Music from many centuries – Congregational Church of Westminster West, VT

Music to soothe the soul, music to make you weep

(Composers listed by birth year–scroll down for more modern music)

Liturgical music from the Russia and Bulgaria here and here
Liturgical music from the Vatican here

Hildegard of Bingen (c. 1098–1179)
Canticles of Ecstasy (Discantus, Lesne)
Hortus Deliciarum (Sequentia)
Voices of Angels (Voices of Ascension, Keene)

Thomas Tallis (c. 1505–1585)
Lamentations (Chapelle du Roi, Dixon)
Nine Psalm Tunes for Archbishop Parker’s Psalter (Bleucanto)
O Nata Lux (Taverner Choir)
Spem in Alium (Taverner Choir)

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c. 1525–1594)
Alma Redemptoris Mater (Monteverdi Choir, Podger)
Missa Papae Marcelli (Tallis Scholars, Palestrina 400, Phillips)
Motets (Hilliard Ensemble)
“Sicut Cervus” (Cambridge Singers)

Orlande de Lassus (c. 1530–1594)
Lagrime di San Pietro (Musica Ficta Copenhagen, Holten)
Psalmi Davidis Pœnitentiales (Collegium Vocale Gent, Herreweghe)
Stabat Mater (Hilliard Ensemble)

William Byrd (c. 1540—1623)
“Agnus Dei” from his Mass for Four Voices (King’s Singers)
Mass for Three Voices (Tallis Scholars)
Mass for Five Voices (Tallis Scholars)
“Ne Irascaris Domine” & “Civitas Sancti Tui” (Voces8)

Tomás Luís de Victoria (c. 1548–1611)
“Agnus Dei” from his Missa O Magnum Mysterium (various)
“Ave Maria a 8” (Tallis Scholars)
Requiem Mass for the Empress Maria (Tallis Scholars)
Tenebrae Responsories (The Sixteen, Christophers)

Giovanni Gabrieli (c. 1555–1612)
Magnificat a 14 (Green Mountain Project, Metcalfe)
Missa Brevis a 4 (One Equall Musick, McDonald)
Sonata Pian’ e Forte (Festival des Cathedrales in Picardie, Fabre-Garrus)
Various Pieces (YouTube mix)

Claudo Monteverdi (1567–1643)
Dixit Dominus (Green Mountain Project, Metcalfe)
Missa “In Illo Tempore” (Ensemble de La Chapelle Royale, Herreweghe)
Selva Morale e Spirituale (Taverner Consort, Choir, and Players, Parrott)
Vespro Della Beata Vergine (Monteverdi Choir, Baroque Soloists, Gardiner)

Michael Praetorius (1571–1621)
Choral Fantasy on “Ein’ Feste Burg” (Ullrich Böhme, Thomaskirche Dresden)
Mass for Christmas Morning (Gabrieli Consort & Players, McCreesh)
“We Believe in One God” (ensemble officium, Rombach)
Complete Organ Works (organist: Jean-Charles Ablitzer)

Gregorio Allegri (c. 1582–1652)
Miserere (Tallis Scholars)
Missa: Che Fa Oggi Il Mio Sole (The Sixteen, Christophers)
Missa: Vidi Turbam Magnam (A Sei Voci, Fabre-Garrus)

Heinrich Schütz (1585–1672)
“Angel Choir,” and “Final Chorale” from his Christmas Oratorio (SWV 435, various)
German Magnificat (SWV 482, “Swan Song,” Hilliard Ensemble)
Religious Choral Music (Westfälische Kantorei, Ehmann)
“Introit” and “Glory to You, O Christ” from his St. Matthew Passion (SWV 479, various)

Dietrich Buxtehude (c. 1638–1707)
“Alleluia” (accentus/Insula/Equilbey)
“Magnificat” (Amsterdam Baroque, Koopman)
Passacaglia 161 (Koopmann)
“Savior of the Nations, Come!” (arr. Braun, no credits)

Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1713)
Christmas Concerto (Orpheus Chamber Orchestra)

Henry Purcell (1659–1695)
Jubilate Deo in D (Choir of Clare College, Brown)
Te Deum in D (Choir of Clare College, Brown)
“Thou Knowest Lord” and “Remember Not, Lord” from his Funeral Music for Queen Mary (St.Martin-in-the-Fields, Philip Ledger)

Georg Boehm (1661–1733)
Prelude, Fugue, and Postlude (van Beek)
Vater Unser im Himmelreich (van Beek)
“Wie lieblich sind Deine Wohnungen” (Capella St. Georgi, Musica Alta Ripa, Popken)

Antonio Lotti (1667–1740)
Crucifixus a 8 (Cambridge Singers)
Miserere in D (Balthasar Neumann Chorus, Hengelbrock)
Missa Sapientiae (Balthasar Neumann Chorus, Hengelbrock)

Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741)
Dixit Dominus (Ghislieri Choir & Consort, Prandi)
Gloria performed by an all-female chorus and orchestra in the convent for which Vivaldi composed
Magnificat (Concert des Nations, Savall)

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Concerto in C major BWV 594 (BWV 594, Netherlands Bach Society, Kofler)
God’s Own Time is the Best Time (BWV 106, Netherlands Bach Society, van Veldhoven)
“Jauchzet, Frohlocket!” from his Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248, Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, Gardiner)
Magnificat in D Major (BWV 243, Concentus Musicus Vienna, Arnold Schoenberg Choir, Harnoncourt)
“O Haupt Voll Blut und Wunden” from the St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244, Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, Gardiner)
“O Jesu Christ, mein’s Lebens Licht” (BWV 118, Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra, Gardiner)
“Herr, unser Herrscher” from the St. John Passion
(BWV 245, Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, Gardiner)
Trio Sonatas for Organ (BWV 525-30, Koopmann, Arp Schnitger organ, Jacobi-Kirche, Hamburg)
Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (BWV 140, Netherlands Bach Society, van Veldhoven)

George Frideric Handel (1685–1759)
Dixit Dominus (Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra, Gardiner)
Te Deum (Netherlands Bach Society, van Veldhoven)
The Nightingale and the Cuckoo Organ Concerto (Preston, English Concert, Pinnock)
“Thy Rebuke Has Broken His Heart/Behold and See” and “I Know that My Redeemer Liveth”
from Messiah (Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, Marriner)

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710–1736)
Mass in D Major (Ghislieri Orchestra and Chorus, Prandi)
Salva Regina in F (Bonney, Scholl, Talents Lyriques, Rousset)
Stabat Mater (Bonney, Scholl, Talents Lyriques, Rousset)

Franz Josef Haydn (1732–1809)
Nelson Mass (Edinburgh Univeristy Chamber Orchestra)
Stabat Mater (English Concert, Pinnock)
The Last Seven Words of Christ (Schoenberg Choir, Concentus Musicus Vienna, Harnoncourt)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)
“Ave Verum Corpus” (King’s College, Cambridge)
Dixit Dominus-Magnificat (Chamber Choir of Europe, Kammerochester Mannheim, Matt, Wollenschläger)
“Exsultate, jubilate” (Battle, Royal Philharmonic, Previn)
“Kyrie” from his Coronation Mass in C K.317 (Bonney, MacDougall, English Concert, Pinnock)
“Kyrie” from his Mass in C minor K.427 (Monteverdi Choir, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Gardiner)
“Lacrimosa” from his Requiem (Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, Gardiner)
Vesperae Solennes De Confessore (English Concert & Chorus, Pinnock)

Hector Berlioz (1803–1869)
“Dies Irae” from his Requiem (Paris Conservatoire and Guildhall School of Music Orchestras and Choirs, Davis)

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809–1847)
“Hear My Prayer” (Te Kanawa, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Utah Symphony, Rudel)
“Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel” from Elijah
(Fleming, Terfel, Doughty, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Daniel)
Psalm 100: “Serve the Lord with gladness” (Ensemble Musica Sacra Dresden, Hänsel)

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921)
“Tollite Hostias” from his Christmas Oratorio (Eby, Royal Theater Orchestra)

Josef Rheinberger (1839–1901)
“Abendlied” (Cambridge Singers)
“Adoration of the Wise-Men” from his Star of Bethlehem (various)
“Agnus Dei” from his Requiem in D Minor (Op. 194, Knapp, Frankfurter Kantorei, Schäfer)
Stabat Mater (Op. 138, Ensemble & Kammerchor Stuttgart, Bernius)

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893)
Hymn of the Cherubim (USSR Ministry of Culture Chamber Choir)
Hymn to the Trinity (Leicester University Chamber Choir, Summerfield)
Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (Academic Choir Ukraine ‘Dumka,’ Savchuk)
“Our Father” from his Nine Sacred Pieces (St. Peterburg Chamber Choir, Korniev)

Antonin Dvořák (1841–1904)
“Kyrie” from his Mass in D (Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, Preston)
“Pie Jesu” from his Requiem (Czech Philharmonic and Chorus, Ančerl )
Stabat Mater (Arnold Schoenberg Choir, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Harnoncourt)
Te Deum (Czech Philharmonic Choir, Vienna Philharmonic, Harnoncourt)

Arthur S. Sullivan (1842–1900)
Festival Te Deum (Cahill, Phillips, London Choral, BBC Concert Orchestra, Corp)
Selection of Church Music (YouTube mix)

Charles-Marie Widor (1844–1937)
Ave Maria op. 93 (Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, Marlow)
Toccata (van Hoef) from his Symphony No. 5 in F minor (Rubsam)

Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924)
Messe Basse (Holton, Scott, Cambridge Singers, Rutter)
Pie Jesu from his Requiem (Monteverdi Choir, Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique, Gardiner)

Edward Elgar (1857–1934)
“Lux Aeterna” (Voces8)

Ralph Vaughn-Williams (1872–1958)
“The Lark Ascending” (Hahn, LSO, Davis)

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943)
The Cherubic Hymn (Bruffy)
“Bless the Lord, O My Soul” from his All-night Vigil (various)

Herbert Howells (1892–1983)
“Requiem Aeternam” from his Requiem (various)

Francis Poulenc (1899–1963)
“Gloria” (Benoit, Netherlands Radio Choir and Philharmonic Orchestra, Dijkstra)
“Litanies to the Black Virgin” (Westminster Singers, London Sinfonietta, Hickox)
Stabat Mater (Howarth, Cambridge College Choirs, BBC Phiharmonic Orchestra, Robinson)

Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992)
Apparition de l’ église eternelle (Latry, Notre Dame)
La transfiguration de notre seigneur Jésus-Christ (National Symphony, Dorati)
Livre du Saint Sacrement (Latry)

Samuel Barber (1910–1981)
“Agnus Dei” (Voces8) aka Adagio for Strings (Detroit Symphony, Slatkin)
Prayers of Kierkegaard (Pelton, Atlanta Symphony, Shaw)

Knut Nystedt (1915–2014)
“Kyrie” from his Thanksgiving Mass (Webster University Chamber Singers)
“Peace I Leave with You” (Schola Cantorum, Hanken)
Stabat Mater (Altstaedt, BBC Singers)

Henryk Górecki (1933– 2010)
“I. Lento” from his Symphony No. 3 (Upshaw, London Sinfonietta, Zinman)
Miserere (Chicago Symphony Chorus, Nelson)

Krzysztof Penderecki (1933– 2020)
Chaconne in memory of John Paul II from his Polish Requiem (various)
Kyrie and Agnus Dei from his Missa Brevis (various)
Song of the Cherubim (Lege Artis Chamber Choir)

Arvo Pärt (b. 1935)
De Profundis (Theater of Voices, Hillier)
Salve Regina (Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Hillier)
Stabat Mater (RIAS Symphony and Chamber Choir, Järvi)
Te Deum (Nielsen, Akademisk Choir and Orchestra, Zenana)

John Tavener (1944–2013)
“Funeral Ikos” (King’s Singers)
Mother of God (Voces8)
The Lamb (Tenebrae Choir, Short)
The Protecting Veil (Isserlis, London Symphony Strings, Rozhdestvensky)

Ola Gjeilo (b. 1978)
“Ave Generosa” (Choir of Royal Holloway, 12 Ensemble, Gough)
“Serenity (O Magnum Mysterium)” (Sharp, Tenebrae, Kvalvaag)
“Song of the Universal” (Gjeilo, Women of Westminster Symphonic Choir, Quist)
Sunrise Mass (Bel Canto Choir Vilnius, Kaveckas)
“Ubi Caritas” (Kristine Chamber Choir, Edwardsson)

Shape Note Hymns

These songs were always sung unaccompanied; the “sacred harp” is the human voice.
The singers in Bremen, Germany say: “Sacred Harp is a cappella heavy metal.”

Africa (Sacred Harp 178, Cork)
Babylon (Sacred Harp 117, Cork)
Beach Spring (Sacred Harp 81t, Cork)
Bridgewater (Sacred Harp 226, Cork)
Calvary (Sacred Harp 300, Cork)
Coronation (Sacred Harp 63, Cork)
David’s Lamentation (Sacred Harp 268, Cork)
Gratitude (Northern Harmony, Davis/People Choir)
Hallelujah (Sacred Harp 146, Cork)
Redemption (Sacred Harp 480, Cork)
Soar Away (Sacred Harp 455, Cork)
The Promised Land (Sacred Harp 128, Cork)
To Die No More (Sacred Harp 111b, Cork)
Wayfaring Stranger (Sacred Harp 457, Cork)

You can find some background on shape-note singing here.

Sacred Harp Bremen has the best website, with sheet music and MIDI files of the different parts (SATB) for every song in the book. The best online videos all seem to be from Sacred Harp Cork in Ireland. You can buy a copy of The Sacred Harp here.

Old Familiar Hymns, Now and Then

Abide with Me (King’s College Choir, Cambridge)
Abide with Me (Hayley Westenra at Rugby School)
Abide with Me (London Community Gospel Choir)
Amazing Grace (Judy Collins/Boys’ Choir of Harlem)
Amazing Grace (Soweto Gospel Choir)
Amazing Grace (Aretha Franklin/James Cleveland)
Are You Washed in the Blood of the Lamb? (Antrim Mennonite Choir)
Are You Washed in the Blood of the Lamb? (Foggy Mountain Quartet)
Be Thou My Vision (King’s College Choir, Cambridge)
Be Thou My Vision (Norton Hall Band, Southern Seminary)
Beach Spring (B.H. White’s tune, from Ken Burns’ Lewis and Clark)
Blessed Assurance (Norman Luboff Choir)
Blessed Assurance (CeCe Winans/Terrence Blanchard)
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing (Mormon Tabernacle Choir)
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing (Bluegrass Worship Band)
Down to the River to Pray (Alison Krauss) from O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Down to the River to Pray (London Community Gospel Choir)
His Eye is on the Sparrow (Ethel Waters in The Member of the Wedding, 1952)
His Eye is on the Sparrow (Mahalia Jackson)
How Great Thou Art (Bryn Terfel/Mormon Tabernacle Choir)
How Great Thou Art (Elvis Presley)
I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow (The Soggy Bottom Boys) from O Brother, Where Art Thou?
In the Garden (Loretta Lynn)
In the Sweet Bye and Bye (Dolly Parton)
In the Sweet Bye and Bye (Haven)
It is Well with My Soul (Mormon Tabernacle Choir)
It is Well with My Soul (Gospel Plowboys)
It is Well with My Soul (Mahalia Jackson)
Jerusalem (King’s College Choir, Cambridge) **
Just as I Am, Without One Plea (Ely Cathedral Choir)
Just as I Am, Without One Plea (Johnny Cash)
Just as I Am, Without One Plea (Mahalia Jackson)
Lift Every Voice and Sing! (Morehouse College Glee Club)
Lift Every Voice and Sing! (Al Green/Deniece Williams)
Power in the Blood (Dolly Parton)
Power in the Blood (Sandra Crouch & Friends/Rose Stone)
Rock of Ages (Antrim Mennonite Choir)
Rock of Ages (Norton Hall Band, Southern Seminary)
Rock of Ages (Al Green)
The Old Rugged Cross (Liverpool Cathedral Choirs)
The Old Rugged Cross (Al Green)
What a Fellowship! (Early Sons of the Pioneers)
What a Fellowship! (Iris DeMent)
What a Fellowship! (Five Blind Boys of Missisippi)
What a Fellowship! (Al Green)
What a Fellowship! (Ladysmith Black Mambazo)
What a Friend We Have in Jesus (Dolly Parton)
What a Friend We Have in Jesus (Al Green)
What a Friend We Have in Jesus (Aretha Franklin)

Bluegrass instrumentals of “favorite” hymns can be found here; to add vocals, click here

Hymnary is an amazing online resource for anyone interested in hymn lyrics or music.
The Choral Public Domain Library offers scores for free download.

** (The answer to every one of Blake’s magisterial questions is, of course, “no”)

Some Newer Hymns People Love

Just a Closer Walk with Thee (1941) Patsy Cline, 1959
Just a Closer Walk with Thee (1941) Mahalia Jackson/Louis Armstrong, 1970
Jesus Gave Me Water (1951) Sam Cooke
Jesus Gave Me Water (1951) Mint Juleps, 1994
Touch the Hem of His Garment (1956) Sam Cooke
Oh Happy Day! (1968) Edwin Hawkins Singers, 1969
Oh Happy Day! (1968) Ray Charles/Voices of Jubilation, from their 2006 album
King of Kings (1986) Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Inkanyezi Nezazi/The Star and the Wiseman (1998) Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Siyahamba/We are marching in the light of God (1995) KwaSizabantu Mission, 2018

Other Songs of the Spirit sung at West West

Change Gonna Come (Sam Cooke)
Gulf Coast Highway (Emmy Lou Harris/Willie Nelson)
Let the Mystery Be (Iris DeMent)
Sólo Le Pido a Diós (Mercedes Sosa/Leon Gieco)
The Water (Johnny Flynn & Laura Marling)
Todo Cambia (Mercedes Sosa)
Todos los Días un Poco (Leon Gieco)
When My Morning Comes Around (Iris DeMent)