Looking for choral and medieval music suggestions

is_that_so

I recently came across "The Sixteen" who I find absolutely stunning and it is something along these lines I am looking for. Not being much of a classical buff I was looking for some recommendations on good interpretations of early medieval music, especially choral music, including Gregorian chant.

I am also hoping to find sources of early French carols and European carols.

Doshea3

Have a good CD by Chanticleer of Palestrina's Missa pro defunctis and various motets (including Pange lingua gloriosi). It's on Warner classics Elatus label (the grey/red/white/black ones).

Also have a good CD of the King's College Cambridge choir singing Allegri's Miserere and various works by Palestrina. Easy enough one to find. I'd also recommend the choral music of William Byrd, particularly the Masses for four and five voices (I have a Naxos recording with the Oxford Camerata).

Carolus Magnus

It's not often known, but the computer game Civilisation IV is packed to the brims with excellent chant music. Not just Allegri's Miserere (and it sounds like the version done by Cambridge), but also stuff by Ockeghem, some Kyries, Lassus Alma Redemptoris Mater, Palestrina's Credo and Gloria, and some of Praetorius' work as well. There's a few names like Sheppard, Brumel and Ortiz in the collection as well, and a few anonymous pieces. The great thing of course is that the files can be played in any media player at all, just by unearthing the sounds folder for the game. There's no such painful extraction process. They're all really decent versions.

Get in touch via PMs actually if you're interested in me passing some of the stuff on to you. Oh, and I recently came across a real find when I was trawling the internet for some chant/choral music myself; a decent enough version of Victimae Paschali Laudes.

Pianist2891

Early music is very frequently used in Computer games by all accounts.I second the Praetorius recommendation. How about Heinrich Schutz? PM me for more specific recommedations or how to obtain them! As for medieval carols, there is an excellent recording made by the Primavera Singers (NY based I think)..you should be able to track it down.

The Mad Hatter

Just to jump in for modern composers with a similar soundworld - I'd recommend going for some Arvo Pärt (particularly some of his mass settings) or Vladimír Godár (his album Mater is quite wonderful, and available in Tower).

There's a piece by Steve Reich called Proverb as well, which I think you might like.