Top Classical Choral Music

Music Lists - Classical Music

1. Handel: Messiah - a grand work on a grand theme.  A masterpiece of the Baroque period (where singers sing floridly and choirs sing in melodies that intertwine).  The mighty "Hallelujah" chorus is the most popular part, but there are plenty of other choruses that are awe-inspiring.  I love every moment of it (though initially, I find the slow pieces tedious).
2. Mozart: Requiem - Mozart's musical mass for the dead is both sublime and beautiful.
3. Bach: Mass in B minor - another contrapuntal masterpiece from the Baroque period, solemn and grand and spiritually uplifting.
4. Orff: Carmina Burana - this time, it's about the profane.  One of my guilty pleasures.  Full of rhythmic energy, especially the famous opening piece, "O Fortuna".  The strangeness of sound comes from the percussive orchestration and an unpredictable variety of mix of voices. 
5. Brahms:  A German Requiem - another solemn and grand work about death.  Many powerful and soaringly beautiful moments.
6. Vaughn Williams: Serenade to Music - a lovely, melliflous, harmonious piece that is a fitting tribute to music.
7. Britten: War Requiem - latin mass interwoven with poems about the horror of World War I.  Very dramatic and intellectually satisfying as well.
8. Beethoven:  Missa Solemnis - an epic work from a dramatic composer.  Contrasting parts suggest the composer's spiritual struggle.
9. Faure:  Requiem - sweet and serene, no bombastic moments, but it's lovely.
10. Bach:  St Matthew Passion - another solemn, contemplative contrapuntal work on a grand scale.