Re-trying Choral Music - Looking for recommendations

[Peter Power Pop]

I'd like to put in a word for Carl Nielsen's Springtime in Funen. It's relatively brief (18 minutes), but full of life.

Nielsen: Springtime in Funen, Lyrisk humoresque for soloists, chorus and orchestra. Op. 42 (1921)

Inga Nielsen (soprano)
Peter Gronlund (tenor)
Sten Byriel (bass)
The Children's Chorus of Skt. Annae
The Danish National Radio Choir
The Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leif Segerstam

https://www.youtube.com/v/WW2Mnl6PIr0

[Symphonic Addict]

BTW, as someone who isn't a huge listener of Baroque music, I love Handel's Messiah unreservedly, overplayed though it may be. What a glorious outpouring of delightful inspiration!

+1, more so when it's played on modern instruments.

[Karl Henning]

I actually attended Messiah in a live concert. It was so bad that I left at the interval. Horribly boring.

It's one of those pieces I enjoy participating in, but not listening to, passively.


Gosh, I just replied to a January post ....

[lordlance]

It's one of those pieces I enjoy participating in, but not listening to, passively.


Gosh, I just replied to a January post ....

Heh it's all good.

[vandermolen]

Durufle's Requiem

[Roasted Swan]

Ola Gjeilo's "Luminous Night of the Soul"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OaRZrdoTQ0

gorgeous performance of a beautiful piece - sub 10 minute work

[eoghan]

What a superb list!!

BTW, as someone who isn't a huge listener of Baroque music, I love Handel's Messiah unreservedly, overplayed though it may be. What a glorious outpouring of delightful inspiration!

I agree that this was a superb list...and lots of other good inputs into the thread as well. I also fall into the category of not generally caring for the solo voice (as a general rule I'd rather chew my own leg off than sit through an hour of Lieder or an operatic gala) so plenty of these have been good for me as well, lots of new stuff.

Perhaps what you are after isn't necessarily a fast tempo but that awesome power that massed voices can provide?

A couple that haven't been mentioned yet I don't think:

Rachmaninoff - The Bells (rattles along, there are solo voices but not particularly prominent)
Mahler 2 (movement 4 is solo but wonderful and when the chorus enter in the fifth it's one of the most glorious moments in music)
Some Bruckner masses and motets are pretty amazing
You could also go earlier - try something like the Symphoniae Sacrae by Gabrieli for example
A seasonal choice might be Bach's Magnificat
I endorse the Glagolitic Mass recommendation, as well as the suggestion of an album of Wagner choruses. You could do the same with Verdi
Liszt - Missa Choralis is worth a try
The choruses of Haydn's Creation make wading through the solo bits well worth it
There are also solo sections in André Campra's setting of Psalm 76 (Notus in Judea Deus) but the whole thing sparkles with energy and life
Again it's Christmas...there are so many seasonal pieces and carols which fitnthe bill perfectly...try anything by William Mathias, something like A Babe Is Born

[lordlance]

Oh yeah I love Janacek's Glagolitic Mass. It's got a lot of power to it. And yes, I dislike solo vocals immensely. Instant turn off.