Three Soloists Shape the Singing Sergeants’ A Cappella ‘Hallelujah’

The Singing Sergeants begin Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ with voices alone. The opening establishes a broad harmony before the arrangement begins to make space for individual singers.

The 24-member chorus is part of the United States Air Force Band. This arrangement uses the full ensemble to give a familiar melody a wider harmonic setting.

Listen to the way the first chords gather. Several voice parts move together, and the sound deepens before any single singer has to carry the full line.

Three soloists bring different colors to the song. Their voices come out of the choral blend for a passage and then give the melody back to the group.

The third entrance arrives around 2:25. It has become a point viewers return to, in part because the earlier sections take time to prepare for it.

Watch the performance

Each chord depends on the singers adjusting to one another. The even blend gives the changes in volume and intensity a clear shape.

An a cappella setting leaves the voices responsible for everything the listener hears. The group supplies the movement of the accompaniment as well as the melody itself.

Many listeners have singled out the late solo for praise. In the full video, you can hear why its arrival has the force it does after the more contained passages.

The arrangement keeps changing its scale. A single line can feel intimate for a few bars before the full chorus gives it a larger frame.

The video passed seven million views on YouTube. It took the ensemble’s sound to listeners who might never have encountered it through a military or civic performance.

The Singing Sergeants have been performing since 1945. Their work at military, civic and cultural occasions forms the background to a recording that found a notably large online audience.

The handoffs between soloists and chorus are particularly clear. As the harmonies become fuller, the melody remains easy to follow.

Cohen’s tune gives each soloist a shared starting point. Differences in tone and emphasis make successive returns to the same melody feel distinct.

The most expansive passages work because the arrangement has also made room for quiet ones. Together they show how much range the singers can create within an unaccompanied performance.

The first few chords and the entrance at 2:25 are worth hearing together. The distance between them makes the design of the performance especially apparent.

Two more performances to explore

Alexandra Burke — Hallelujah

Alexandra Burke’s competition performance of ‘Hallelujah’ brings Cohen’s song into a solo-vocal frame. It gives the listener another way to follow a melody heard here across a whole choir.

Life in 3D — The Sound of Silence

Life in 3D approach a Simon and Garfunkel ballad through close sibling harmonies. The smaller vocal group offers another example of how familiar material can change when singers adjust to one another.