VOCES8 & Jack Liebeck: The Lark Ascending - Ralph Vaughan Williams (arr. Paul Drayton) 

PERFECTION. Please share with your friends. Hell, share with your enemies. The world needs this right now.

Vaughan Williams AND Voces8. It doesn't get any better than this!

What is the sky without the Lark? An empty blue lake, peopled by clouds and an unloved Sun. What is the Lark without the sky? An incomplete poem, a Haiku, lacking the last word. What are these wings but will of God? What is this song but love of God? What is the Lark without me watching it? A spirit free beyond the bond to the Earth and the need for me. What am I? A man bound to that Earth with a spirit that so yearns to soar with the Lark.

Such a beautiful version of “The Lark Ascending”. Such a lovely group of young people bringing joy to everyone in their singing. May they continue to be blessed in this great work.

I don't know if Vaughan Willims ever imagined this piece would be performed like this, But I'm sure if he heard this arrangement, he would shed tears of joy. I know I did.

That's 16 minutes *added* to my life. What a performance!

This was one of my mums favorites. We played it at her funeral in 2006. This version is the most beautiful ever❤️. Thank you so much. Very touching!

Jack Liebeck became another voice in Voces8...all were as one in this performance. Mr Liebeck's playing was so intertwined with the others, each anticipating the other, weaving in such synchronous tones, it truly is beyond any words to describe what we are hearing. This is a master work of storytelling performed by some of the best in the world. My deepest gratitude for this moment in my life.

My absolute favorite a cappella group! So pure and unselfish with their talent!

This is so sublime I am literally in tears. The Lark is one of my favourite compositions as it truly captures the imagination as you fly with the bird and see what is happening below, before it soars and gradually disappears out of sight into the heights of the sky. The violinist captures the lark exquisitely, and Voces8 are right alongside. Fantastic arrangement, exquisitely vocalised, Now where is that tissue…..thank you guys - utterly transcendent and beautiful!.

Great fan of Vaughan Williams, this piece in particular. It's the first time I've heard a choir replace the orchestra. It's truly amazing.

Daring and ingeniously rendered; impossibly beautiful; perhaps the most captivating Lark Ascending I've ever heard~~

The goosebumps haven’t gone down yet…beyond beautiful!

Such a complex piece vocally. Long been one of my favorite pieces of music. You guys are astounding.

Blend the most wonderful sound to ever come from a violin with the best voices ever heard, and this is what you get. I am overwhelmed. God bless you all and special kudos to Paul Dayton. I need a handkerchief now. 🎶

I don't need much motivation to listen to Vaughan Williams. This version is amazing. Simply astounding.

Stunning. Anyone who’s laid on the grass and listened to a lark rise singing into the sky will feel the chills hearing this rendition. Thank you.

Human voice in all its glory. If wind had sound, it would sound like this.

My favorite piece of music reimagined and performed in a unique way. Beautiful.

This recording is best heard using ear buds or headphones. You cannot hear the intricate parts (voices/violin) without them. After discovering this, I have listened to this excellent performance several times and I don’t think I will ever get tired of it. Such a great interpretation of one of my favorite pieces.

Liebeck makes the violin literally sing. How wonderful!

Katie looked to be enjoying singing this as she couldn't stop smiling! She has one short solo, and her beautiful alto voice just blows me away! 😊

I didn’t think I could love this piece more-until it was performed in a vocal arrangement by Voces 8. 💕

What an amazing version of Vaughan Williams's masterpiece! Angelic and heavenly.

This arrangement is intensely beautiful, as is the performance.

"Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears." -Poe How could anyone hear this and not be moved to tears?

Exquisite. The violinist is superb, absolutely sublime.

So beautiful. I love this piece that evokes the English countryside-a masterpiece

I did not expect the text of the Meredith poem: absolutely breathtaking.!

Just fantastic. Quintessentially British.

It's like feeling, tasting, hearing, and seeing the most beautiful parts of the world...all at once

No words to describe such Beauty! This song is from Heaven!

Impressive!!! The lenght of this piece carried out in such precision and unity.Bravo!! I always marvel at how well their tone is throughout. And can we just recognize the absolute stunning violin player?!!! New fav.

Where would we be without music, it really doesn’t get any better than this, thank you.

"Célestiel" pour reprendre un très ancien mot français en usage à l'époque des bâtisseurs de cathédrales ! Merci infiniment !

Wow!!! I would have never thought of such an arrangement, but I'm sure glad that somebody did! Brilliant.

This ensemble has one of the most captivating sounds I have ever heard in my many years of life.

Well, i give up. I thought this-one would never blend with voices but to have every background string part arranged for a separate voice and mix in actual folk song lyrics even. I am amazed and very very happy.

I am listening to my now favourite rendition of Lark Ascending, this morning on my veranda listening to the morning chorus of bird song over the Australian bush, in the southern part of Victoria, Australia. You never disappoint. Thank you.

It's always one of my favourite violin piece to play, but with this version of voces 8, we are reaching a new level of beauty, nostalgic.

breathtakingly beautiful rendition of one of the finest pieces of music ever written. simply stunning..

One of my all time favorites. This version can match the best orchestral versions. Kudos, Voces8 and Paul Drayton!

Now I can die a happy man. VOCES8 have done it again, so beautiful.

This version is even more ethereal than the original. 7:46 is so beautiful

This song brings me to tears every time I listen to it, especially that sublime high note from the sopranos near the end. 😢❤😊

An exquisite arrangement of a fabulous piece.

Beautiful! A perfect marriage of my two favourite instruments - the violin and the human voice - interpreting a sublime and timeless composition. All of that and the voice of Ms Haines, which never fails to amaze and thrill at the same time. Simply wonderful!

Absolutely brilliant. One of my favourite pieces and this totally does it justice. Although the violin is the star, it just shows that human voices can become an orchestra.

The most beautiful piece of music with Jack Liebeck and voices8 adding their amazing dimension. Close your eyes and enjoy. This is as close to perfection as humanity could hope to achieve.

What a fantastic occasion. Even the gods must bow their head.

I've listened to Lark dozens if not hundreds of times (it's one of my morning coffee pieces and has been for many years) and this was like hearing it for the first time again. Thank you

By chance I first heard this moving piece of music on BBC Radio3 in November 1981 whilst driving home from visiting my wife & newborn baby at the LGI hospital in Leeds. (The very kind & professional pediatrician had been gradually informing us of the sad news about our first born). After then listening to this emotional music I had to stop the car & I cried. Many thanks indeed for your wonderful performance of this incredible piece, voted many times I believe a number one classical favourite in the UK.

Is there a way for one person to give this performance 1000 likes? Thank you for this amazing performance of my favorite piece of music.

The last note. Violins can breathe! Incredible. Beautiful. Thank you.

It’s nice to hear some soloists that aren’t normally heard, the men in particular.

I've heard The Lark Ascending so many times that it tends to seem stale. Not this version! Thank-you, VOCES8, Jack Liebeck, Paul Drayton! (and sound engineers!)

Heaven on earth! Thank you my Lord for the gift of music. Was blessed to attend a Voce8 Ensemble at Rice University here in Houston, Texas last week and was blown away.

Brava!! I just heard the orchestral arrangement of this piece about a month ago for the first time and fell in love with it! Now my favorite choral group has done an arrangement of it??? Jaw-droppingly stunning!!!

UPLIFTS THE SOUL & SPIRIT. MAGNIFICENT. GRATEFIUL THANKS TO VOCES 8 & JACK LIEBECK. BLESSINGS💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟💟

From my living room in Australia, I have been transported back to my roots in the middle of Dartmoor, Devon. What a truly transcendental experience!

Had me sobbing uncontrollably. Incredible version of this heavenly music. 🙏❤️

OutSTANDing! Never imagined that my favorite Vaughan Williams piece could have ever become more enjoyable. What a pleasure ♥

For singing till his heaven fills, ’T is love of earth that he instils, And ever winging up and up, Our valley is his golden cup, And he the wine which overflows To lift us with him as he goes:

Through some technical glitch I was unable to access this concert in the summer and it is SO wonderful to experience it now! A gorgeous performance by Jack Liebert and the arrangement by Paul Drayton was phenomenal! The arrangement and the splendid performance by VOCES8 conveyed the lush English harmonies and the pastoral setting brilliantly!

Voices the orchestra for the stunning Vaughn Williams piece. What a combination. Beautiful arrangement and performance. Thank you.

What A Wonderful Job!!! Absolutely Beautiful!!!!

Yes, sublime indeed. I was ascending and soaring in the blue sky with the lark …thankyou to such wonderful musicians.

I can't believe this exists. Stunning!

Exquisite perfection.

Flawless, and utterly beautiful… thank you

Wow, what a pleasant surprise! You guys totally nailed this! And Jack's interpretation must be one of the best I've heard of the Lark. Impressive!

Omg sitting having my Saturday breakfast listening to this wonderful treat. Magnificent violin playing of the highest quality alongside the most perfect voices there is. Thank you so much what an absolute treat!

That gave me goosebumps! 😲👏👍🏽🫶🏻🥰👏

An exultation of nine larks. My heart, can this get any more glorious?

If I could send one musical piece into outer space to let other civilizations know the kind of art we are capable here on earth, just one tiny sample, if I could, this is it. Breathtaking.

Only just caught up with this utterly exquisite arrangement...Oh My Lord!!

Once again the unsurpassed Voces8 bring us a performance that opens up a well-known piece as we have never heard it before. I was holding my breath! - not least at some of Jack Liebeck's violin flights . . .

STUNNINGLY GORGEOUS....I still have goosebumps...goodness this is amazing

Wow, the violinist looked emotionally enthralled. Love to see it.

I take my hat off to the genius who thought of this arrangement. It's stellar. Now if I can just keep myself from stamping all over my hat for not having thought of it first. This will become famous and do very well for this ensemble.

Stunning and sensitive performance, just wonderful. I also MOST appreciate the way their dress graduates from black to blue from left to right. Lovely touch.

Oh, heaven cannot be far away.

15 minutes 57 seconds of wonderous, magical, pure beauty. It was a privilege to have listened. THANK YOU

Lark Ascending by Mr. Liebeck and the voices. Absolutely wonderful!

Never tired of this magnific work by voices that are one of the best probes that God exists and has some angels in earth like VOCES8. Congratulations ever from Balcarce, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.

Absolument sublime... Une source de plénitude et d'inspiration. Merci !

Love to all who Love this VOICES 8 are Magnificent!!!

Goosebumps all over, listening to this stunning rendition. What a wonderful version of the Classic! Absolute PERFECTION!

Perfect harmony between voices and instrument. Beautiful music that everyone should listen. It gives peace and relief. Never heard such a beautiful piece of music. Symply the best !

Siete sempre più magici!!! 👏👏👏🙏🙏🙏

This is an incredible piece of music. For me it is the first concerto for violin I've ever heard accompanied by the human voice! As usual, VOCES8hits it out of the park and Vaughn Williams is second to none.

What a great way to start my day, thank you all so much! It does make one feel like they're floating just a little. :)

Perfection in the arts is not quite humanly possible although many works throughout human history have come very close. Michelangelo’s Pieta marble miracle is one; Beethoven’s 9th symphony’s joyful 4th movement is another. These are works that send the human spirit soaring in joy and admiration when experienced. Here the lark soars along with the phenomenal blended voices of VOCES8 threaded throughout with a violin no less bound to the earth than the lark itself. Perfection is very nearly achieved here. Perfection is expected and delivered every performance by the magnificent musicians bound together by their love of a cappella singing and the name they go by-VOCES8. I applaud here in my kitchen; the cats hear it, but the singers will have to imagine it. But my heart applauds and sings right along with this ensemble. Thank you, VOCES8.

One of my favourite violin pieces played by the talented Mr Liebeck. Really wonderful to hear some of George Meredith’s poem that appears in the original score being sung by my favourite vocal group, too! Excellent addition to voces8’s repertoire. Thank you!

Choral music taught me beauty was, and this is a perfect example.

I watch this video every day; it soothes my soul....

THIS IS MUSIC MAGIC

"The Lark Ascending" has always been one of my favorite pieces of music - because it paints such a vivid picture in my mind while listening to it. When I read that VOCES8 was going to perform it, I wondered how they were going to add voices to this work that I have always heard in its instrumental version. And what a superb rendering of this work it is! Thank you so much VOCES8 and Jack Liebeck.

Surely one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever to grace our ears

Just brilliant. The violinist, your voices, the arrangement. OMG. Thank you so much.