World Renowned Choirs Sale
Over 275 titles featuring world renowned choral ensembles are on sale now at ArkivMusic!
Discover titles featuring works performed by acclaimed choirs including The St. Olaf Choir, Choir of King's College, Cambridge, The Sixteen, Westminster Choir and more.
Shop the sale before it ends at 9:00am ET, Tuesday, April 14th, 2026.
262 products
Bach: Masses / Christophers, The Sixteen
Bach’s four Lutheran Masses feature almost no Lutheran material at all. Sometimes called ‘Missa brevis’, musically they are almost entirely made up of movements borrowed from Bach’s Cantatas. While often overshadowed by the more famous Mass in B minor, the beauty of these short Masses is that they represent Bach’s own choice of his finest Cantata movements. Despite their exquisite beauty, featuring splendid choruses and deeply moving arias, there are relatively few recordings of the Masses. This collection combines The Sixteen’s recordings into one collection. Just eight singers join The Sixteen’s orchestra to perform the Masses, allowing the beauty of the virtuosic vocal lines to be heard with absolute clarity.
St. John Henry Newman: A Meditation
Elgar from America, Vol. 3
Parry, Campion, McDowall: An Old Belief / Christophers, The Sixteen Choir
A Belfast Christmas
Choral music has always played a significant and central role at Belfast Cathedral, since its consecration in 1904. This strong choral tradition continues to this day with the recently formed all-adult, fully professional vocal ensemble. This ‘new’ cathedral choir brings together some of the finest singers in Northern Ireland who lead the liturgy and worship of Belfast Cathedral and are featured here in their debut album for Resonus Classics. Featuring a varied program of seasonal carols from composers including Elizabeth Poston, John Rutter and Philip Ledger, this album celebrates Christmas from Northern Ireland’s national cathedral.
Ghost Songs
"I see sketches of islands / half revealed / like deities / in a haze." From Ní Chinnéide’s opening words, Ghost Songs takes the listener through the earthly and the otherworldly, the liminal and the ethereal, and through encounters and vistas, real and imagined, in Ireland and beyond. The album is built around nine choral pieces, by contemporary Irish composers Seán Doherty, Rhona Clarke, and Michael Holohan. Each piece is preceded by the poem on which it is based, and these are interspersed with thematically resonant readings by Paula Meehan, Dairena Ní Chinnéide, and Marina Carr. Carl Corcoran reads texts by poets unknown or no longer living, including W. B. Yeats (1865–1939) and Irish-American modernist Lola Ridge (1873–1941), while Dairena Ní Chinnéide lends her voice, and her dialect, to the words of fellow Irish-language poet Seán Ó Ríordáin (1916–77).
Benham: For Piano / Tsaldarakis, Archontides
“For Piano is a collection of pieces composed in a broadly classical style. It explores the variety of color, sound and tone achievable from one of the most versatile of all instruments, and is designed to be accessible to a wide range of players and listeners.” (Hugh Benham) Hugh Benham was born at Westbury, Wiltshire in 1943, but has lived in Hampshire for most of his life. He read Music and English at the University of Southampton, where he was awarded a PhD for his study of the music of John Taverner. This work led to the writing of books and articles on early English music, and to the editing of John Taverner’s complete works for Early English Church Music. Composition was an early if sporadic interest: the first pieces that he acknowledges were short anthems composed in the mid 1970s. It was much later that work began to flow more freely and a useful body of music (choral, organ and piano) accumulated. A first recording made by Convivium Records in 2011 (‘A Triumph Song’, Convivium Singers, directed by Neil Ferris) led to increased activity and to a second album in 2019 (‘Hugh Benham: Sacred Choral Music’, Convivium Singers, directed by Alexander Norman). English influences are obvious, but there have been explorations of music from France and, more recently, the Baltic states.
Carol of the Bells / Christophers, The Sixteen
Christophers elegantly mixes traditional carols, 20th century British standards, and contemporary works, and at every turn, there is something new.
The Sixteen contrasts traditional with contemporary in this choral feast of festive music. Bob Chilcott's sumptuous Advent Antiphons based on plainsong melodies anticipate the coming of Christmas and feature alongside Mykola Leontovich's much-loved Carol of the Bells, Richard Rodney Bennett’s stunning Susanni and Eric Whitacre’s shimmering Lux aurumque. Interspersed with the beautiful simplicity of traditional carols, this is a Christmas collection to savor.
Harry Christophers stands among today’s great champions of choral music. In partnership with The Sixteen, the ensemble he founded almost 40 years ago, he has set benchmark standards for the performance of everything from late medieval polyphony to important new works by contemporary composers. His international influence is supported by more than 150 recordings and has been enhanced by his work as Artistic Director of Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society and as guest conductor worldwide. The Sixteen’s soundworld, rich in tonal variety and expressive nuance, reflects Christophers’ determination to create a vibrant choral instrument from the blend of adult professional singers. Under his leadership The Sixteen has established its annual Choral Pilgrimage to cathedrals, churches and other UK venues, created the Sacred Music series for BBC television, and developed an acclaimed period-instrument orchestra. Highlights of their recent work include an Artist Residency at Wigmore Hall, a large-scale tour of Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610, and the world premiere of James MacMillan’s Symphony No. 5, ‘Le grand Inconnu’; their future projects, meanwhile, comprise a new series devoted to Purcell and an ongoing survey of Handel’s dramatic oratorios.
REVIEW:
The title Carol of the Bells might suggest a greatest Christmas hits collection, and that Ukrainian standard is indeed present, but most of the material is a good deal less familiar. Christophers elegantly mixes traditional carols, 20th century British standards, and contemporary works, and at every turn, there is something new. Some of the traditional carols come from an old Oxford publication; Christophers notes that several, such as All in the Morning, have fallen out of use, and his case for their revival is persuasive. The Sixteen's reading of Eric Whitacre's much-recorded Lux aurumque is top-tier, and from the opening Pilgrim Jesus of Bob Chilcott, the program just flows unusually naturally. This is a holiday album that adds new subjects to the conversation even as it upholds some long traditions.
-- AllMusic.com (James Manheim)
Bach, Handel, Tallis: Agnus Dei / The Sixteen
| There are certain texts which inspire composers more than others but there is one in particular that has provided us with sublime music ever since it appeared centuries ago—the Agnus Dei. This collection from The Sixteen celebrates some of the finest settings from the Renaissance through to the 20th century. Let time stand still whilst listening to the arching melismas and subtle imitation of settings by Tye and Sheppard; delight in the genius of Bach’s setting in the Mass in B minor; and revel in Poulenc’s soaring soprano solo at the opening to his Agnus Dei—so poignant, ethereal and effortlessly beautiful. Of course no collection of this type would be complete without Samuel Barber’s Agnus Dei—probably one of the most famous settings ever written, certainly in recent times, and which rarely leaves a dry eye. From Tallis to Scarlatti and Rubbra to Britten, the variety of settings and musical language featured here is quite astounding and you may even discover an Agnus Dei that you haven’t heard before! |
Lyadov: Complete Original Choral Works and Selected Russian Folksong Arrangements / Nikiforchin, Academy of Russian Music Chamber Choir
Lyadov’s handful of orchestral works have become concert favorites, but his choral music is as good as unknown. It falls into three main categories: religious chants, folksong arrangements and original compositions. All three confirm Lyadov’s status as a kind of Fabergé of music: they blend exquisite craftsmanship and delicate beauty. The Academy of Russian Music Chamber Choir is the part of the Academy of Russian Music, founded by Ivan Nikiforchin in 2016, which combines a chamber orchestra and a chamber choir. A distinctive feature of the ensemble is the performances of outstanding works of Russian music of the twentieth and 21st centuries. The basis of the Russian part of its repertoire is the scores for chamber orchestra by Russian composers of different generations – Yuri Abdokov, Revol Bunin, Herman Galynin, Nikolai Myaskovsky, Nikolai Peyko, Gavriil Popov, Dmitry Shostakovich, Georgy Sviridov, Boris Tchaikovsky, Galina Ustvolskaya and Mieczysław Weinberg. A special place in the repertoire is reserved for the string-orchestra transcriptions by Rudolf Barshai of Bach, Prokofiev and Shostakovich. The main concert venues in which the Academy of Russian Music performs are the Great Hall, the Small Hall and the Rachmaninov Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire, and the Moscow International House of Music. The first Academy of Russian Music recording, with the complete music for strings by Herman Galynin (Toccata Classics tocc 0514), received a nomination in the International Classical Music Awards in 2021.
O Nata Lux / Erny, The Zurich Chamber Singers
With "O Nata Lux", The Zurich Chamber Singers under the baton of Christian Erny release an album of Christmas choral music that stands out from purely liturgical Christmas albums while at the same time focusing on the core of the Christmas message. A musically diverse album with motets and songs from five centuries. According to the famous German Christmas carol “Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen”, Jesus was born “in the cold midwinter, in the middle of the night”. The light that disperses the cold and darkness is a central topic of Christmastide art and music, and an element of many winter-time traditions the world over. At Christmas, Christians celebrate the redemption of mankind at a time of darkness, expressed through the imagery of light. With their new album entitled “O nata lux”, the Zurich Chamber Singers highlight this symbolism as it has been represented for many centuries in the western art music tradition.
Following the chronology of the Advent and Christmas season, the album ranges from Renaissance works by Osiander, Tallis and Praetorius to song settings by Bach, Holst and Britten and contemporary works by Marcus Paus (with marimba) and Rhiannon Randle. Her work commissioned in 2018 by the Zurich Chamber Singers, has close musical ties with Tallis’s work from over four hundred years earlier. Written in memory of her grandmother, Randle’s choral work is at times meditatively introverted, then again self-assured with consolation and confidence. Through the different tonal languages, the young Swiss ensemble illuminates the various aspects of the Advent and Christmas season. The range extends from the clear and haunting simplicity of a hymn to Brucknerian sonority and the interesting combination of deep marimba tremolos with the choir's wavy, effervescent chord layers.
Ives: Requiem / Pinel, Jesus College Choir Cambridge, Britten Sinfonia
Bill Ives has enjoyed a rich and varied career as both performer and composer (Grayston Ives). These experiences, culminating in nearly two decades as Informator Choristarum (Director of Music) at Magdalen College, Oxford, are reflected in a compositional style which is complex yet accessible, rich and colourful. His choral music comes from the heart, and this deeply personal reaction to the texts enables the performer or listener to engage with and enjoy the music to its full extent. This recording represents two ‘firsts’ for the choirs of Jesus College, Cambridge: The first time the choir have collaborated on a recording with the Britten Sinfonia, as well as is the first time both chapel and college choirs they have joined forces for an entire album. Bill (Grayston) Ives writes: “In the Requiem many influences are thrown into the musical melting pot and will be apparent to the discerning listener. Ultimately, the piece is firmly rooted in the Anglican choral tradition (written specifically for liturgical performance), the distillation of a lifetime in music ... The delicate, sweet sound of a pair of tiny hand-held cymbals is heard at the opening and at intervals throughout. They were bought at Snape Maltings from a group of Tibetan monks who were resident there during the summer of 2008 when ideas for the piece were forming.”
Pekiel, Gorczycki, Mielczewski: The Polish Collection / The Sixteen
This spectacular collection comprises The Sixteen’s five acclaimed Polish recordings with the group’s Associate Conductor, Eamonn Dougan. Masters of the Polish Baroque such as Bartlomiej Pekiel, Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki and Marcin Mielczewski are celebrated alongside Italian maestri Giovanni Francesco Anerio, Vincenzo Bertolusi, Luca Marenzio and Asprilio Pacelli. These composers flourished at the court of King Sigismund III marking a new dawn for sacred music in Poland. “The Sixteen luxuriate in textures and sonorities, offsetting serene, arching lines with more urgent declamatory passages...basses plummet while sopranos soar into the stratosphere in a swirl of all-embracing sound.” (BBC Music Magazine)
Kyr: In Praise of Music / Copeland, Antioch Chamber Ensemble
| Robert Kyr is one of the most prolific composers of his time, having composed twelve symphonies, three chamber symphonies, concerti, and more than 100 works for vocal ensembles of all types. His choral music is distinguished by a warmly compelling lyricism, as well as by a contrapuntal mastery that arises from his love of early music, especially the work of Dufay, Josquin Des Prez, and above all, Bach. The ten beautiful choral works on this recording reflect the arc of Kyr's music over the past twenty years, the titles acutely illustrative of the composer's spiritual interests: "In Praise of Music", "O Great Spirit", "Veni Creator Spiritus", "Santa Fe Vespers", "Dawnsong", "Voices for Peace", "Freedom Song" "Alleluia for Peace." |
Black Pierrot / Crabb, Freund, University of Missouri University Singers, Mizzou New Music Ensemble
This is a program of great choral works, including one work from the 1500s, works from the 20th Century, and one work, Black Pierrot that was commissioned by R. Paul Crabb for the ensembles on this album. R. Paul Crabb, University of Missouri's Director of Choral Activities, earned degrees in Music Education, Vocal Performance and Choral Music Education. His ensembles have performed at state, regional and national conventions and have traveled extensively in Mexico, Germany, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Russia, Bulgaria and Australia. Crabb served as assistant conductor at the Russian/American Choral Symposium for two years where his choir was invited as the resident American choir at the Moscow Conservatory. He served for one year as a visiting professor in Salzburg, Austria, where he taught and worked with the choir of the Salzburg Cathedral. He has taught conducting in Taiwan, eighteenth-century music in England, and studied sixteenth century polyphony in Italy with the renowned Peter Phillips. More recently he served as Guest Visiting Choral Professor at the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, Hungary - the first American selected for that position.
Gregorian Meditations / Scheibe, University of Southern California Thornton School of Music Chamber Singers
Alfred Desenclos and Jean Langlais were both superlative composers of choral music, yet most of their works are performed far too infrequently. This album offers superb performances of some of the best choral works by these great French masters. Initially called the ‘Madrigal Singers,’ the USC Thornton Chamber Singers were first formed in 1939 under the direction of Max T. Krone — a professor of music education, composition and choral music, as well as the dean of USC’s former Institute of the Arts. In 1942, Krone brought Dr. Charles C. Hirt, then the director of the Glendale High School choirs and a USC alumnus, to the school as both a lecturer and as Director of the Chamber Singers. Hirt later established and became chair of the Choral and Sacred Music department. In 1956, the Chamber Singers adopted its current name in a move designed to better reflect the group’s repertoire.
Purcell: Royal Welcome Songs 4 / Sixteen
Despite only living until the age of 36 Purcell is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable musical geniuses of all time. The Sixteen continues its exploration of his music written for royalty illuminating two more of Purcell's Welcome Songs - Swifter, Isis, swifter flow and The summer's absence unconcerned we bear. In his music for Nathaniel Lee's tragedy Theodosius we witness the young Purcell displaying his playhouse wares in strokes of astonishing versatility some ten years before he made a serious impact as a master of music for the stage.
Panufnik: Heartfelt
Since Westminster Mass (2000) established Roxanna Panufnik's firm place among today's leading British composers, she has often been celebrated for her choral music. Her instrumental and chamber works, however, are equally striking, filled with dazzling imagination and poetic lightness of touch. Her latest album Heartfelt encompasses compassion, tragedy and irresistible humor, while demonstrating her passion for exploring diverse musical cultures, from East Sussex to Myanmar. Featuring a stellar line-up of leading British soloists (including soprano Mary Bevan, pianist Charles Owen and baritone Roderick Williams) and led by the Sacconi Quartet, the title work includes a musical translation of the heartbeat of a young European Brown Bear named Albie: captured by a digital stethoscope, Bristol Zoo was generously able to send Panufnik a recording of Albie's heartbeat whilst they underwent a small surgical procedure, the anaesthetic resembling the bear's hibernation. Albie himself is pictured on the album's front cover.
Twelve Sacred Choral Concerti & Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
Juno nominated chamber choir Luminous Voices along with Spiritus Chamber Choir presents twelve works by Ukranian composer Artem Vedel (1767-1808). Considered one of Ukraine’s ‘Golden Three’ composers of the 18th century, these masterpieces of Ukrainian Classical Choral Music include twelve sacred choral concerti & Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. Under the direction of Dr. Timothy Shantz and with support from the Ukrainian Music Society of Alberta, the works of Vedel continue to be associated with the boisterous wave of national rebirth, imbued with a connection and influence of national folklore.
Elgar: Partsongs - From The Bavarian Highlands / Hanft, Arman, Bavarian Radio Chorus
The British composer Edward Elgar wrote a great deal more than just his “Pomp & Circumstance” marches: his highly diverse oeuvre encompasses symphonies, concertos, chamber works, piano music and numerous choral works (oratorios, cantatas and partsongs). On this release, partsongs by Elgar can be heard with and without accompaniment as part of a representative selection of live and studio recordings. The album begins with the song cycle “From the Bavarian Highlands” op. 27; its six cheerful numbers were written while Elgar and his wife were on holiday in Garmisch in 1895. Alice Elgar had sketched verses from Bavarian folk melodies, and Upper Bavarian songs and dances can be heard in her husband’s settings. These were happy memories of carefree holidays in a region rich in music and full of fine landscapes. The Bavarian Radio Chorus, conducted by Howard Arman, sings the songs in their original version with piano accompaniment (the orchestral version came later). As a composer of English-language choral songs, Elgar is still little-known on the European mainland; in the United Kingdom, however, the situation is very different. The country has long had a lively choral scene, focusing primarily on English music – from Purcell and Handel to Hubert Parry, Charles Villiers Stanford and Elgar, all the way to Benjamin Britten and today’s contemporary composers. The program on this release has been compiled and conducted by the Englishman Howard Arman, one of today’s most knowledgeable experts on British choral music and artistic director of the Bavarian Radio Chorus, and these recordings should do much to boost the popularity of this highly appealing music on the European mainland as well.
A Very Renmen Christmas, Live! / Perry, Renaissance Men
The album opens with soloist Corey Dalton Hart intoning the verse of Some Children See Him; the sparkling clarity of each rounded note is soon multiplied by the rest of the choir, elevating the performance to spiritual heights. This is followed by Cantate Domino, an invigorating setting of Psalm 96. With its aggressive rhythmic action and sensitive dynamics, the Latin text is presented as an arresting and captivating musical piece. Riu Chiu is a traditional Spanish song, and the RenMen bring it to life with passionate energy against the chattering rhythm of a tambourine. The RenMen treat listeners to favorite classics, as well, but always with that signature sound and attention to detail they are known for. Their rendition of I’ll Be Home for Christmas is a treatment of the song made popular by Rascal Flatts. Blending the choral group’s influences, this number incorporates jazz, country, and popular stylings seamlessly with traditional choral techniques. Later, songs like Jingle Bells and Frosty the Snowman offer a lighthearted counterpoint to O Magnum Mysterium and Angels We Have Heard on High, making this a joyful and inviting holiday album for the whole family.
Steeped in time-honored western choral music and flavored with yuletide fun, A VERY RENMEN CHRISTMAS: LIVE! brings the merriment of the RenMen’s live performances to your living room. Pour some eggnog, don that favorite Christmas sweater, and enjoy this collection of ancient and modern classics.
Vasks: Viatore, Distant Light & Voices / Madić, Repušic, Munich Radio Orchestra
The beauty that the Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks evokes in his works would not be possible without the experience of violence and cruelty in this world. He grew up in a country deprived of liberty, and because of his faith and his artistic convictions he was exposed to reprisals from Russian cultural doctrine. His father, a Baptist pastor, was regarded as an “enemy of the people”, and his homeland was under Soviet control. As a result, Vasks developed a vision of freedom and subtle protest in his music. In the so-called “singing revolution”, the countries of the Baltic region with their traditional love of choral music initiated their independence from Soviet rule. Vasks' expressive, direct and often deliberately simple music quickly became the mouthpiece of the long-suppressed Latvian people, giving the nation a proud voice that can be heard worldwide.
Today, alongside Arvo Pärt, Vasks is one of the most famous composers from the Baltic states of the former Soviet Union. The works on this release are for chamber-music string ensembles: his first symphony "Balsis - Voices" (1991), the haunting violin concerto "Tala gaisma - Distant Light" (1996/97), and the piece "Viatore” (the traveler; 2001), dedicated to Arvo Pärt, here in a version for eleven solo strings by the conductor, church musician and arranger Stefan Vanselow. The Münchner Rundfunkorchester plays under its chief conductor Ivan Repušic, and the concerto soloist is Stanko Madic, first concertmaster of the MRO.
REVIEW
Distant Light's heartfelt, rooted performance may well prove a front runner in a field more competitive than that of any other concerto by a living composer. There is a strong sense of narrative sound from Repušić’s orchestra but also from Madić, whose control of vibrato and tone colour ranges from nervous intensity to still radiance. The cantabile movements retreat without exactly relaxing, the cadenzas are determinedly articulate and the overall power is cumulative more than choreographed. The difficult-to-record ending comes off well.
Recommended as a string-only immersion in Vasks’s world, a competitive account of his most famous work or just something to keep you going until the light actually returns.
–Gramophone
For All The Saints: Anthems, Hymns, & Motets / Phillips, Choir Of All Saints' Church
Sing, Precious Music / Mark Williams, Choir Of Magdalen College
Founded in 1480, the historic traditions and refined sound of the Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford, have proven fertile ground for generations of composers. From the richly inventive and expansive writing of John Sheppard to the mysticism and passion of James Whitbourn’s recent settings, this programme celebrates a unique and finely crafted legacy of choral music and sublime singing that flourishes in our time as much as it did in the 15th century. “… an hour of listening that is both of the moment and utterly timeless.” (The Independent on the 2013 album Buxtehude: Membra Jesu Nostri) “The interpretations are forthright and plangent, the young soloists spirited…” (The Times on the 2016 album Tomkins: Choral Works)
At That Hour: Art Songs by Henry Dehlinger / Talamantes, Wilkerson
San Francisco-native Henry Dehlinger, a prodigiously talented pianist and singer, turned his hand to full-time composition in 2015. The skill and splendour of his music belies the relatively brief number of years he has committed pen to paper to create a considerable oeuvre of orchestral, chamber and choral music. His natural affinity for vocal music has also led to a number of works for solo voice. At That Hour is a superlative showcase for Henry’s craftmanship as well as his close collaborators, husband-and-wife team soprano Danielle Talamantes and bass-baritone Kerry Wilkerson. All of the songs on this original album of Henry’s art songs were written expressly for Danielle’s and Kerry’s impassioned voices. The title track opens Henry’s 10-part song cycle set to texts by James Joyce. Inspiration for other songs comes from poetry by T. S. Eliot, Dante, Edgar Allen Poe, Oscar Wilde, and Hebrew writings. Throughout, Henry’s modern yet tonal compositional voice shines through as he renders a diverse palette of musical styles to amplify the words he sets to music.
