# Which Period Of Classical Music Is Your Favorite For Vocal Music?



## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

That indispensable part of classical music - music for the human voice. It was the deliberate attempt by many composers and instrument makers for example during the great Baroque to have such instruments sound as close to the human voice as possible. 

Which period(s) of classical music appeals to you most/do you think is the greatest when it came to writing music for the human voice? This includes choral music combined with orchestral/chamber/solo instruments.

Many is of the view that the highest form of classical music is opera where human/worldly/godly emotions are expressed with words. Indeed many of the greatest composers wrote mostly opera or were highly motivated to write for the human voice for religious and secular purposes.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Personally, I think the greatest vocal music was written in the Renaissance. There was so much color, intricacy, and even variety, from solo pieces to motets to works with up to 40 separate voices.


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## ORigel (May 7, 2020)

I chose the Baroque. Lots of "vocal music" is sacred music, and music became increasingly secular from 1600-1820. And I don't like early music that much. So the Baroque hits the sweet spot-- lots of sacred music still being produced, music getting more interesting.

All periods have their share of vocal masterworks, of course.

(I am assuming that opera is NOT included in vocal music.)


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

ORigel said:


> I chose the Baroque. Lots of "vocal music" is sacred music, and music became increasingly secular from 1600-1820. And I don't like early music that much. So the Baroque hits the sweet spot-- lots of sacred music still being produced, music getting more interesting.
> 
> All periods have their share of vocal masterworks, of course.
> 
> (I am assuming that opera is NOT included in vocal music.)


Yes, Baroque is quite special indeed. Opera, religious music were held in the highest esteem by many of the Baroque composers. They really wrote for the voice to worship and to entertain in a Baroque sense.

I was listening to this just now. It's sweet


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

ArtMusic said:


> Many is of the view that the highest form of classical music is opera where human/worldly/godly emotions are expressed with words. Indeed many of the greatest composers wrote mostly opera or were highly motivated to write for the human voice for religious and secular purposes.


And many don't feel that opera is the highest form. To be honest, I don't believe in a highest form, finding the notion subjective and presumptuous.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Bulldog said:


> And many don't feel that opera is the highest form. To be honest, I don't believe in a highest form, finding the notion subjective and presumptuous.


Many of the great composers of the past do believe so. Historical fact.


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

I sort of feel now is the true vocal age, that's my subjective opinion. Especially to capture such diverse and amazing talent on CD, not to mention some of the vocal harmonies of today; choir has never sounded more vibrant and imaginative.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Ethereality said:


> I sort of feel now is the true vocal age, but that's my subjective opinion. Especially to capture such diverse and amazing talent on CD, not to mention some of the vocal harmonies of today.


That's on vocal performance, which is captured on CD/recording medium. I was referring to the music composed. Mozart wrote a lot of great vocal music.


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

ArtMusic said:


> That's on vocal performance, which is captured on CD/recording medium.


Right. Well I responded to both aspects.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

ArtMusic said:


> Many of the great composers of the past do believe so. Historical fact.


It's good that you have the facts. How many are you talking about? What percentage of the total does it represent?


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Bulldog said:


> It's good that you have the facts. How many are you talking about? What percentage of the total does it represent?


Please keep to the topic of this thread. Thank you.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Michael Haydn does this sort of thing so well -3:44~4:40


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

ArtMusic said:


> Please keep to the topic of this thread. Thank you.


The same goes for you. I was just responding to your nebulous fact.


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

hammeredklavier said:


> Michael Haydn does this sort of thing so well -3:44~4:40


I don't know what you mean by 'this thing', or if it's really done so well, but that is quite nice.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Bulldog said:


> The same goes for you. I was just responding to your nebulous fact.


A fact remains a fact - Mozart craved to write glorious opera and Bach similarly to worship God, hence we celebrate today with beautiful, great vocal music by both masters. I am glad you see this, too.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

hammeredklavier said:


> Michael Haydn does this sort of thing so well -3:44~4:40


Thank you mentioning the great Michael Haydn. I enjoy his masses. He must have had some influence on the Mozarts (father and son).


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

I do not have a favorite period for vocal music.


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

Bulldog said:


> And many don't feel that opera is the highest form. To be honest, I don't believe in a highest form, finding the notion subjective and presumptuous.


I'm not an opera fan either *except* for Mozart. I think Bach's cantatas and Passions and Handel's oratorios are more vital than any non-Mozart opera I can think of (including Handel's). I do also love Monteverdi's and Purcell's works in the form and admire Wagner's achievements, but really only musically.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

I love choral music, opera, and art songs from all periods, but I reveal my unabashed Bach fanboyism when I pick the Baroque based solely off my intense passion for Bach’s cantatas and passions.


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

Picked Romantic mainly for Wagner, Verdi and Beethoven (I'm considering Ludwig as a romantic for the purposes of this poll).


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

My preference for classical vocal music decreases with each succeeding period.

My favorite is Chant, Tourbadours/Trouveres, then Medieval, then Renaissance ... but my interest drops off (except for some exceptions) after the Baroque, based mainly on Bach choral works. Mozart operas, and some 20th century choral works, are also enjoyable.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

I would pick Baroque just for Bach, but there's many more super composers including Handel, Zelenka, Campra, Couperin, Rameau, Charpentier, and Telemann.


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## Alinde (Feb 8, 2020)

After dithering between Renaissance and Baroque I chose Classical (by mistake! because I didn't notice the "Romantic" option). 

So, despite my passion for Monteverdi, Gesualdo and the English Madrigal School and despite the magical cantatas of J.S. Bach, it is the songs of the Romantic period viz. the Lieder of Schubert, Schumann, Wolf and, to a lesser extent, Brahms, which I love and admire most.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

ArtMusic said:


> Thank you mentioning the great Michael Haydn. I enjoy his masses. He must have had some influence on the Mozarts (father and son).


From what I've seen, it's more like "L. Mozart -> M. Haydn -> W.A. Mozart" in terms of timeline. 
L. Mozart missa solemnis in C (before 1764), et incarnatus est
M. Haydn missa brevis in C "in honorem sanctissimae joannis nepomuceni" (1772), et incarnatus est
W.A. Mozart krönungsmesse in C (1779), et incarnatus est

It's worth noting that Leopold actually disliked Michael; called him a lazy drunkard. Leopold saw Michael as an obstacle to his son's success in Salzburg; and through his influence as a chief organizer of music at the cathedral, made sure all the commissions were given to his son, not Michael. So during the period 1773~1777 (the Mozarts came back from Italy), and 1779~1780 (Wolfgang came back from Paris), Michael didn't get to compose much, LOL. It was probably a good thing for Michael that Wolfgang chose to leave the archbishop's service eventually.
Michael still wrote beautiful stuff whenever he had his chances though, such as this acappella work composed in 1778, 
Responsoria in coena domini, MH 276: 
I. In monte Oliveti / II. Tristis est anima mea / III. Ecce vidimus eum / IV. Amicus meus / V. Judas mercator pessimus / VI. Unus ex discipulis meis / VII. Eram quasi agnus innocens / VIII. Una hora / IX. Seniores populi
or Missa sancti hieronymi (1777):




 (I like the harmonies at 13:24 and 14:34) / 



 (5:32 and 7:15)


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## Ned Low (Jul 29, 2020)

( i made mistake ; chose both Classical and Romantic. I apologise to the OP.Im not familiar with the vocal works of the Classical period. )
Schubert's the supreme master of Lieder. Then comes Schumann, Brahms, Wagner, Wolf,Mahler and Strauss. So Romanticism for me.


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## Coach G (Apr 22, 2020)

Which Period Of Classical Music Is Your Favorite For Vocal Music?

This is a really tough question, because there is so much vocal music that is beautiful in every period of classical music going all the way back to Pre-Baroque, but if I had to choose I'd say 20th century only because I love the vocal works of Barber and Britten so much. Both are rooted in Romanticism, are quite tonal, and though they avoid the experimental trends of the 20th century (what Leonard Bernstein called the "Schoenberg syndrome"); both Barber and Britten seem to be underlined by a certain degree of 20th century angst. In a field of innumerable vocal masterpieces composed for Italian, German, French and Russian; Barber and Britten also show that there is a place for the English language in classical music.

Among Barber's gems for voice are Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Dover Beach, Hermit Songs, The Daisies, Nocturne, as well as the opera, _Vanessa_, to which his life-partner, Gian-Carlo Menotti, wrote the lyrics.

While Britten is known for his operas, and almost all of them are standard 20th century repertoire, I really like Britten's miniatures for vocals that he composed for his life-partner, Peter Pears: _Songs from the Chinese_, and _Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings_.

And then apart from Barber and Britten, in the 20th century, you've also got many masterful works that feature the voice by many others: Stravinsky's _Symphony of the Psalms_, Shostakovich's _Symphony #14_, Poulenc's _Gloria_, Bernstein's _Chinchester Psalms_, Copland's _Old American Songs_, Randall Thompson's _Frostiana_, Falla's _Amor Brujo_, Vaughan Williams' _Sea Symphony_, and wouldn't the world be a little less beautiful if not for Richard Strauss's _Four Last Songs_?


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)




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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Renaissance until Classical Periods. Not a fan of the more tonally ranged or expansive stuff afterwards for vocals.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

I was having great difficulty deciding how to vote when I suddenly realised that I didn't have to decide between Renaissance and Baroque but could vote for them both! I just love the patterning and the way these songs are sung by HIP performers.

Basically, I am not attracted to warbly soloists or posh precise choirs and romantic operatic or choral pieces often seem to be performed like that. (Ooh-er - did you really say that?  )


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

My favourite vocal music pieces are spread from baroque to recent decades, but all things considered I went for romantic (in the widest interpretation of the word, starting with Schubert and ending with Strauss Four Last Songs).


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I enjoy various works from the Baroque to late 20th century. In recent months I've been listening to the masses of Haydn and Schubert. And mostly the operas of Wagner, with a few by Verdi, Donizetti, and others mixed in. My latest CD acquisition is Haydn's The Seasons conducted by Herreweghe.


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## annaw (May 4, 2019)

I think my total favourite must be Romantic vocal music as I adore Wagner, lieder, and opera in general. I think that Romantic ideas and themes were unusually fit for poetry, making many Romantic works emotionally very powerful, humane, sincere, and not overly "academic". I also adore huge and dramatic voice, which seemed to become more prominent during Romanticism. I know, probably lots of personal bias in this opinion .


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## Agamenon (Apr 22, 2019)

*Renaissance*

I hope one day this period will reign as the most important period for vocal music of all ages.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

So far, classical music listeners favor Baroque and Romantic based on the statistical results of this poll. I would so far conclude that is probably consistent with Baroque church music and Romantic operas, songs and choral music but mainly opera.


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## adriesba (Dec 30, 2019)

Not sure. Most of my favorite pieces regardless of category were composed from about 1850 to 1950, and that goes for vocal music too. Kinda stuck on two different time periods here.


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## thejewk (Sep 13, 2020)

I'm not able to answer this I'm afraid, because I've just not heard enough yet. I actually find myself strongly disliking a lot of vocal music, and had almost sworn off it altogether until, within the space of a few years, I found myself loving Ligeti's choral pieces (although not his ensemble or opera, at all), Mahler's symphonies and some of his songs (although not all, some of which I find annoyingly smug), and the Franco-Flemish composers like Ockeghem, de Lassus and Des Prez.

This has convinced me that I need to spend a lot more time and effort exploring further to find with more precision what I like and what I don't so that I can be more informed in the future. I will say, however, that with the exception of Berg's operas, which I like to some extent, I can't abide opera. Especially traditional opera. And not for a lack of trying. Maybe one day it will click, but in the short term, I'm running for the hills at the mere mention.


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

I first thought about a cappella vocal music and instantly went for renaissance. I have a period every year I listen almost only to late renaissance vocal music. I love di Lasso motets, Victoria masses and Marenzio madrigals, but there is still a lot to discover for me. The rest of the year I mostly listen to instrumental, chamber and orchestral music. Of course there is very nice vocal music in all styles the I also enjoy. Mozart's Requiem, Schubert's Winterreise and James MacMillan's Stabat Mater f.ex. Mendelssohn and Cherubini too! Ah...Schnittke psalms!!


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## Richannes Wrahms (Jan 6, 2014)

I voted for

Medieval:





Baroque:





Early Modern:


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

ArtMusic said:


> ...Many is of the view that the highest form of classical music is opera where human/worldly/godly emotions are expressed with words. Indeed many of the greatest composers wrote mostly opera or were highly motivated to write for the human voice for religious and secular purposes.





Bulldog said:


> And many don't feel that opera is the highest form. To be honest, I don't believe in a highest form, finding the notion subjective and presumptuous.





ArtMusic said:


> Many of the great composers of the past do believe so. Historical fact.


To argue that opera, that is "opera music", is the highest form of "music" is rather presumptuous. Some opera music is good, some not so good, just as one might judge of solo piano music, string quartet music, symphonic music, concerti ....

I will contend that opera, as an artistic form, is a "high form" in the sense that at its fullest it is quite incorporative of so many artistic forms (music, literature, visual design (sets, costumes), theatre practices (acting, directing)...). In that sense it seems "the highest art", but only in that sense.

If one strips any of the elements away from a full opera, one is examining not "opera" any longer but some other art form. Say, if you look at the music and the singing, you are concentrating on the music as an art form. Maybe you want to call that "song", which is an offshoot of music in general, for "song" my entail musical settings of nonsense syllables and evens Oooos and Ahhhhs; it need not be tied to literary concerns.

I often admire operatic set designs. Having studied and worked in set design myself, it is an art form that greatly interests me. I don't need the music to appreciate a great set design. Of course, I do believe that great set design is motivated by the thrust or meaning of the script, moreso than the music. The designer generally works with metaphors found in the script. I'm uncertain about how one might design a set only with "music" as the propelling element for metaphor. Even ballet sets adhere more to the stories than to the unfolding of the music.

In some sense, the selection of cover art for a symphony or concerto is a means of tapping into the metaphor of the pure music and rendering it in an appropriate image. Of course, sometimes a record or disc sleeve image seems to have little to do with the sound of the music it graces. And often I like these sleeves most of all.

But even if some great composer maintains that opera is the highest form of music, I must disagree. I will rather take each element of art on its own merits.

The thing about opera is: one might have a weak element (say, the set design) in an otherwise splendid production (great music, great script, great singing, great acting, great costuming...). For an opera to succeed fully, each element must be at a high peak. This is often a difficulty, but it is something we who cherish opera seek, though often in vain. To enjoy "opera" is to enjoy more than just "the music". There is a great difference between sitting in one's listening room with an opera spinning on the turntable or from a CD deck and sitting in an opera hall as the curtain goes up on a splendid work of art that is much bigger in its full majesty than any single piece of music (or art of any other kind). At least I think so.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

I'm not just arguing that on opera. It is ahistorical fact that many great composers felt that way. Now whether that bothers you or not from your listening pleasure of opera or non-opera shouldn't matter. But history is seldom wrong when it comes to collective opinion over time.


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

ArtMusic said:


> I'm not just arguing that on opera. It is ahistorical fact that many great composers felt that way. Now whether that bothers you or not from your listening pleasure of opera or non-opera shouldn't matter. But history is seldom wrong when it comes to collective opinion over time.


Category error. Opera is musical theater, a mongrel art form, so it's not really in the running for the highest form of music. It certainly appeals to a number of people who have little appreciation for the higher (IMO, obviously) abstract forms.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

EdwardBast said:


> Category error. Opera is musical theater, a mongrel art form, so it's not really in the running for the highest form of music. It certainly appeals to a number of people who have little appreciation for the higher (IMO, obviously) abstract forms.


Category error, that's funny! It is music for the voice regardless.


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## Musicaterina (Apr 5, 2020)

I voted the baroque period because I love the cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach, Christoph Graupner and Georg Philipp Telemann.


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## Harmonie (Mar 24, 2007)

I think it's between Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque for me. I like a lot of vocal forms from the middle ages such as the formes fixes, as well as some choral music. With the Renaissance, I focus more on choral music because it's just unbelievably beautiful. I'm still finding my bearings with vocal music in Baroque (of which I started interest in the era with purely instrumental works), but I do like a lot of Bach's cantatas and an opera here or there.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Musicaterina said:


> I voted the baroque period because I love the cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach, Christoph Graupner and Georg Philipp Telemann.


So do I. The German Baroque masters were great at that. Really it was down to the Italians and Germans.


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## BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist (Jan 13, 2019)

I voted for all eras, since there is an abundance of vocal music in each of them that I consider among my favorite works of CM.

The human voice is really an incredible thing. Through thousands of years of humans creating instruments of ever-increasing intricacy and diversity, the voice remains far and away the most nuanced and variegated instrument of all. It is probably my favorite after the piano, organ, and maybe the clarinet.


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## BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist (Jan 13, 2019)

I particularly enjoy a lot of 20th/21st century music which draws inspiration from the natural music of speaking and which infuses this inspiration into traditional compositional principles.

Here are a few examples:


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