You can discern the tone of a soloist, easily.
A duet, a trio – these are ensembles where the individual singers’ timbres are center-stage.
Even the quartets, quintets, octets that reach fame are often made of distinct voices. I can hear each voice in the New York Voices, The Real Group, Take 6, even Voces8.
Over that, and the ensemble is more and more prominently its own voice, distinct from any of the individuals. A 12-voice ensemble is hard to break into 12 discernible voices, and a 24-voice choir is more than twice as difficult.
That is the sound I am hungry to hear again. The sound that can only exist when we are together, listening, balancing, reacting, adjusting, and collaborating on the sound of the ensemble.