# Sacred music advice



## usumdelphini

Hello everybody,

I want to purify my ear listening just to Sacred music for two weeks. So I would like to collect your advices for a "must of" list.

Thanks in advance


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## Andreas

Anything by Palestrina.


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## ahammel

Mozart's, Brahms's, and Verdi's requiems are the obvious picks.

Fauré's requiem, Bruckner's F minor mass, and Schubert's C major mass are particular favourites of mine.


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## MagneticGhost

If you are looking for purity you need to listen to pieces for unaccompanied choir.

This lot should keep you going 

Rachmaninov - Vespers
- Liturgy of St. John Chrysostum
Tchaikovsky - Liturgy of St. John Chrysostum

John Taverner (b. c. 1490)
Gloria Tibi Trinitas
Western Wind Mass

Tallis - Spem in Alium


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## DrKilroy

Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms, Vaughan Williams' Sancta Civitas and all sacred pieces by Bach. 

Best regards, Dr


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## Nereffid

Masses and motets by Dufay, Ockeghem, Josquin et al.


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## Mahlerian

For sacred music written by an atheist:
Vaughan Williams' Mass in G minor





For sacred music written by an ex-Lutheran Jew:
Schoenberg's Friede auf erden (in D major/minor) and Psalm 130









For sacred music by a Russian Orthodox crossing over to write Catholic music:
Stravinsky's Mass


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## KenOC

For a lighter touch, Bach's Magnificat and Poulenc's Gloria.


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## Weston

Mahlerian said:


> For sacred music written by an atheist:
> Vaughan Williams' Mass in G minor


Well, I had no idea Vaughan-Williams wrote a Mass, though I knew he was fairly massive. I would not have guessed this as RVW music on a blind hearing. It sounds quite historical to a layman's ears.

My pick for sacred music would be the Symphoniae Sacrae by Heinrich Schütz, especially this one:





I've pestered the forum a few times before, raving about this piece.


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## Manxfeeder

I second all the pieces listed. Especially "all the sacred music of Bach." That's more than two weeks' worth.

I would add Haydn's Seven Last Words - especially the string quartet version of the Lindsay String Quartet. 
Beethoven's Missa Solemnis is a favorite of mine - it's so "human." 
I also like Arvo Part's I Am The True Vine - it's short, in English, and illustrates his technique succinctly. 
Szymanowki's Stabat Mater is evocative. 
I would also suggest Schubert's Masses in Ab and Eb.
Listen to Biber's Missa Bruxellensis with your speakers all the way up.
If you can find Jos van Immerseel's Six Cantatas by Dietrich Buxtehude, it's a great performance.

I could go on and on, but that's enough for now.


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## Selby

ahammel said:


> Fauré's requiem, Bruckner's F minor mass, and Schubert's C major mass are particular favourites of mine.


I will second these picks.

I'd add Saint-Saëns' Requiem, Rachmaninov's All-Night Vigil (vespers), Pärt's Te Deum, Josquin's Missa Panga Lingua, anything by Hildegard von Bingen, and my current favorite piece of music: Dona nobis pacem by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Seriously. It gives me tingles.

The Hickox also comes with Sancta Civitas, which was suggested earlier.


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## hreichgott

No one has suggested Miserere by Allegri yet


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## Andolink

Josquin des Pres--Missa Pange Lingua


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## millionrainbows

_Koyannisqatsi, _Philip Glass.


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## Novelette

Cherubini: Missa Solemnis in D Minor, "Per il Principe Esterházy"
Cherubini: Requiem #1 in C Minor
Cherubini: Requiem #2 in D Minor
Bach: Mass in B Minor, BWV 232 
Praetorius: Magnificat
Monteverdi: Solemn Mass For The Feast Of Sancta Maria Della Salute
Monteverdi: Selva Morale E Spirituale
Palestrina: Lamentations of Jeremiah the Prophet
Palestrina: Missa l'Homme armé À 4
Ockeghem: Salve Regina
Haydn: Missa in Tempore Belli, H 22/9, "Paukenmesse"
Haydn: Missa in Augustiis, H 22/11, "Nelson Mass"
etc., etc.


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## PetrB

If you really want to clear your head of all the later developments of western classical music, and zone out into a contemplative state, go for Gregorian Chants.

Monophonic, one note at a time, senza mensura -- often not sounding metered or boxed in by bar lines -- actually intended for those participating as a meditation -- clears out your head and your sinuses.


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## joen_cph

"Sacred Music" per se of course doesn´t exclude a varied or contemporarily influenced idiom; such music only has literary and religious sources in common. 

Gorecki: choral works, including Miserere & Beatus Vir
Messiaen: 3 Petites Liturgies
Stravinsky: Psalm Symphony
Penderecki: Te Deum 
Gubajdulina: 7 Last Words concerto
Schnittke: Requiem

Renaissance: Cantigas de Santa Maria


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## tdc

Some favorites:

J.S. Bach - St. Matthew Passion, St. John Passion, Mass in B minor (the many church cantatas)
Buxtehude - Membra Jesu Nostri
Charpentier - Te Deum
Vivaldi - Dixit Dominus RV 595
Handel - Dixit Dominus HWV 232
Monteverdi - Vespers
Lully - Benedictus
Mozart - Requiem
Brahms - Requiem
Stravinsky - Mass
Janacek - Glagolitic Mass
Penderecki - St. Luke Passion


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## Andreas

PetrB said:


> If you really want to clear your head of all the later developments of western classical music, and zone out into a contemplative state, go for Gregorian Chants.
> 
> Monophonic, one note at a time, senza mensura -- often not sounding metered or boxed in by bar lines -- actually intended for those participating as a meditation -- clears out your head and your sinuses.


Yes. Many sacred works, particularly requiems, masses, passions, are actually quite aggravating.


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## Christo

Some of my personal favs: 
Vaughan Williams, Mass & Sancta Civitas
Arvo Pärt, Te Deum & Kanon Pokajanen
Herbert Howells, Hymnus Paradisi
Khatchatur Avetisyan [Avetissian], Oratorio in memoriam 1915
Gustav Holst, Hymn of Jesus
Maurice Duruflé, Requiem
Ēriks Ešenvalds, Passion and Resurrection
Karol Szymanowski, Stabat Mater
John Tavener (I'm not a fan of the composer, but this makes the exception):tiphat:, Lament for Jerusalem


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## Gustavgraves

I highly recommend Dvorak's Requiem and Stabat Mater.
If you like Mozart's Requiem, then try an earlier one, by Michael Haydn.


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## SixFootScowl

Handel's Messiah just totally tops my list! Two and a half hours Meditating on the Word of God!
Beethoven Missa Solemnis (Mass in D) and Mass in C. 
Vivaldi's Glorias.
Haydn's Missa Brevis.


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## Blake

Check out The Tallis Scholars perform Palestrina, Tallis, Josquin, Victoria, and Byrd. You'll sprout wings and fly away....


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## Flamme




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## Novelette

The TC main screen has one line item with the works "Sacred music advice", while line item beneath it reads "Tomás Luis de Victoria"--one can do little better.

Throw in some Monteverdi, Lassus, Gabrieli (G & A!), Palestrina, Rameau, Bach, Haydn, Beethoven, Porpora, Gossec, Cherubini, Hummel, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Liszt, Faure, etc., etc.


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## david johnson

some sacred harp singing. go to one of their singings and sit in!


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## Flamme

Nice touch...


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## millionrainbows

usumdelphini said:


> Hello everybody,
> 
> I want to purify my ear listening just to Sacred music for two weeks. So I would like to collect your advices for a "must of" list.
> 
> Thanks in advance


You'd better 'purify your mind' first, by re-examining what 'sacred' music is, and can be.


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## TxllxT

Festive & meditative








Full of inner peace








Infectious joy


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## science

The Eton Choirbook. Granted those who trash Medieval and Renaissance music won't appreciate it, I can't recommend it highly enough. 

Brumel's Earthquake Mass. 

The album "Chant Byzantin" by Marie Keyrouz. 

Zelenka's Sub olea pacis. 

Buxtehude's Membra Jesu nostri. 

If Biber's Rosary Sonatas count, count them in! 

Gesualdo's Tenebrae. 

Gombert's Magnificats. 

Golijov's Mark Passion. 

Victoria's Requiem. 

For fun, Dvorak's mass. 

And for something way off the beaten path, if you can find it, Jiràsek's Missa propria.


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## JCarmel

When I become acquainted with even half of those listed above, Science...I'm going to come back to this page and give you a 'Like!'
Yep, lots of music yet to meet and greet?!


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## science

JCarmel said:


> When I become acquainted with even half of those listed above, Science...I'm going to come back to this page and give you a 'Like!'
> Yep, lots of music yet to meet and greet?!


You're in for some lovely hours of music. Do let me know how you find them!


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## KnulpJose

Hildegard Von Bingen - Canticles of Ecstasy.


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## millionrainbows

"Sacred Atheism:" Rothko Chapel; For Stephan Wolpe; by Morton Feldman


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## Marcel

Someone help me about this Missa Pro Defunctis of Orlando di Lasso. If this is a good version and wich another is better. The Missa is beatifull. Thanks.


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## ziesha

If you understand hindi, you can listen Vinod Aggarwal ji's melodies.


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## millionrainbows

Sacred Music Advice: So is this "sacred advice about music," or "advice about sacred music?" My advice is sacred, so ask away.


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## Ivanbeeth

Manxfeeder said:


> Beethoven's Missa Solemnis is a favorite of mine - it's so "human."


This is my favorite Beethoven work. I agree with the "human" adjective. The winds and whispers in the Et incarnatus section sound to me like a feeling of humble wonder facing that divine mystery. Then, the Et homo factus est, sung by the tenor alone, by an apostle alone if you will. And the guilt sung in Pontio Pilato section... Such an amazing work.


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## Xaltotun

There's so much good stuff to choose from, and a diversity of attitudes and emotions. But maybe the greatest rock and cornerstone of all sacred music are the Haydn masses. No matter my mood, I'm always in the mood for a Haydn mass. They take your spirit to flight and reconcile faith with reason.


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## Woodduck

usumdelphini said:


> Hello everybody,
> 
> I want to purify my ear listening just to Sacred music for two weeks. So I would like to collect your advices for a "must of" list.
> 
> Thanks in advance


Since you posted this in 2013, your ear is probably pretty pure by now. But just in case, let me suggest the Berlioz _Requiem_. It will not only purify your ear, but scrub behind it and clean out all the wax as well. You can then test your ear for purity by listening to Cage's 4'33", which we're told is also a piece of sacred music.

"Is _nothing_ sacred?"

"Yes."


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## gravitas

I'll second Victoria - unearthly beauty. Recordings by Westminster Choir are great, as is the set by Michael Noone.

And did anyone mention Schutz....


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## drnlaw

Mahlerian said:


> For sacred music written by an atheist:
> Vaughan Williams' Mass in G minor
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> For sacred music written by an ex-Lutheran Jew:
> Schoenberg's Friede auf erden (in D major/minor) and Psalm 130
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> For sacred music by a Russian Orthodox crossing over to write Catholic music:
> Stravinsky's Mass


Interesting how much sacred music he wrote, and among the most interesting of all is his Pilgrim's Progress, a piece of conservative, overtly evangelistic Christian writing. Even the devout Bruckner never wrote anything so overtly Christian and evangelistic.


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## Vinski

One of the great oratorios. Mendelssohn: Elijah.


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## ICHTHUS

Messe Solennelle de Sainte Cecile (St. Cecile Mass) by Gounod is one I listen to often. Beautifully expressive inspirational music


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## haziz

Linus and Lucy by Vince Guaraldi.


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