 | Arvo Pärt: Da Pacem by Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Buy new: $21.98 / Used from: $8.99 Pärt is one of my very favorites. Dopo la Vittoria is beautiful on this CD, a Grammy winner, incidentally.
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 | I Am The True Vine: Arvo Part by Paul Hillier
Buy new: $21.98 / Used from: $6.32 And here he goes again. Bogoróditse Djévo is probably the most beautiful little choral gem I have ever heard.
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 | Passio by Arvo Part
Buy new: $17.98 / Used from: $4.80 Powerful. Long.
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 | Faire is the Heaven - Music of the English Church
Buy new: $17.99 / Used from: $1.99 Delightful. I like the mix of more contemporary pieces (Faire is the Heaven, A Spotless Rose) with the most powerful of centuries-old British choral music (Hear My Prayer, O Lord).
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 | Hail, Gladdening Light: Music of the English Church
Buy new: $17.99 / Used from: $4.98 Same goes for this one as "Faire is the Heaven."
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 | Christmas with Chanticleer (Featuring Dawn Upshaw)
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $7.75 Ah, Chanticleer! You delight me! And Dawn Upshaw: what a pairing! Joseph Jennings, Im sure we disagree on many things, but God has given you more than your fair share of capacity for making beauty!
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 | Colors of Love by Steven Stucky
Buy new: $16.99 / Used from: $3.99 Weird in places, but fascinating. I love "Village Wedding" (Tavener), "Words of the Sun" (Zhou Long), and "in time of" (Sametz).
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 | Our American Journey by Chanticleer
Buy new: $17.98 / Used from: $5.00 Rich, rich. I love "Jefferson," especially the final words: "Fading are the worldling's pleasures, all their vaunted pomp and show; solid joys and lasting treasures none but Zion's children know." I can't start listing my other favorites because there are too many.
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 | Chanticleer - Out of This World by Orlando Gibbons
Buy new: $16.99 / Used from: $3.40 Solid.
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 | Sing We Christmas by Chanticleer
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $4.90 Probably overall the most beautiful CD I have. Joseph Jennings spins his magic on Christina Rossettis In the Bleak Midwinter, my favorite recorded track in all the world. Its absolutely heavenly. Chanticleers light touch is exquisite on this whole CD. This is a must.
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 | Wondrous Love: A World Folk Song Collection by Chanticleer
Buy new: $14.99 / Used from: $4.68 Fun! Ethnic!
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 | Eric Whitacre: Cloudburst and Other Choral Works by Eric Whitacre
Buy new: $20.98 / Used from: $14.71 Up-and-coming composer (or has he up and come?) and a fantastic British choir, Stephen Layton's Polyphony. Eric Whitacre may seem a little gimmicky, but so far I havent tired of him like I have of Lauridsen. That sounds too negative... I really do love Whitacre! He's pure choral pleasure, just maybe not as meaty as others. When David Heard moved me to tears the first time I heard it.
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 | New Joy - Orthodox Christmas Music
Buy new: $21.98 / Used from: $13.49 The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir is directed by Paul Hillier, a choral master. Estonian? you askyes! Theyre really amazing.
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 | Baltic Voices 1 / Kreek Sandstrom / Rautavaara / Part / Vasks by The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Buy new: $21.98 / Used from: $11.99 I must confess, I deeply love the three tracks by Kreek and the setting of Lukes geneaology (!) by Pärt, but I never listen to the rest.
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 | Baltic Voices 2
Buy new: $21.98 / Used from: $8.50 On this CD, too, I have three favorites and usually forget the rest. The three sacred hymns by Schnittke are fantastic.
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 | Byzantia: Music Of John Tavener
Buy used from: $0.94 Tavener is probably my favorite composer of all time. Song for Athene I loved before I ever knew it was sung at Princess Dianas funeral. Mother and Child is another of my favorites, though its not on this CD.
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 | King's Singers Christmas
Buy new: $19.98 / Used from: $69.76 The Kings Singers are absolute masters of the choral medium. They manage to make six quite individual voices blend so pleasingly. And theyre a riot!
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 | Sergei Rachmaninoff: Vespers (Mass for Unaccompanied Chorus)
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $3.00 Power, power
Oh, those Russians! They produced something this American revels in! Find me a better moment in all of choral music than the Slava Bogu (track 7), about 55 seconds in
Oh, my! I'm not normally the biggest fan of Shaw's recordings: too heavy. I like the lighter feel I get from British choirs. But they're perfect for this Rachmaninov recording.
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 | Vaughan Williams: Mass in G minor; Motets
Buy new: $8.99 / Used from: $2.61 The quintessentially British Composer Ralph (pronounced rafe, I hear) Vaughan Williams is one of the few that can tempt me out of choral music. But his choral music is fantastic, too. This is one of the most spiritually uplifting of my fine-art CDs. O, Taste and See how gracious the Lord is! O God, Our Help in Ages Past!
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