Top Ten Favorite Sacred Music Composers

Started by Florestan, September 25, 2022, 12:20:00 PM

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Florestan

My list:

Monteverdi
Tomas Luis de Victoria
Bach JS
Vivaldi
Haydn
Bortniansky
Mozart
Mayr
Chesnokoff
Rachmaninoff






Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

San Antone

For me the composers of the Medieval and Renaissance periods wrote sublime sacred music, less so in later periods, although the 20th century has produced some great sacred works: Duruflé Requiem, Rachmaninoff Vespers and All Night Vigil are just a few examples.

Roasted Swan

All good choices so far but no list could be complete without;

Tallis
Byrd
Vaughan Williams
Stanford
Howells

just for starters......

Biffo

I am sure I will think of others later but for starters -

Tallis
Eton Choirbook
Monteverdi
Victoria
JS Bach

I have included the Eton Choirbook as one composer because it has numerous composers who are only represented by one work and some who only appear in the Choirbook; it is a wonderful anthology.

There are also numerous composers who wrote some of my favourite sacred works but who I don't regard as composers of sacred music eg. Beethoven, Berlioz, Brahms etc




LKB

No mention of Josquin?

You're all fired.  :D

( The rest of my ten coming later, after l have more neurons firing. )
Mit Flügeln, die ich mir errungen...

vandermolen

#5
Vaughan Williams
Howells
Durufle
Tallis
Byrd
Rachmaninov
Lauridsen
Esenvalds
Gorecki
MacMillan Holst
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Irons

Quote from: vandermolen on September 28, 2022, 04:46:11 AM
Vaughan Williams
Howells
Durufle
Tallis
Byrd
Rachmaninov
Lauridsen
Esenvalds
Gorecki
MacMillan

Quote from: Roasted Swan on September 28, 2022, 01:54:17 AM
All good choices so far but no list could be complete without;

Tallis
Byrd
Vaughan Williams
Stanford
Howells

just for starters......

Don't forget Holst.
You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.

vandermolen

Quote from: Irons on September 28, 2022, 07:31:18 AM
Don't forget Holst.
Quite right Lol - I should definitely have included Gustav (I shall amend my original list)
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Irons

Quote from: vandermolen on September 29, 2022, 12:50:23 AM
Quite right Lol - I should definitely have included Gustav (I shall amend my original list)

The reason I brought up Holst and in particular Hymn of Jesus, Jeffrey, is although choral works are outside my comfort zone I played the Boult recording and to my surprise quite moved by it.
You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.

Roasted Swan

Quote from: Irons on September 29, 2022, 07:08:03 AM
The reason I brought up Holst and in particular Hymn of Jesus, Jeffrey, is although choral works are outside my comfort zone I played the Boult recording and to my surprise quite moved by it.

I realise I am making a pitch for "pedant of the week" but even allowing for the inclusion of "Jesus" in the title I would not include the (wonderful) Hymn of Jesus in a list of sacred works.  To my mind this implies something probably for use in a sacred setting or if not (ie the Verdi Requiem) then set to an explicitly religious text.  I think of Hymn of Jesus as visionary rather than religious in the same way I would describe RVW's remarkable "Sancta Civitas".  Aside from this work and a couple of tunes for carols (in the Bleak Midwinter a standout) I can't think of ANY religious music by Holst which I think is telling.......

Florestan

Quote from: Roasted Swan on September 29, 2022, 08:44:53 AM
sacred works.  To my mind this implies something probably for use in a sacred setting or if not (ie the Verdi Requiem) then set to an explicitly religious text. 

Yes, this is what I had in mind when starting the thread.
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Jo498

I don't know the Holst piece but there is quite a bit of music we consider sacred that was not composed as liturgical or church music, e.g all/most of Handel's oratorios or Haydn's or Mendelssohn's (of course all of these three also composed liturgical music). As early as the 17th century they played sacred themed oratorios during Lent when there was no real opera/theatre. Nevertheless, I think it would seem strange today not to consider a lot of these pieces as sacred music, e.g. Messiah or Elijah.
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

Roasted Swan

Quote from: Jo498 on September 29, 2022, 09:11:18 AM
I don't know the Holst piece but there is quite a bit of music we consider sacred that was not composed as liturgical or church music, e.g all/most of Handel's oratorios or Haydn's or Mendelssohn's (of course all of these three also composed liturgical music). As early as the 17th century they played sacred themed oratorios during Lent when there was no real opera/theatre. Nevertheless, I think it would seem strange today not to consider a lot of these pieces as sacred music, e.g. Messiah or Elijah.

fair point - the theatre of the church!  But of course that concept goes right back to passion plays and the like.....

Mandryka

#13
What is sacred music? I mean, I know a necessary condition is that it's designed to be used in a religious ritual, but is that a sufficient condition?

So let's take an example, am I allowed Stockhausen's Gesang der Jünlinge, which is a setting of The Book of Daniel?
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Florestan

Quote from: Mandryka on September 29, 2022, 09:18:32 AM
What is sacred music?

Music to be used in a sacred setting (ie, in a church) or if not (ie the Verdi Requiem) then set to an explicitly religious text.
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Lisztianwagner

Quote from: Roasted Swan on September 29, 2022, 08:44:53 AM
I realise I am making a pitch for "pedant of the week" but even allowing for the inclusion of "Jesus" in the title I would not include the (wonderful) Hymn of Jesus in a list of sacred works.  To my mind this implies something probably for use in a sacred setting or if not (ie the Verdi Requiem) then set to an explicitly religious text.  I think of Hymn of Jesus as visionary rather than religious in the same way I would describe RVW's remarkable "Sancta Civitas".  Aside from this work and a couple of tunes for carols (in the Bleak Midwinter a standout) I can't think of ANY religious music by Holst which I think is telling.......

What about Holst's Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda, which was based on sacred texts of Hinduism?
"Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire." - Gustav Mahler

Mandryka

Quote from: Florestan on September 29, 2022, 09:27:53 AM
Music to be used in a sacred setting (ie, in a church) or if not (ie the Verdi Requiem) then set to an explicitly religious text.

So yes to the Stockhausen. And no to Messiaen's 20 Regards.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Florestan

#17
Quote from: Mandryka on September 29, 2022, 09:36:58 AM
So yes to the Stockhausen. And no to Messiaen's 20 Regards.

I have zero knowledge of Stockhausen's music. Messiaen's Vingt regards is music inspired by faith but I'm not sure it qualifies as sacred music.

Mass, Requiem, Stabat Mater, Te Deum, Magnificat, Vespers, All-Night Vigils, Liturgy of St. John Chrysostomus, Gloria, Lutheran Sunday cantatas, Anglican service music --- this sort of stuff.
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Florestan

Having forgotten to include Schubert in my list is a stain on my reputation.  :o
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

ritter

And Stravinsky surely deserves mention here: Symphony of Psalms, Mass, Canticum Sacrum, Threni, Abraham and Isaac, Requiem Canticles...and the small-scale Pater Noster, Credo, Ave Maria, Introitus.