappella music was popularized between the late 2000s and the early to mid-2010s with media hits such as the 2009–2014 TV show The Sing-Off and the musical comedy film series Pitch Perfect . In July 1943 , as a result of the American Federation of Musicians boycott of US recording studios,
2088-638: Is no reference to instrumental music in early church worship in the New Testament, or in the worship of churches for the first six centuries. Several reasons have been posited throughout church history for the absence of instrumental music in church worship. Christians who believe in a cappella music today believe that in the Israelite worship assembly during Temple worship only the Priests of Levi sang, played, and offered animal sacrifices, whereas in
2175-598: The Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS). Today the BHS has about 22,000 members in approximately 800 chapters across the United States and Canada, and the barbershop style has spread around the world with organizations in many other countries. The Barbershop Harmony Society provides a highly organized competition structure for a cappella quartets and choruses singing in the barbershop style. In 1945,
2262-527: The Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards , the album won awards in five categories, a new record at the Awards. At the time of the album's release, however, its studio engineering polarized a cappella critics. On the one hand, critics praised the album, saying "[Fleet Street's] studio engineering work is incredible", and, "This is technically one of the best albums I've heard from the collegiate scene." On
2349-694: The Coptic Orthodox Church ), many Anabaptist communities (including Old Order Anabaptist groups —such as the Amish , Old German Baptist Brethren , Old Order Mennonites , as well as Conservative Anabaptist groups—such as the Dunkard Brethren Church and Conservative Mennonites ), some Presbyterian churches devoted to the regulative principle of worship , Old Regular Baptists , Primitive Baptists , Plymouth Brethren , Churches of Christ , Church of God (Guthrie, Oklahoma),
2436-603: The Eastern Catholic Churches , the music performed in the liturgies is exclusively sung without instrumental accompaniment. Bishop Kallistos Ware says, "The service is sung, even though there may be no choir... In the Orthodox Church today, as in the early Church, singing is unaccompanied and instrumental music is not found." This a cappella behavior arises from strict interpretation of Psalm 150, which states, Let every thing that hath breath praise
2523-557: The Edinburgh Fringe Festival , their first show outside North America. The festival's program notes called Fleet Street "one of the U.S.'s premiere a cappella groups", and praised them for their theatrical style, musicianship, and "outlandish humour". In February 1996, Fleet Street participated in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella and won Best Overall Group Performance on
2610-676: The Northwestern University School of Music , helped popularize a cappella music in the United States by founding the Northwestern A Cappella Choir in 1906. The A Cappella Choir was "the first permanent organization of its kind in America." An a cappella tradition was begun in 1911 by F. Melius Christiansen , a music faculty member at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota . The St. Olaf College Choir
2697-693: The Reformed Free Methodists , Doukhobors , and the Byzantine Rite of Eastern Christianity. Certain high church services and other musical events in liturgical churches (such as the Roman Catholic Mass and the Lutheran Divine Service ) may be a cappella, a practice remaining from apostolic times. Many Mennonites also conduct some or all of their services without instruments. Sacred Harp ,
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2784-806: The University of Maine Maine Steiners (1958), the Columbia University Kingsmen (1949), the Jabberwocks of Brown University (1949), and the University of Rochester YellowJackets (1956). All-women a cappella groups followed shortly, frequently as a parody of the men's groups: the Smiffenpoofs of Smith College (1936), the Night Owls of Vassar College (1942), The Shwiffs of Connecticut College (The She-Whiffenpoofs, 1944), and The Chattertocks of Brown University (1951). A cappella groups exploded in popularity beginning in
2871-457: The Webby Award for Best Viral Video with their a cappella parody, "Here Comes Another Bubble". A cappella Music performed a cappella ( / ˌ ɑː k ə ˈ p ɛ l ə / AH kə- PEL -ə , UK also / ˌ æ k ə ˈ p ɛ l ə / AK ə- PEL -ə , Italian: [a kkapˈpɛlla] ; lit. ' in the style of the chapel ' ), less commonly spelled
2958-648: The World Figure Skating Championships . Galindo later wrote that he found the recording "so spiritual and moving" that "the voices of the choir lift me to another state of mind, and it feels as if I'm floating." Following that performance, Galindo skated to Fleet Street's cover of Bette Midler 's " The Rose " in late 1999 at both Ice Wars and at the World Professional Figure Skating Championship . Fleet Street appeared on national radio for
3045-529: The 16th century, a cappella polyphony had further developed, but gradually, the cantata began to take the place of a cappella forms. Sixteenth-century a cappella polyphony, nonetheless, continued to influence church composers throughout this period and to the present day. Recent evidence has shown that some of the early pieces by Palestrina, such as those written for the Sistine Chapel, were intended to be accompanied by an organ "doubling" some or all of
3132-497: The 18th century, and were opposed vigorously in worship by a number of Protestant Reformers , including Martin Luther (1483–1546), Ulrich Zwingli , John Calvin (1509–1564) and John Wesley (1703–1791). Alexander Campbell referred to the use of an instrument in worship as "a cow bell in a concert". In Sir Walter Scott 's The Heart of Midlothian , the heroine, Jeanie Deans , a Scottish Presbyterian, writes to her father about
3219-479: The 1990s saw Fleet Street gain national prominence, sweeping the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards , appearing on national television ( The Today Show ) and radio programs ( The Dr. Demento Show ), at the Lincoln Center in New York City, and overseas (at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival ). In 2004, Fleet Street published their self-titled, entirely original album (the first such album in collegiate
3306-631: The 1990s, fueled in part by a change in style popularized by the Tufts University Beelzebubs and the Boston University Dear Abbeys. The new style used voices to emulate modern rock instruments, including vocal percussion /" beatboxing ". Some larger universities now have multiple groups. Groups often join one another in on-campus concerts, such as the Georgetown Chimes' Cherry Tree Massacre,
3393-408: The Christian scriptures never counter instrumental language with any negative judgment on instruments, opposition to instruments instead comes from an interpretation of history. There is no written opposition to musical instruments in any setting in the first century and a half of Christian churches (33–180 AD). The use of instruments for Christian worship during this period is also undocumented. Toward
3480-584: The God of Partial Credit", "Everyone Pees in the Shower", and "Greatest Hits of the 1590s". In interviews, musical directors have emphasized the group's originality, calling it "one of the most important things we focus on". They describe Fleet Street's creative songwriting process as organic and highly collaborative. Apart from music, Fleet Street is known for incorporating videos, sketch comedy , computer-animated films, and elaborate sets into their live performances. In
3567-492: The Jewish chant may be found in the writings of the Jewish philosopher Philo , born 20 BC. Weaving together Jewish and Greek thought, Philo promoted praise without instruments, and taught that "silent singing" (without even vocal chords) was better still. This view parted with the Jewish scriptures, where Israel offered praise with instruments by God's own command The shofar is the only temple instrument still being used today in
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3654-617: The Kinsey Sicks at New York's Studio 54 . That production received a nomination for a Lucille Lortel award as Best Musical and a Drama Desk nomination for Best Lyrics. It was directed by Glenn Casale with original music and lyrics by Ben Schatz. The a cappella musical Perfect Harmony , a comedy about two high school a cappella groups vying to win the national championship, made its Off Broadway debut at Theatre Row 's Acorn Theatre on 42nd Street in New York City in October 2010 after
3741-750: The Lord. Praise ye the Lord. In keeping with this philosophy, early Russian musika which started appearing in the late 17th century, in what was known as khorovïye kontsertï (choral concertos) made a cappella adaptations of Venetian-styled pieces, such as the treatise, Grammatika musikiyskaya (1675), by Nikolai Diletsky . Divine Liturgies and Western Rite Masses composed by famous composers such as Peter Tchaikovsky , Sergei Rachmaninoff , Alexander Arkhangelsky , and Mykola Leontovych are fine examples of this. Present-day Christian religious bodies known for conducting their worship services without musical accompaniment include many Oriental Orthodox Churches (such as
3828-654: The RPI Glee Club), established in 1873 is perhaps the oldest known collegiate a cappella group. The longest continuously singing group is probably The Whiffenpoofs of Yale University , which was formed in 1909 and once included Cole Porter as a member. Collegiate a cappella groups grew throughout the 20th century. Some notable historical groups formed along the way include Colgate University 's The Colgate 13 (1942), Dartmouth College 's Aires (1946), Harvard University 's Krokodiloes (1946), Cornell University 's Cayuga's Waiters (1949) and The Hangovers (1968),
3915-547: The Rockapellas at Dartmouth College , and Mira Sorvino , an alumna of the Harvard-Radcliffe Veritones of Harvard College . Medley (music) In music, a medley is a piece composed from parts of existing pieces played one after another, sometimes overlapping . They are common in popular music , and most medleys are songs rather than instrumentals. A medley which is a remixed series
4002-493: The Sabbath out of concern that players would be tempted to repair (or tune) their instruments, which is forbidden on those days. (This prohibition has been relaxed in many Reform and some Conservative congregations.) Similarly, when Jewish families and larger groups sing traditional Sabbath songs known as zemirot outside the context of formal religious services, they usually do so a cappella, and Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebrations on
4089-496: The Sabbath sometimes feature entertainment by a cappella ensembles. During the Three Weeks musical instruments are prohibited. Many Jews consider a portion of the 49-day period of the counting of the omer between Passover and Shavuot to be a time of semi-mourning and instrumental music is not allowed during that time. This has led to a tradition of a cappella singing sometimes known as sefirah music. The popularization of
4176-693: The Stanford campus, in dormitories, and at social events. The group's early repertoire included barbershop arrangements of Stanford standards and fight songs , such as " Hail, Stanford, Hail! " and " Come Join the Band ". A dozen of these arrangements were written and ultimately recorded for the A side of Fleet Street's first record, Songs of the Stanford Red (1984). The B side comprised ten songs from Fleet Street's other repertoire: jazz standards and more comedic arrangements. The two sides of
4263-475: The TV show Schoolhouse Rock! , or that of songs by Duran Duran . By 1992, their annual spring show filled Stanford's 1700-seat Memorial Auditorium . Having become well-established at school, Fleet Street began pursuing projects beyond Stanford's campus. In early 1992, Fleet Street released 50-Minute Fun Break , their fourth studio album and their second collaboration with audio engineer Bill Hare . It featured
4350-582: The Taliban of music as un-Islamic. However, the de facto national anthem of Afghanistan is an a cappella nasheed , as musical instruments are virtually banned as corrupting and un-Islamic. The first a cappella group in Iran is the Damour Vocal Band , which was able to perform on national television despite a ban on women singing. The musical show Strepsils Stereo is credited for introducing
4437-649: The United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the organization encompasses more than 1,200 registered quartets and 600 choruses. In 1959, a second women's barbershop organization started as a break off from Sweet Adelines due to ideological differences. Based on democratic principles which continue to this day, Harmony, Inc. is smaller than its counterpart, but has an atmosphere of friendship and competition. With about 2,500 members in
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#17327755450054524-539: The United States and Canada, Harmony, Inc. uses the same rules in contest that the Barbershop Harmony Society uses. Harmony, Inc. is registered in Providence, Rhode Island. The popularity of a cappella among high schools and amateurs was revived by television shows and movies such as Glee and Pitch Perfect . High school groups may have conductors or student leaders who keep the tempo for
4611-464: The West Coast, advancing to the championship's finals. That April, the group performed in the finals at David Geffen Hall (called Avery Fisher Hall at the time) in New York City's Lincoln Center , and performed on national television with The Today Show . In March 1996, World Champion figure skater Rudy Galindo skated to Fleet Street's recording of " Ave Maria " for his exhibition program at
4698-584: The a cappella vocal group The Song Spinners had a best-seller with "Comin' In on a Wing and a Prayer". In the 1950s, several recording groups, notably The Hi-Los and the Four Freshmen , introduced complex jazz harmonies to a cappella performances. The King's Singers are credited with promoting interest in small-group a cappella performances in the 1960s. Frank Zappa loved doo wop and a cappella, so Zappa released The Persuasions ' first album from his label in 1970. Judy Collins recorded " Amazing Grace "
4785-600: The art of a cappella in Pakistan . Composer Dinesh Subasinghe became the first Sri Lankan to write a cappella pieces for SATB choirs. He wrote "The Princes of the Lost Tribe" and "Ancient Queen of Somawathee" for Menaka De Sahabandu and Bridget Helpe's choirs, respectively, based on historical incidents in ancient Sri Lanka. Voice Print is also a professional a cappella music group in Sri Lanka . The European
4872-457: The church era, all Christians are commanded to sing praises to God. They believe that if God wanted instrumental music in New Testament worship, He would have commanded not just singing, but singing and playing like he did in the Hebrew scriptures. Instruments have divided Christendom since their introduction into worship. They were considered a Roman Catholic innovation, not widely practiced until
4959-474: The church situation she has found in England (bold added): Those who do not adhere to the regulative principle of interpreting Christian scripture, believe that limiting praise to the unaccompanied chant of the early church is not commanded in scripture, and that churches in any age are free to offer their songs with or without musical instruments. Those who subscribe to this interpretation believe that since
5046-542: The community. The Stanford Daily called it "a performance that characterizes the group's combination of music and comedy" and reported by 1990 its use at official university events including freshman orientation , fundraisers, and Big Game . From 1990 to 1992, Fleet Street also performed the hymn at the university's commencement ceremonies in Stanford Stadium . Each time, after the audience chanted "Rap! Rap! Rap!", Fleet Street also performed their rap version of
5133-433: The country. A cappella has gained attention in the UK in recent years, with many groups forming at British universities by students seeking an alternative singing pursuit to traditional choral and chapel singing. This movement has been bolstered by organisations such as The Voice Festival UK . It is not clear exactly where collegiate a cappella began. The Rensselyrics of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (formerly known as
5220-531: The earliest that has survived in its entirety is from the first century AD: a piece from Greece called the Seikilos epitaph . A cappella music was originally used in religious music, especially church music as well as anasheed and zemirot . Gregorian chant is an example of a cappella singing, as is the majority of secular vocal music from the Renaissance . The madrigal , up until its development in
5307-451: The early Baroque into an instrumentally accompanied form, is also usually in a cappella form. The Psalms note that some early songs were accompanied by string instruments, though Jewish and Early Christian music was largely a cappella; the use of instruments has subsequently increased within both of these religions as well as in Islam. The polyphony of Christian (predominantly Catholic)
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#17327755450055394-415: The end of the 2nd century, Christians began condemning the instruments themselves. Those who oppose instruments today believe these Church Fathers had a better understanding of God's desire for the church, but there are significant differences between the teachings of these Church Fathers and Christian opposition to instruments today. Since "a cappella" singing brought a new polyphony (more than one note at
5481-631: The first a cappella musical on Broadway. Barbershop music is one of several uniquely American art forms. The earliest reports of this style of a cappella music involved African Americans. The earliest documented quartets all began in barber shops. In 1938, the first formal men's barbershop organization was formed, known as the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America (S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A), and in 2004 rebranded itself and officially changed its public name to
5568-489: The first formal women's barbershop organization, Sweet Adelines, was formed. In 1953, Sweet Adelines became an international organization, although it did not change its name to Sweet Adelines International until 1991. The membership of nearly 25,000 women, all singing in English, includes choruses in most of the fifty United States as well as in Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden,
5655-458: The first synthesis of Hare's innovative studio recording techniques , which would go on to define the sound of recorded a cappella. The album was generally well-received; a critic for the Recorded A Cappella Review Board (RARB) wrote, "Of all of the collegiate albums I have heard, this is the one that I would recommend most readily. If I could have only one collegiate album, this would be it." At
5742-531: The first time in 1996. That year, Fleet Street won the West Region semifinal and competed in the championships at Lincoln Center in New York City. Fleet Street alumni (who are also, in general, alumni of Stanford University ) include: In 2000, Fleet Street alumni were among the founding members of The Richter Scales, an a cappella group from San Francisco, CA , that was active from 2000 to 2014. In 2008, Fleet Street alumnus Matt Hempey led that group to win
5829-430: The first time in 1999, when their parody song "Web Surfin ' " appeared in The Dr. Demento Radio Show 's "Funny Five" list (best known for popularizing "Weird Al" Yankovic ). As of 2020, Fleet Street has been featured on the radio show 13 times. Their 2001 album Fearless received mixed-to-positive reviews from the RARB. The track "Greatest Hits of the 1590s" was described by a cappella critic Rebecca Christie as
5916-553: The group include technology executives, academics, Broadway actors, and comedy writers. Fleet Street was formed in 1981, after a few years as a loosely-defined barbershop quartet . As freshmen, students Timothy Biglow, Kyle Kashima, and Chris Tucci had been turned down after auditioning for the Stanford Mendicants , Stanford's only a cappella group at the time. As juniors, they formed the Fleet Street Singers with an emphasis on barbershop harmony , theatricality, and humor. The group's earliest performances were free and took place on
6003-452: The group vocally. Fleet Street wears a uniform of black tuxedo vests and red bowties, a staple of the group since its founding. Penguins also feature heavily in the group's visual identity, appearing on the covers of eight of their eleven albums. The name "Fleet Street" is a reference to the musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street , itself a nod to the group's musical roots in barbershop music. As of 2022, Fleet Street became
6090-418: The group's repertoire were not always kept separate; the group often subverted traditional songs for humorous effect. They performed a parody of UC Berkeley 's official fight song , with alternative lyrics lampooning the rival school's mascot (" The Dirty Golden Bear "). In 1987, Fleet Street reinterpreted the university's century-old alma mater ("Hail, Stanford, Hail!") as a rap, which earned them renown within
6177-510: The group, or beatboxers/vocal percussionists. Since 2013, summer training programs have appeared, such as A Cappella Academy in Los Angeles, California (founded by Ben Bram, Rob Dietz, and Avi Kaplan ) and Camp A Cappella in Dayton, Ohio (founded by Deke Sharon and Brody McDonald). These programs teach about different aspects of a cappella music, including vocal performance, arranging, and beatboxing/vocal percussion. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has no official anthem because of views by
6264-422: The hymn. In 1991, Fleet Street was selected to be part of Stanford's National Centennial Celebration (celebrating 100 years since the university's founding); the group was flown to cities around the United States to sing the university's fight songs for alumni. At the turn of the 1990s, Fleet Street broadened their repertoire, becoming well known on Stanford campus for their medleys , like that of songs from
6351-557: The latter three, which dealt with the passion from three different viewpoints, those of Matthew , Luke and John , were all done a cappella style. This was a near requirement for this type of piece, and the parts of the crowd were sung while the solo parts which were the quoted parts from either Christ or the authors were performed in a plainchant . In the Byzantine Rite of the Eastern Orthodox Church and
6438-484: The mid-20th century. The Free Methodist Church allowed for local church decision on the use of either an organ or piano in the 1943 Conference before lifting the ban entirely in 1955. The Reformed Free Methodist Church and Evangelical Wesleyan Church were formed as a result of a schism with the Free Methodist Church, with the former retaining a cappella worship and the latter retaining the rule limiting
6525-646: The name Smooth McGroove rose to prominence with his style of a cappella music. He is best known for his a cappella covers of video game music tracks on YouTube . in 2015, an a cappella version of Jerusalem by multi-instrumentalist Jacob Collier was selected for Beats by Dre "The Game Starts Here" for the England Rugby World Cup campaign. A cappella has been used as the sole orchestration for original works of musical theatre that have had commercial runs Off-Broadway (theatres in New York City with 99 to 500 seats) only four times. The first
6612-621: The number of instruments in the church to the piano and organ. While worship in the Temple in Jerusalem included musical instruments, traditional Jewish religious services in the Synagogue, both before and after the last destruction of the Temple, did not include musical instruments given the practice of scriptural cantillation . The use of musical instruments is traditionally forbidden on
6699-403: The other hand, some critics criticized the studio work, calling it "intrusive", "unnatural", and "strange". For its part, the Contemporary A Cappella Society praised the album's engineering, awarding it Best Mixing and Engineering and calling it "the best engineering we've ever heard on any collegiate album. Ever." Over the summer break in 1992, Fleet Street performed in a weeklong appearance at
6786-503: The public so that fans can remix them. One such example is the a cappella release of Jay-Z 's Black Album , which Danger Mouse mixed with the Beatles ' White Album to create The Grey Album . On their 1966 album titled Album , Peter, Paul and Mary included the song "Norman Normal". All the sounds on that song, both vocals and instruments, were created by Paul's voice, with no actual instruments used. In 2013, an artist by
6873-454: The second round in New York City. In 2018, Fleet Street performed twice on National Public Radio . In 2019, Fleet Street began producing music videos. One video, a diss track on Harvard University , went viral with 2.8 million views; another, an original song about pulling an all-nighter, earned the group its first A Cappella Video Award . As of 2020, Fleet Street is best known for their original, often humorous songs, such as "Prayer to
6960-428: The silly, goofball antics the tuxedoed singers are known for." Fleet Street is a student-led organization; the group's music director, business manager, and singers are always Stanford students. The group consists of a rotating set of 12–16 members, with new members selected each September through two rounds of auditions. At auditions, students are asked to bring a joke, and are assessed on how well they blend with
7047-555: The synagogue, and it is only used from Rosh Chodesh Elul through the end of Yom Kippur . The shofar is used by itself, without any vocal accompaniment, and is limited to a very strictly defined set of sounds and specific places in the synagogue service. However, silver trumpets , as described in Numbers 10:1-18, have been made in recent years and used in prayer services at the Western Wall . Peter Christian Lutkin, dean of
7134-406: The term coming to mean unaccompanied vocal music. The term is also used, rarely, as a synonym for alla breve . A cappella could be as old as humanity itself; research suggests that singing and vocables may have been what early humans used to communicate before the invention of language. The earliest piece of sheet music is thought to have originated from times as early as 2000 BC, while
7221-520: The voices. Such is seen in the life of Palestrina becoming a major influence on Bach , most notably in the Mass in B Minor . Other composers that utilized the a cappella style, if only for the occasional piece, were Claudio Monteverdi and his masterpiece, Lagrime d'amante al sepolcro dell'amata (A lover's tears at his beloved's grave), which was composed in 1610, and Andrea Gabrieli when upon his death many choral pieces were discovered, one of which
7308-560: The world (see list of laureates in the Misplaced Pages article on the EGP competition). The reasons for the strong Swedish dominance are as explained by Richard Sparks manifold; suffice to say here that there is a long-standing tradition, an unusually large proportion of the populations (5% is often cited) regularly sing in choirs, the Swedish choral director Eric Ericson had an enormous impact on
7395-425: Was Avenue X which opened on 28 January 1994, and ran for 77 performances. It was produced by Playwrights Horizons with book by John Jiler, music and lyrics by Ray Leslee. The musical style of the show's score was primarily doo-wop as the plot revolved around doo-wop group singers of the 1960s. In 2001, The Kinsey Sicks , produced and starred in the critically acclaimed off-Broadway hit, DRAGAPELLA! Starring
7482-808: Was established as an outgrowth of the local St. John's Lutheran Church , where Christiansen was organist and the choir was composed, at least partially, of students from the nearby St. Olaf campus. The success of the ensemble was emulated by other regional conductors, and a tradition of a cappella choral music was born in the region at colleges like Concordia College (Moorhead, Minnesota), Augustana College (Rock Island, Illinois), Waldorf University (Forest City, Iowa), Luther College (Decorah, Iowa), Gustavus Adolphus College (St. Peter, Minnesota), Augustana College (Sioux Falls, South Dakota), and Augsburg University (Minneapolis, Minnesota). The choirs typically range from 40 to 80 singers and are recognized for their efforts to perfect blend, intonation, phrasing and pitch in
7569-534: Was in the unaccompanied style. Learning from the preceding two composers, Heinrich Schütz utilized the a cappella style in numerous pieces, chief among these were the pieces in the oratorio style, which were traditionally performed during the Easter week and dealt with the religious subject matter of that week, such as Christ's suffering and the Passion . Five of Schutz's Historien were Easter pieces, and of these
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