Composer/Arranger: Dougie MacLean (1977), arr. Blake Morgan (2019)
Performer: Voces8 (2019)
Mr. Hunnex says:
Caledonia is the Latin name for Scotland. The original by Dougie MacLean is a modern folk song that has become a sort of alternate unofficial national anthem for Scotland.
Composer/Arranger: Sergei Rachmaninoff (1915)
Performer: USSR Ministry of Culture Chamber Choir (1986)
Mr. Hunnex says:
This large work, in 15 parts, is my absolute favorite work of choral music. It was written for the Russian Orthodox church, which allows no instruments, and each movement is based off of a chant from the church liturgy.
Composer/Arranger: Christopher Tin (2005), arr. André van der Merwe (2018)
Performer: Stellenbosch University Choir (2018)
Mr. Hunnex says:
Christopher Tin’s original version of this Swahili version of the Lord’s Prayer won a Grammy in 2011; the first ever awarded to a piece from a video game. This arrangement was done by André van der Merwe (the conductor in this video) for his South African university choir.
Hallelujah
Angel Band
Unclouded Day
Composer/Arranger: American Folk Songs, arr. Shawn Kirchner (2010)
Performer: Luther College Nordic Choir (2017)
Mr. Hunnex says:
This is a trio of American religious folk songs from the 19th century. It’s actually written to be performed in this order:
Unclouded Day
Angel Band
Hallelujah
But the composer specifies that they may also be performed in reverse order, as is done in this recording.
Composer/Arranger: Laura Jēkabsone (2019)
Performer: Babīte Municipality Mixed Choir Maska (2019)
Mr. Hunnex says:
Laura Jēkabsone is part of the Baltic region’s flourishing community of young choral composers. This piece was performed by a Latvian choir on their way to a 2nd-place performance in the Eurovision Choir 2019 contest. It features “White Voice”, a heavy, belt-like style of singing native to the Slavic, Balkan, and Baltic nations of Eastern Europe.
Composer/Arranger: Irish folk song, arr. Desmond Earley (2015)
Performer: Choral Scholars of University College Dublin (2015)
Mr. Hunnex says:
This folk song, written sometime in the 1970s, is about Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Charlie), a Scottish claimant to the British throne in the 1700s. He was particularly popular among the Scottish and Irish people. His rival for the crown? King George III, the same person whose policies set the United States on its path to independence.
Composer/Arranger: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, completed by Franz Xaver Süßmayr (1791)
Performer: London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (2004)
Mr. Hunnex says:
The last piece Mozart wrote before his own death in 1791 was a requiem: a mass for the dead. He actually died before it was finished, and his student Franz Xaver Süßmayr completed it.
Composer/Arranger: Carl Orff (1937)
Performer: Temple University Combined Choirs and Symphony Orchestra (2016)
Mr. Hunnex says:
This is a piece that apes the style of the grand masses and oratorios, but its text is entirely secular, and much of it profane. You’ll almost certainly recognize the first movement from just about everywhere in pop culture. If you’re going to listen, make sure you read the text translation along with it. Warning: It's not for the faint of heart. Ignore the “Go Owls!” cheer at 35:35. It’s not in the original.
Composer/Arranger: Timothy C. Takach (2010)
Performer: Luther College Nordic Choir (2018)
Mr. Hunnex says:
This piece, like a lot of modern choral works, thrives on sustained dissonance. It makes the texture of the sound more full. The text is especially powerful too.
Composer/Arranger: Kim André Arnesen (2012)
Performer: St. Olaf Choir (2013)
Mr. Hunnex says:
The lyrics to this piece are often attributed to an anonymous victim of the Holocaust who wrote them on a wall in a hiding place or concentration camp (the story varies). While that is almost certainly a false attribution, viewing the text through that lens is very moving and helps add depth of meaning that we may not notice at first glance.
Composer/Arranger: Ēriks Ešenvalds (2012)
Performer: Trinity College Choir (2015)
Mr. Hunnex says:
Ēriks Ešenvalds is another young Baltic (Latvian) composer who is writing beautiful contemporary choral music. This is a setting of a poem by Sara Teasdale, an American poet from the early 20th century whose poems are often set to music by choral composers.
Composer/Arranger: Morten Lauridsen (1997)
Performer: Luther College Nordic Choir (2012)
Mr. Hunnex says:
Morten Lauridsen is one of the most pre-eminent American choral composers of the last 30 years, and this might be his most famous work.
Composer/Arranger: Elaine Hagenberg (2017)
Performer: BYU Singers (2018)
Mr. Hunnex says:
This is another text by Sara Teasdale, one that has been adapted into no fewer than three very well-known choral pieces.
Composer/Arranger: various
Performer: The Aeolians of Oakwood University (2019)
Mr. Hunnex says:
Rather than a single piece, this is an entire 30-minute set by one of the most prominent American university choirs, and it's all fantastic.