# The most beautiful sacred music i heard so far...



## deprofundis

Ockay im speachless since im in a medieval trip, i bought another one of naxos early music serie, name ANIMA MEA ''sacred music of the middle ages'', Cosmedin ensemble perform these works.

Track 1 Ardona thalamum is divine god like , felt bless by god and smile.track 2 is interresting, while some other track are interresting they remain minimalist, but its ockay sound pretty inspiring.

Anybody bought the same record i did and what in the hell is a bowed psalterium because it sound rad 

That about it folks your looking for something retro for prayer or meditation purpose you can't go wrong whit this release.

:tiphat:


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## hpowders

Mozart's Ave verum corpus, KV 618.

Four minutes of ecstatic bliss.


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## Figleaf

hpowders said:


> Mozart's Ave verum corpus, KV 618.
> 
> Four minutes of ecstatic bliss.


Have you heard this famous version by the Sistine Chapel Choir, back when they still employed castrati?






I don't know about ecstatic bliss (the choir as a whole is a bit ropy) but it's certainly interesting.


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## hpowders

Figleaf said:


> Have you heard this famous version by the Sistine Chapel Choir, back when they still employed castrati?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't know about ecstatic bliss (the choir as a whole is a bit ropy) but it's certainly interesting.


No. I have the Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge and their singing is blissful.


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## Potiphera




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## Isivor

C.Ph.E. Bach - Heilig, heilig ist Gott


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## Art Rock

Faure's Requiem for me.


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## catherinethegreat21

Panis Angelicus. My Fave Version


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## MAS

Mozart's Laudate Dominum
(But, really, there are SO many!)


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## Ilarion

Soul-searching and achingly beautiful music from the pen of Bach:


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## trazom

Ilarion said:


> Soul-searching and achingly beautiful music from the pen of Bach:


I agree, and on the subject of the Matthew Passion, which I saw a performance of a couple months ago, the two arias I remember having the most profound emotional effect on me were:






and






and to pick something from my other favorite, Mozart, the Laudate Dominum from his Vesperae de Domenica K321. Not as famous as the one from K.339, but just as beautiful.


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## Headphone Hermit

deprofundis said:


> what in the hell is a bowed psalterium because it sound rad


"it sound rad" - I presume this is a form of praise or astonishment

Anyway, a bowed psaltery is a form of zither that is played with a bow, although it is anachronistic to have it on a recording of early music as it appears to be a twentieth-century invention


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## Wunderhorn

I have to say: *Grechaninov*: *"Passion Week"*. The recording with Charles Bruffy and the Kanas City Chorale on Chandos is out of this world. The choir is so good, at times you might wonder if this is even human anymore...

It is sacred music that can touch the soul profoundly.

- - -

Note to the above: "Rad" is an American slang term that was mostly popular in the 80s. It is a short form of "radical". And yes, it means praise and astonishment in one.
I also had not known about it until I learned it from my wife. 

The psaltery itself is a very old instrument. It would absolutely not surprise me if someone had played it with a bow back in the middle ages as well...


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## Ilarion

Deletion of this post


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## Ilarion

trazom said:


> I agree, and on the subject of the Matthew Passion, which I saw a performance of a couple months ago, the two arias I remember having the most profound emotional effect on me were:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and to pick something from my other favorite, Mozart, the Laudate Dominum from his Vesperae de Domenica K321. Not as famous as the one from K.339, but just as beautiful.


Hi trazom,

You do know your stuff, BRAVO!!!

If I may humbly proffer:






A most solemn rendering of a great aria by Bach...

I cry like a baby girl and wrap myself into a fetal position when I hear this aria


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## Ilarion

Wunderhorn said:


> I have to say: *Grechaninov*: *"Passion Week"*. The recording with Charles Bruffy and the Kanas City Chorale on Chandos is out of this world. The choir is so good, at times you might wonder if this is even human anymore...
> 
> It is sacred music that can touch the soul profoundly.
> 
> - - -
> 
> Note to the above: "Rad" is an American slang term that was mostly popular in the 80s. It is a short form of "radical". And yes, it means praise and astonishment in one.
> I also had not known about it until I learned it from my wife.
> 
> The psaltery itself is a very old instrument. It would absolutely not surprise me if someone had played it with a bow back in the middle ages as well...


Dear Wunderhorn,

As the reference recording of Grechaninov's "Passion Week" (Страстная Седмица = Strastnaya Sedmitsa) I use this:






The above link is sung by the Smolny Cathedral Chamber Choir conducted by V. Begletsov -Its has warmth and soul!!!

Or: The Seven Days of Passion by Grechaninov: Sung by the Russian State Symphonic Capella conducted by Valery Polyansky - Released 1994 on Chandos

The Polyansky interpretation is clean and accurate but lacks warmth and soul.

Btw, the Passion Week has 13 sections...


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## helenora

almost everything I listen to becomes the most beautiful piece I've ever listened to =D and it's not because I'd listened to nothing before haha, but now so called "sacred" music impresses me immensely. It's as if I opened a new chapter in a book of my listening experience. At the moment *Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass* is the most beautiful, yesterday it was *Zelenka's Miserere and Poulenc's Stabat Mater....*

all these categories like "sacred" vs "secular" is very vague , relative IMO. As for me almost every composition from "classical" music repertoire ( again another term for naming particular music =D) sounds sacred. it seems as if a "wall" between both kind music has disappeared for me. The wall has fallen :angel:


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## gardibolt

hpowders said:


> Mozart's Ave verum corpus, KV 618.
> 
> Four minutes of ecstatic bliss.


This. The most beautiful music ever written, period.


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## Ariasexta

I concentrate on baroque/Renaissance composers. My favorite religious music is by Bachs B minor Mass, Telemanns "Siehe, es hat ueberwunden der loewe", H.Purcell saint Cecilia odes etc, as for Renaissance, all of them.


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## hpowders

gardibolt said:


> This. The most beautiful music ever written, period.


Yes. It's a glorious little piece written just before Mozart's final curtain.


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## DeepR

I do like the Russians.

Tchaikovsky - Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom - Cherubic Hymn





Rachmaninoff - Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom - Lord's Prayer





Pavel Chesnokov - To Thee We Sing


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## Pugg

Verdi's requiem :tiphat:


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## silentio

Figleaf said:


> Have you heard this famous version by the Sistine Chapel Choir, back when they still employed castrati?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't know about ecstatic bliss (the choir as a whole is a bit ropy) but it's certainly interesting.


Rare gem as usual, Figleaf 

*Ave verum corpus* works for me always.


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## TxllxT




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## hpowders

Enjoy.


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## dieter

TxllxT said:


>


After my grandfather was killed - the result of ethnic cleansing of Germans in northern Serbia - my grandmother lived with a White Russian refugee from the Russian revolution. I still recall him sitting in front of the valve radio in the late 50's listening to short wave Russian Liturgical music. I've loved it ever since.


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## dieter

Yes. There must be 150 Bach arias from his cantatas and Masses and Passions that do that to me. It's great to be able to cry for these. The cry is more or less for the loss of innocence to do with what we witness, for what we have done, what we have chosen not to do, it's a cry for humanity.


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## Ilarion

TxllxT said:


>


From Holy Week - "Behold the Bridegroom Cometh" - When I hear this, I am reminded of the loss of innocence in my very early youth which causes me to shed extremely bitter tears...


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## Pugg




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## BoggyB

MAS said:


> Mozart's Laudate Dominum
> (But, really, there are SO many!)


Seconded.

I've been charmed by the *Domine Jesu* from Bruckner's Requiem. "Beautifully simple and simply beautiful" to use a phrase I've seen somewhere recently.


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## EarthBoundRules




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## Reichstag aus LICHT

hpowders said:


> Mozart's Ave verum corpus, KV 618. Four minutes of ecstatic bliss.


Expanded to six-and-a-bit minutes of ecstatic bliss by Fauré in his _Cantique de Jean Racine_. I'm sure Fauré was inspired by Mozart but, whether he was or not, the _Cantique_ is a beautiful work.


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## Reichstag aus LICHT

Art Rock said:


> Faure's Requiem for me.


The _In Paradisum_ in particular, for me.


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## hpowders

Reichstag aus LICHT said:


> Expanded to six-and-a-bit minutes of ecstatic bliss by Fauré in his _Cantique de Jean Racine_. I'm sure Fauré was inspired by Mozart but, whether he was or not, the _Cantique_ is a beautiful work.


If i take the Fauré in the car with me, I guess one could call it Cantique Road Show.


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## Bachiana

1. Josquin Desprez: Missa L'Homme armé sext toni, Agnus Dei, as sung by The Tallis Scholars
Absolutely number 1 for me. It is the music that I want to hear in heaven. This is one of the most magical pieces of music ever written, especially the third "Agnus Dei", which begins at about 3:45:






2. Josquin Desprez: Stabat Mater, as sung by La Chapelle Royale with Philippe Herreweghe
3. Josquin Desprez: Ave Maria, as sung by Weser Renaissance Bremen
4. Josquin Desprez: Missa Pange Lingua: Agnus Dei I, II and III, as sung by The Tallis Scholars
5. Heinrich Isaac: Angeli Archangeli, as sung by The Clerk's Group
6. Palestrina: The Agnus Dei from the Missa Papae Marcelli, as sung by The Tallis Scholars


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## hpowders

All 11 J.S. Bach arias sung by Magdalena Kozena on one of my favorite CDs.


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## Pugg

​
This one will do for me.


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## deprofundis

O magnum mysterium 4cds box-set is not crap you have fews goods missa, plenty of Ockeghem and josquin , but tonight im talking about what blown my mind on this box-set since lately also antoine Brumel. *Heinrich Finck *sanctus from missa sex vocum.beautiful in his true sense, mezmerizing , i want to hear more from this gentelman.


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## helenora

deprofundis said:


> O magnum mysterium 4cds box-set is not crap you have fews goods missa, plenty of Ockeghem and josquin , but tonight im talking about what blown my mind on this box-set since lately also antoine Brumel. *Heinrich Finck *sanctus from missa sex vocum.beautiful in his true sense, mezmerizing , i want to hear more from this gentelman.


you are becoming a real connoisseur of renaissance sacred music.


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## Pugg

helenora said:


> you are becoming a real connoisseur of renaissance sacred music.


It's fascinating, isn't it, I wish Deprofundis did understood that I do like his posts.


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## helenora

Pugg said:


> It's fascinating, isn't it, I wish Deprofundis did understood that I do like his posts.


yes, and this music is fascinating too....just difficult to stay on this earth/ to stay in touch with a surrounding reality after listening to it, being exposed a lot to it, that's why I try to mix genres of CM that I listen to

at the same time I guess for some people this music can cause different effect, it helps them to stay in touch with the reality...
empowers to found the ground and bring more peace in their mind.


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## helenora

Listening to everything possible "sacred" works by Vivaldi, Nisi dominus, Laudate, Magnificats, Gloria, Stabat Mater, Salve Regina,etc - and I'm realizing this is underappreciated composer for sure , he is overrated for his 4 seasons, I mean his 4 seasons are put higher than his other , perhaps more profound works....But well, it's all about perception, and of course 4 seasons are beautiful, who would negate it? But these sacred works ARE sacred!


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## Pugg

helenora said:


> Listening to everything possible "sacred" works by Vivaldi, Nisi dominus, Laudate, Magnificats, Gloria, Stabat Mater, Salve Regina,etc - and I'm realizing this is underappreciated composer for sure , he is overrated for his 4 seasons, I mean his 4 seasons are put higher than his other , perhaps more profound works....But well, it's all about perception, and of course 4 seasons are beautiful, who would negate it? But these sacred works ARE sacred!


So using the appropriate last word; Amen.


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## helenora

Pugg said:


> So using the appropriate last word; Amen.


off top: Reneé is in gold today  lovely


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## Bachiana

Nobody seems to know the Choral Cantata "Verleih uns Frieden gnädiglich" of Felix Mendelssohn. How is it possible? It's devastating beautiful. You can hear it with Philip Herreweghe right here:




And don't be shy with the sound level!


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## Ariasexta

I regretted about my earlier post in this thread, I should have said I love all musical works alike written during the baroque and Renaissance ages(900AD-1770AD). It becomes very difficult for me to single out a few pieces that can be numbered as I discover more and more music from those ages.


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## LesCyclopes

If you liked BWV 277, you will love these cantatas by Bach:

Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben

Agnus Dei

Erbarme Dich

And for a few choral favourites:

Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder

Kommt, ihr Töchter, helft mir klagen


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## helenora

deprofundis , have you listened to* Annibale Padovano Messe a 24 voix*? lots of voices I know, but it sounds fantastic


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## Pugg

LesCyclopes said:


> If you liked BWV 277, you will love these cantatas by Bach:
> 
> Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben
> 
> Agnus Dei
> 
> Erbarme Dich
> 
> And for a few choral favourites:
> 
> Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder
> 
> Kommt, ihr Töchter, helft mir klagen


Nice first post, welcome to the Forum .


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## Guest

I do not like the use of exaggerations but when I heard last week "o mensch bewein dein sünde gross bwv 622"played by 
Ton Koopman I was totally shocked, overwhelmed,helpless and in awe.I happens sometimes when I listened to Bach that I am completely connected with something very intimate and profound.It is joy and sadness at the same time when Bach our comforter speaks to us in all its splendour.


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## helenora

I've just listened to this choral prelude now and it's not about this world indeed. so much beyond that.


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## Varick

MAS said:


> Mozart's Laudate Dominum
> (But, really, there are SO many!)


Amen! IMO, there is no more beautiful "moment" in music than this.

V


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## LesCyclopes

Perhaps not THE most beautiful sacred music I have ever heard, but this is one I have recently discovered and have found myself lost in. Just sublime.


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## Bettina

A lot of sacred music is for choir and orchestra. I wish that composers had written more sacred pieces for solo piano! One of my favorites in this genre is Liszt's Benediction de Dieu dans la solitude.


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## psfrankel

I don't know that I can say it's the most beautiful, but one of my favorites is *Karl Jenkin's Requiem.*

In addition to the Latin movements, he also set 5 Japanese haiku 'death' poems.
"The instrumentation of these haiku settings includes the ancient Japanese wind instrument the shakuhachi." He also used some ethnic drums and "even a hip-hop rhythm in the Dies Irae!"

Quotes from the liner notes.

eta: fix typo


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## justlovely

Soul searching and achingly beautiful... very well put.


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## BachIsBest

This is also a bit more modern. It was a transcription from Barber's Adagio for Strings that the composer did himself:





Although you could literally list half the arias Bach wrote I always found this gem from his Magnificat was often overlooked:


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## KenOC

BachIsBest said:


> This is also a bit more modern. It was a transcription from Barber's Adagio for Strings that the composer did himself:


I ran across Barber's _Agnus Dei _some years back and spent several fruitless hours trying to find the mass that it was abstracted from. Finally had a "Doh!" moment.


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## Gallus

I could choose almost anything from Josquin but my favourite composition of his is the Gloria from Missa pange lingua:


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## Dimace

W.A Mozarts - Requiem (mentioned), Faures - Requiem (also mentioned) and *Johann Matthesons Oratorium - Brockes Passion: Der für die Sünde der Welt gemarterte und sterbende Jesus. * (Suggestion: the Accademia Filarmonica Köln recording from 2005.)


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## LittleSoul

Not just a sacred favourite but my favourite musical piece for the last 2 years: 
Apostol Nikolaev-Strumsky 'The Great Doxology' -- Just can't explain what I feel...


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## Rogerx

^^^
Nice and I get it that you like it, lots to discover out there.


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## xrysida

*Ecole de Notre-Dame - Messe du Jour de Noel* ...a masterpiece!!


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## rbacce

Christian - Mozart's Requiem in D minor. And also much of Bach's music.

Buddhist - honkyoku played by Katsuya Yokoyama (shakuhachi, a japanese and zen buddhist flute), such as these:






Jewish - klezmer is so beautiful. There're some contemporary bands playing instrumental klezmer which I enjoy pretty much. Example:


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## op75

Right now - Gretchaninov: Passion Week (recording with Charles Bruffy) https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN 5044


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## regenmusic

Arkhangelsky - Vespers 10 Greater Doxology

I find I have to listen to these at low volume after a while as it seems to work better.


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## dismrwonderful

For the Xmas season I went to Vaughan Williams Hodie and Bach's Christmas Oratorio. The Bach was the exceptional Karl Richter recording: 




The Hodie is a wonderful piece, especially the text. The music is modal and does not always fall easily on the ears, but it is well worth the effort.

Dan


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## jasper01

Ilarion, Your choices of YouTube of Bach are sublime.


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## jasper01

Since I joined this site just a couple of weeks ago, I really enjoy pulling up members YouTube selections. I have found many pieces of wonderful music I probably would never have found on my own. Thanks. Currently I am playing the Stabat Mater by Haydn each morning sitting in front of the wood fire enjoying coffee. Can't get enough of it.


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## Haydn70

_Ubi caritas_ by Duruflé...a gorgeous work


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## Ianinmaschera

Either Allegri's Miserere or Josquin's Ave Maria - the first time I heard them I was utterly captivated by the beauty of them, especially when they soar on high.


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## Haydn70

ArsMusica said:


> _Ubi caritas_ by Duruflé...a gorgeous work


Utterly beautiful.


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## deprofundis

Le LLibre Vermell in LP on Eratopure magic , analogue help a lot, and Erato a good label.


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## JAS26

I think that the nicest sacred work I've ever heard is Monteverdi's Vespers 1610. The recording I have is by The Sixteen conducted by Harry Christophers.


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## zelenka

Probably the greatest sacred music piece I've ever heard; Heinrich Isaac, Missa Paschalis, Agnus Dei





sorry I couldn't find a youtube version of it


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## JosefinaHW

op75 said:


> Right now - Gretchaninov: Passion Week (recording with Charles Bruffy) https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN 5044


I'm listening to this now via Amazon Music Unlimited. Simply gorgeous! Many Thanks.


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## paulbest

regenmusic said:


> Arkhangelsky - Vespers 10 Greater Doxology
> 
> I find I have to listen to these at low volume after a while as it seems to work better.


I have no doubt Schnittke heard Arkhangelsky and Rachmaninov, as he was deeply interested in orthodox Russian chant.
Which led him to be inspired to score powerful spiritual masterpieces. 
After knowing Schnittke, I never revisit Rachmaninov's Vespers.

Note the tunnel of light we will all pass through one day....


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## Tallisman




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## Fat Bob

Some very fine choices in this thread - at the moment I am under the spell of this: - 




Eat incarnatus est, Mozart, great C minor mass. Sublime.


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## Dimace

paulbest said:


> I have no doubt Schnittke heard Arkhangelsky and Rachmaninov, as he was deeply interested in orthodox Russian chant.
> Which led him to be inspired to score powerful spiritual masterpieces.
> After knowing Schnittke, I never revisit Rachmaninov's Vespers.
> 
> *Note the tunnel of light we will all pass through one day....
> *


That's for sure, my friend. Nice post!


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## Rogerx

GIUSEPPE VERDI

Messa da Requiem
Leontyne Price · Fiorenza Cossotto
Luciano Pavarotti · Nicolai Ghiaurov
Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala
Herbert von Karajan
Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot


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## Hiawatha

Rogerx said:


> GIUSEPPE VERDI
> 
> Messa da Requiem
> Leontyne Price · Fiorenza Cossotto
> Luciano Pavarotti · Nicolai Ghiaurov
> Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala
> Herbert von Karajan
> Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot


The great Leontyne Price!


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## NLAdriaan

Rogerx said:


> GIUSEPPE VERDI
> 
> Messa da Requiem
> Leontyne Price · Fiorenza Cossotto
> Luciano Pavarotti · Nicolai Ghiaurov
> Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala
> Herbert von Karajan
> Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot


Funny, from the still of this video, it looks like HvK is conducting in drag (very decent too):lol:


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