Choral & vocal works for beginners...and beyond

[Papy Oli]

Good afternoon all,

Choral & vocal works have been the genre that initially got me into classical music, and has since been on more than a par with orchestral music. Like for everyone here, discovering new works is a big part of the fun, so from the starting list below, which other works would you recommend a beginner (or whatever level for that matter) to listen to in that field ?

The recommendations may not necessarily need to be deemed as "essential", it could as well be a particular hidden gem in your music collection that you feel other GMG'ers may enjoy. Personally, it all started with Pergolesi's Stabat Mater which was one of my friend's favourite piece.

For ease of identification, i have made main sub-categories, with a deliberate focus on sacred works (I have left the Lieders, Operas and Cantatas aside for now). A handful of works and composers below are still in my "to try" list, hence some "?" in places, but if anything is out of place, please let me know and i'll edit accordingly. Likewise, I'll edit the list as we go along with your recommendations.

Thank you.

(Mods, whether it is more suitable in the Beginners Forum, feel free to move the topic).

----------------------

Masses, Oratorios

JS Bach – Mass in B Minor
JS Bach – Easter Oratorio
JS Bach – Ascension Oratorio
JS Bach – Christmas Oratorio
Beethoven – Missa Solemnis
JS Bach – Magnificat in D
JS Bach – Saint Matthew's Passion
Haydn – Nelson Mass
Haydn – The Seasons
Haydn – The Creation
Handel – Messiah
Handel - Judas Maccabaeus
Schubert – Mass No.6 in E Flat Major D950
Bruckner - Masses
Mozart - Mass in C Minor
Vivaldi – Gloria in D
Arvo Part - Berliner Messe
Janáček - Glagolitic Mass
Machaut- Messe de Notre Dame


Requiems

Mozart – Requiem K626
Verdi – Messa Da Requiem
Brahms – Ein Deutches Requiem
Berlioz - Requiem
Fauré - Requiem
Durufle – Requiem
Heinrich Schutz – Musicalische Exequien (German Requiem)
Tomas Luis de Victoria – Requiem Officium Defuntorum
Britten – War Requiem
Cherubini - Requiem
Morales – Requiem Officium Defuntorum

Stabat Mater

Pergolesi
Scarlatti
Vivaldi
Dvorak
Rossini
Haydn

Motets & small/medium scale sacred works

Bruckner - Motets
Allegri – Miserere
Palestrina – Missa Papae Marcelli
William Byrd – Mass for 4 & 5 voices
Tallis – Salve Intemerata, Spem in Alium (ok, maybe 40 parts is bigger than medium  )
Josquin Des Prez
Dufay - Missa Ecce Acilla
Lassus - Lagrime Di San Pietro
Ockeghem - Missa Prolationum
Messiaen - O Sacrum Convivium!
Barber - Agnus Dei
Kedrov - Our Father
Arvo Part - Summa
Britten - Ceremony of Carols (with harp)
Hildegard von Bingen
Leonin & Perotin - Sacred Music from Notre-Dame Cathedral
Heinrich Schutz – Psalmen Davids.

Vespers

Rachmaninov – Vespers (All Night Vigil)
Monteverdi – Vespro Della Beate Virgine
Mozart – Solemn Vespers

Symphonies/Orchestral with vocal/choir parts

Beethoven – 9th Symphony
Mahler – 2nd Symphony (Resurrection), 3rd, 4th, 8th.
Gorecki – 3rd Symphony
Barber Knoxville: Summer of 1915
Stravsinky - Symphony of Psalms

Other Works

Vaughan Williams - Silent Noon
Schubert - Nacht und Traume
Orff - Carmina Burana
Brahms - Liebeslieder valses (with two pianos.
Stravinsky - Les Noces .
Sibelius - Kullervo
Schönberg - Friede auf Erden, Kol Nidre
Purcell - Dido and Aeneas
Handel - Solomon
Stravinsky - Oedipus Rex
Bartok - choral works
Kodaly - Works for Mixed choirs
Poulenc - Litanies a la Vierge noire de Rocamadour
R. Vaughan-williams - 5 Mystical songs for Baritone, chorus & Orchestra.
Johan Duijck - El Camino Del Alma (Phaedra CD, Flanders Fields Vol.54)
Monteverdi - Madrigals
Gesualdo
Dowland
Dunstable
Elgar: - The Dream of Gerontius, Op. 38 (Barbirolli) - The Apostles, Op. 49 (Boult) -The Kingdom, Op. 51 (Boult)
Tippet -  Child of our Time
Walton - Belshazzar's Feast 

[Ephemerid]

Keeping in mind this is for beginners...

CHORAL (A CAPELLA):
Messiaen: O Sacrum Convivium! (and anyone who has had a difficult time with Messiaen will be surprised by the beauty of this piece)
Barber: Agnus Dei (rally just a re-setting of his Adagio for Strings which is a re-setting from his String Quartet, but a good piece anyway)
Kedrov's setting of the Our Father (GORGEOUS!)

CHORAL (ACCOMPANIED):
Brahms: Liebeslieder valses (with two pianos.  Schmaltzy as hell, but that's the charm of it)
Britten: Ceremony of Carols (with harp)

ORCHESTRAL WITH CHORUS (AND SOME WITH SOLO VOCAL PARTS):
Orff: Carmina Burana (yes, overplayed & perhaps over-hyped, but its a lovely work nevertheless)
Stravsinky: Symphony of Psalms
Faure: Requiem

ORCHESTRAL WITH SOLO VOCAL:
Barber: Knoxville: Summer of 1915

ART-SONG:
Vaughan Williams: Silent Noon
Schubert: Nacht und Traume

There's a lot more of course, but I can't think of any more off the top of my head...

[Keemun]

Here are a few I would add:

Masses, Oratorios

Handel - Judas Maccabaeus
Mozart - Mass in C Minor

Requiems

Cherubini - Requiem

Symphonies with vocal/choir parts

Mahler - Symphony No. 4
Mahler - Symphony No. 8

[Papy Oli]

Thanks Josh & Keemun.

Added your suggestions to the initial list 

[bhodges]

Sometimes people are more comfortable with shorter works, so I'd include some of the many, many compilation CDs, such as the following:

Chanticleer: Our American Journey - An excellent mix of arrangements of American folk songs and contemporary works.



VocalEssence: Any of the four Witness CDs (the entire box is shown below), with music from African-American composers, many not well known.



Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir: Baltic Voices 1 (and discs 2 and 3) - The three discs in this series have music by Vasks, Rautavaara, and others.



St. Jacob's Chamber Choir: Sonority - One of my favorite choral CDs, with unusual contemporary works done by one of the world's best choirs.



--Bruce

[Novi]

Here are some I like:

Stravinsky, Les Noces - I really like this - robust, earthy, and fun. The Ancerl recording is ace .

Sibelius, Kullervo - blokey, testosterone-filled

Janáček, Glagolitic Mass
I recently got a disk of his male choral works as well and while I'm not familiar with them, like them so far.

I also like Schönberg's choral stuff, Friede auf Erden, Kol Nidre etc

[The new erato]

I feel Schutz is seriously lacking here. Anything by Jacobs, Herreweghe or Junghanel on Harmonia Mundi will do very fine.

Schütz: Historien der Geburt und Auferstehung Jesu Christi with Frieder Bernius  on Sony is probably my favorite Schutz album, but I dn't know if i is available any more (the state of Sony's catalogue is a real shame).

[Papy Oli]

Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir: Baltic Voices 1 (and discs 2 and 3) - The three discs in this series have music by Vasks, Rautavaara, and others.



St. Jacob's Chamber Choir: Sonority - One of my favorite choral CDs, with unusual contemporary works done by one of the world's best choirs.



--Bruce

Thanks Bruce. Those 2 seem quite interesting indeed - i'll look into those 

[Papy Oli]

Here are some I like:

thanks Novitiate, that's added to the original post.

[Papy Oli]

I feel Schutz is seriously lacking here. Anything by Jacobs, Herreweghe or Junghanel on Harmonia Mundi will do very fine.

Schütz: Historien der Geburt und Auferstehung Jesu Christi with Frieder Bernius  on Sony is probably my favorite Schutz album, but I dn't know if i is available any more (the state of Sony's catalogue is a real shame).

Erato,

I had Schutz's German Requiem in my initial list, i only discovered this work 2/3 weeks ago together with "The Seven Words of Jesus christ on the Cross", and these are quite impressive pieces indeed. thanks for the further recommendations.

[bhodges]

Thanks Bruce. Those 2 seem quite interesting indeed - i'll look into those 

Papy, especially that Sonority disc, I can't recommend highly enough if you like contemporary music.  Some friends in Minneapolis (one of the true centers of choral music in the U.S.) introduced me to this choir, which they heard when they performed there at the Sixth World Symposium on Choral Music in 2002.  (And actually, there's a nice 2-CD set of highlights from the festival--see image below--and here is the tracklist, plus ordering information.)

--Bruce

[Haffner]

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, Ulrich Roth ('70's Scorpions), and Deep Purple originally got me into Beethoven and J.S. Bach. Yngwie Malmsteen got me to listen to alot of Paganini, Perlman, Menuhin, Stern. The movie "Amadeus" made me discover Mozart and J. Haydn, and after that the Ring des Nibelungen...well, it's obvious ain't it?

[Papy Oli]

Papy, especially that Sonority disc, I can't recommend highly enough if you like contemporary music. 
--Bruce

I have sampled Sonority and i am not sure i am ready for that yet - like you have put in your amazon review of this CD, that may not appeal to those too used to early choral works - so that's another one to to test again later ...a bit like Kol Nidre :

[bhodges]

I have sampled Sonority and i am not sure i am ready for that yet - like you have put in your amazon review of this CD, that may not appeal to those too used to early choral works - so that's another one to to test again later ...a bit like Kol Nidre :

No worries.    Plenty of other things to listen to! 

--Bruce

[Papy Oli]

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, Ulrich Roth ('70's Scorpions), and Deep Purple originally got me into Beethoven and J.S. Bach. Yngwie Malmsteen got me to listen to alot of Paganini, Perlman, Menuhin, Stern. The movie "Amadeus" made me discover Mozart and J. Haydn, and after that the Ring des Nibelungen...well, it's obvious ain't it?

Andy,

It is close to bed time on my side of the pond and maybe i am missing something    but wasn't this reply meant for an other thread by any chance ?   

Nothing against Yngwie Malmsteenby the way, I'll just need guidance as to where to fit him in the categories in the original post !!

[Haffner]

Andy,

It is close to bed time on my side of the pond and maybe i am missing something    but wasn't this reply meant for an other thread by any chance ?   

Nothing against Yngwie Malmsteenby the way, I'll just need guidance as to where to fit him in the categories in the original post !!

Eeeewwwps! Sorry!

[Papy Oli]

Eeeewwwps! Sorry!

now, any choral/vocal gems you would like to add to our list ? 

[Haffner]

now, any choral/vocal gems you would like to add to our list ? 

Mozart Requiem
Mozart Mass in C minor
Haydn "Nelson" Mass

[c#minor]

All Schubert Lieder. Very accessible stuff.

[Expresso]

I think that Papy covered most of the vocal works suitable for beginners... not much more to add!

Maybe the following:

Purcell - Dido and Aeneas
Handel - Solomon
Stravinsky - Oedipus Rex
Haydn - Stabat Mater

Also Kyrie Eleison by Uli Roth