Arvo Pärt
John Tavener: The Veil of the Temple
Kalinka! Russian Folk Music
King's College Choir of Cambridge

Classical » Choral

Choral music is music performed by a group of singers or a choir. The singers may perform without accompaniment, or may be accompanied by any instrumental combination, from piano to full orchestra. Plainchant, the oldest notated Western music, dating from the 9th century, was sung in unison (all voices singing the same melody) by monks. Choral music, mostly liturgical, remained the primary focus of composers through the Renaissance. Using highly sophisticated harmonies and counterpoint (the interweaving of many melodies), they created a significant and diverse body of works. Some of the greatest works by Baroque composers J.S. Bach and Handel were choral, and all but a handful of prominent composers since then have contributed to the choral repertoire. Thanks to church choirs, school choirs, and local choral associations, which are particularly popular in the US and the UK, choral singing provides the most widespread opportunities for amateur music-making.

Choral Artists Highlights

Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt
King's College Choir of Cambridge
King's College Choir of ...
Vienna Boys' Choir
Vienna Boys' Choir
Karl Böhm
Karl Böhm
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Giovanni Pierluigi da ...
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams

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Choral Album Highlights

John Tavener: The Veil of the Temple
Stephen Layton / Patricia ...
John Tavener: The Veil of ...
Kalinka! Russian Folk Music
Anatoly N. Bazhalkin / Red ...
Kalinka! Russian Folk Music
A Feather on the Breath of God
Gothic Voices / Emma ...
A Feather on the Breath of ...
O for the Wings of a Dove
Choir of Westminster Abbey
O for the Wings of a Dove
Alleluia to the Pachelbel Canon in D / Kyrie
Robert Gass & On Wings of ...
Alleluia to the Pachelbel ...
Rock of Ages: 30 Favorite Hymns
Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Rock of Ages: 30 Favorite ...

More Choral Albums

Choral Song Highlights

Title/Composer Performer Stream
Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56 Trevor Pinnock / The English Concert & Choir
Requiem for soloists, chorus & orchestra, K. 626 John Eliot Gardiner / Barbara Bonney / Anne Sofie von Otter
Ein deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem), for soprano, baritone, chorus & orchestra, Op. 45 John Eliot Gardiner / Rodney Gilfry / Charlotte Margiono / Monteverdi Choir / Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique
Mass in B minor, for soloists, chorus & orchestra, BWV 232 (BC E1) John Eliot Gardiner / Monteverdi Choir / English Baroque Soloists
Mass for soloists, chorus, organ & orchestra in D minor ("Lord Nelson"), H. 22/11 King's College Choir of Cambridge / David Willcocks / Elizabeth Vaughan
Requiem, for 2 solo voices, chorus, organ & orchestra, Op. 48 John Rutter / Cambridge Singers
Missa "Pange Lingua", for 4 parts The Tallis Scholars
Carmina Burana, scenic cantata for soloists, choruses & orchestra Eugene Ormandy
Requiem Mass, for soloists, chorus & orchestra ("Manzoni Requiem") Carlo Maria Giulini
Spem in Alium (also set as "Sing and glorify"), motet for 40 voices, P. 299 The Tallis Scholars

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