# Looking for recommendations: Christian music CDs



## tabrooks (Oct 19, 2011)

I imagine that one's taste in Christian music varies considerably, but I'm looking for your top recommendations for Christian music CDs. 

I'd prefer something majestic, beautiful, and Scriptural (e.g. Handel's Messiah would be a great example), but I'm willing to consider what had deeply impacted you.

Thanks, ahead of time, for your recommendations! 

Thomas


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## JBaldwin (Oct 19, 2011)

Much of John Rutter's choral works are amazing. I was looking at "I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes" just the other day. Several of the movements of his Requiem are also quite nice. 

Vivaldi's "Gloria" is also nice, as are many of the Bach chorals.


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## nwink (Oct 19, 2011)

Well, it's not the same type of music as Handel's Messiah, but it is Scriptural -- the band Sons of Korah sings renditions of different Psalms to a contemporary music style.

Sons of Korah


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## Stargazer65 (Oct 19, 2011)

The Majesty and Glory 

If you like Handel's Messiah, you'll find this very uplifting:

Amazon.com: Majesty and Glory: Tom Fettke: Music

There are follow ups to it as well, we have them and they are also good.


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## Tripel (Oct 19, 2011)

Ditto to John Rutter.


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## Doulos 2 (Oct 19, 2011)

My family and I greatly enjoy Fernando Ortega's music.


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## au5t1n (Oct 19, 2011)

If you want any recordings of Scottish Metrical Psalms (and of course you do), I have these and they are good. Vol. II is only $5: Psalm CDs - Presbyterian Reformed Church


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## Scott1 (Oct 19, 2011)

CEP Bookstore - PSALMS OF SCOTLAND - SCOTTISH PHILHARMONIC SINGERS


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## Jared (Oct 19, 2011)

Depends on what you're looking for.

Here are some artists that I think most of the people here would enjoy:

Keith & Kristyn Getty
Sovereign Grace Music
Indelible Grace Music
Billy & Cindy Foote
Shane & Shane


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## seajayrice (Oct 19, 2011)

Bach's Cantata's. Make sure you get the English lyrics, they are sung in Deutsch.


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## VictorBravo (Oct 19, 2011)

And Bach's St. Matthew Passion. St. John Passion as well.

Also, Brahms Requiem--nothing but Scripture for the libretto and it is Romantic-era music as it ought to be: manly, solid, not florid.


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## tabrooks (Oct 19, 2011)

seajayrice said:


> Bach's Cantata's. Make sure you get the English lyrics, they are sung in Deutsch.



Do you have a link? I looked for this on amazon and there was a dizzying array of options -- not sure which one you are referring to exactly. thanks! Thomas


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## py3ak (Oct 19, 2011)

Although Handel's _Messiah_ is most famous, there are numerous oratorios on Biblical themes, and some from church history as well. Carissimi, Vivaldi, Handel, Haydn and Mendelssohn all composed oratorios worth listening to, and they are more readily available in good recordings than before. Handel's _Solomon_ is a good place to begin.


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## seajayrice (Oct 19, 2011)

tabrooks said:


> seajayrice said:
> 
> 
> > Bach's Cantata's. Make sure you get the English lyrics, they are sung in Deutsch.
> ...



I own the complete Helmuth Rilling cantata cycle Helmuth Rilling - Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works - Recordings - Part 1 works. Helmut Rilling on Bach Cantata No. 79

Bach was prolific as are his best interpreters.

[video=youtube_share;5Wc83-8dH2A]http://youtu.be/5Wc83-8dH2A[/video] Here is some background from Rilling at the Oregon Bach festival, a little technical. Try youtube for a sampling.


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## Theoretical (Oct 19, 2011)

Crown and Covenant has some spectacular psalms:

Music_Meditation_ is particularly beautiful, with all of Psalm 119 being sung.

A somewhat ponderous but nonetheless glorious work is Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 2: The Hymn of Praise. Most of the 9 choral movements are Psalms from the Gutenberg Bible.


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## Philip (Oct 19, 2011)

Bach's _Mass in B Minor_ is a good start. I also enjoy Vaughan Williams' _Mass in G Minor_.

Vaughan Williams also composed two _Te Deum_s, the _Five Mystical Songs_ (settings of the poetry of George Herbert) and his various motets.

I should also recommend Thomas Tallis, court composer to four Tudor monarchs, who wrote works like _Spem in Alium_ (a motet for forty voices), a series of Psalm tunes for Archbishop Parker, and a whole bunch of other stuff, all a capella choral.


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## Goodcheer68 (Oct 20, 2011)

I would say Sons of Korah!


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## Tripel (Oct 20, 2011)

VictorBravo said:


> Also, Brahms Requiem--nothing but Scripture for the libretto and it is Romantic-era music as it ought to be: manly, solid, not florid.



Ah, yes.... WONDERFUL recommendation. "How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place" is one of my favorite pieces.


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## tabrooks (Oct 20, 2011)

Many thanks for all who have contributed to this thread so far (its greatly appreciated). I've already made a several orders based on your recommendations.


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## jwithnell (Oct 20, 2011)

> And Bach's St. Matthew Passion. St. John Passion as well.


 Ditto! I still remember "discovering" these in my college library and just sitting there transfixed. 

Mendelssohn's Elijah should be among your early acquisitions. The Mozart Requiem has some questionable trappings, but it is a tremendous musical work. I love where the four solo voices intermingle with each other. Just had the link: there are some antiphonal elements that are gorgeous: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IvRUVHOiK8

Robert Shaw is (was) one of America's foremost choral conductors, though there are some compositions, such as Messiah, that he takes too fast for my taste.


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