> Please send them away!
> Okay, Let me check the rest out
> THANKS
Hooray! And below is the list of my 15 favorite choral pieces, with a link to the recording I like.
The Messiah (George Frederick Handel)
- John Butt, Dunedin Consort
- https://www.linnrecords.com/recording-handel-messiah-dublin-version-1742
- Harry Christophers, The Sixteen
- https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7975689--handel-messiah#about
- Sir Thomas Beecham, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus --- this recording is re-orchestrated marvelously for a full, modern orchestra!
- https://www.amazon.com/Handel-Messiah-Sinclair-Vickers-Beecham/dp/B000003FB8/ref=sr_1_3?crid=J4K8LP1VXD9A&keywords=handel+messiah+beecham&qid=1675014221&sprefix=handel+messiah+beecham%2Caps%2C234&sr=8-3
The Creation (Joseph Haydn)
- Paul McCreesh, The Gabriel Consort and Players
- https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7962472--haydn-the-creation
The Apostles (Sir Edward Elgar)
- Richard Hickox, London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
- https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8042703--elgar-the-apostles-op-49
- Sir Mark Elder, Hallé Orchestra and Choir
- https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8019437--elgar-the-apostles-op-49
Mass in B minor (Johann Sebastian Bach)
- John Eliot Gardiner, Monteverdi Choir & English Baroque Soloists
- https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7924606--bach-j-s-mass-in-b-minor-bwv232
Elijah (Felix Mendelssohn)
- Paul McCreesh, Gabrieli Consort & Players
- https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8019650--mendelssohn-elijah-op-70
Requiem: Grand Messe des Morts (Hector Berlioz)
- Sir Colin Davis, London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus)
- https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7949440--berlioz-requiem#reviews
Te Deum (Hector Berlioz)
- John Nelson, Orchestre de Paris
- https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8652734--berlioz-te-deum
Carmina Burana (Carl Orff)
- Eugen Jochum, Deutsche Opera Chorus and Orchestra
- https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7924188--orff-carmina-burana
Missa in Angustiis "Nelson Mass" (Joseph Haydn)
- Trevor Pinnock, English Concert
- https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7924612--haydn-nelson-mass-te-deum
Missa Solemnis (Ludwig van Beethoven)
- John Eliot Gardiner, The Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists
- https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7924619--beethoven-missa-solemnis-in-d-major-op-123
1610 Vespers (Claudio Monteverdi)
- Robert King, The King's Consort
- https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7944255--monteverdi-vespers
The Canterbury Pilgrims (Sir George Dyson)
- Richard Hickox, BBC National Orchestra and Chorus
- https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7928946--george-dyson-the-canterbury-pilgrims
A Sea Symphony (Ralph Vaughan Williams)
Sir Adrian Boult, London Philharmonic Choir & Orchestra
- https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7965063--vaughan-williams-symphony-no-1-a-sea-symphony
Requiem in D Minor (Wolfgang Mozart)
- John Butt, Dunedin Consort
- https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8395615--mozart-requiem
Requiem (Antonin Dvorak)
- Wolfgang Sawallisch, Prague Philharmonic Choir, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
- https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7940240--dvo-ak-requiem-op-89
Other works I really like are below. I listed them largely in the order that they are on the playlist of favorite choir works I have. The order is by when the composer is mentioned on the playlist and then if there are multiple works by the same composer, I just listed them on that line.
Gabriel Faure: Requiem
Benjamin Britten: War Requiem
George Frederick Handel: The Occasional Oratorio, Solomon, Saul, Jephtha, Belshazzar, Athalia, Deborah, Israel in Egypt, Samson, L'Allegro, Il Penseroso Ed il Moderato, Hercules, Judas Maccabaeus, Joshua, Alexander Balus, Susanna, Theodora, The Triumph of Time and Truth, Coronation Anthems.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Great Mass in C minor
Joseph Haydn: The Seasons, all of his masses
Johann Sebastian Bach: Christmas Oratorio, Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme, St. Matthew Passion, St. John Passion
Giuseppe Verdi: Requiem
Johannes Brahms: A German Requiem
Sir Edward Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius, The Kingdom, Caractacus, The Black Knight, Scenes from the Bavarian Highlands, Sea Pictures, The Music Makers, The Light of Life
Richard Harvey: Plague of the Moonflower
Luigi Cherubini: Requiem in C minor
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem, Hodie, A Song of Thanksgiving
Heinrich Biber: Requiem in A major
Sergei Rachmaninov: The Bells
Sir Granville Bantock: Omar Khayyam
Herbert Howells: Hymnus Paradisi
Krzysztof Penderecki: St. Luke Passion, A Polish Requiem, Utrenja, Te Deum, Symphony No 7 "Seven Gates of Jerusalem"
Franz Liszt: Christus
Anton Bruckner: Mass Nos 1-3
Christopher Tin: The Drop That Contained the Sea
Antonio Vivaldi: Glorias RV588 & RV589
Johann Nepomuk Hummel: Masses
Sir George Dyson: Quo Vadis
Frederick Delius: Requiem, A Mass of Life
Charles Villiers Stanford: Requiem
Sir William Walton: Belshazzar's Feast
John Foulds: A World Requiem
Felix Mendelssohn: Paulus
A couple of notes and rambles:
- I am a huge fan of Baroque choral music, especially of Handel's and Bach's works. I love their multi-layered choral writing for full chorus and wish modern composers would take full advantage of all one can do when writing for chorus more often. How often do you hear five-part choral writing in today's film music?
- Related to that, something like this is awesome! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyLtFiMkUSI
- I am also a big fan of the sound of Sir Elgar Edward's choral works and his contemporaries. Elgar's writing features wonderful, very detailed, and lush orchestrations and grand choir writing. His music covers a wide range of emotions and is often very dramatic. I particularly love the moments in his works where there is a soloist singing over the top of the choir.
- You can't usually go wrong with recordings conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner and Richard Hickox. Gardner's recordings of baroque and classical period works are usually top of the line. Hickox's recordings, often on the Chandos record label, of English composers are usually fantastic too and I have bought a lot of them!
- I don't have links to specific recordings of the works towards the bottom of this list but if you are interested in exploring them, I would highly recommend checking out www.prestoclassical.co.uk. This website has just about every classical recording ever released and is a fantastic resource.
- Once you do a search for a piece of music on Presto, look over on the left-hand side of the page for an "Award Winners" link. This will narrow the search to the recordings of the work that have won awards.
- From there, pay particular attention to the ones that have won Gramophone awards. They are the authority on classical music recordings and any recording that they star is worth checking out.
