CDs from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk - music that we think is ideally suited to inspire creative thought.
Listed by composer, by performer, for Christmas and for special occasions (weddings, funerals etc.) If you are looking for hymn or carol accompaniment CDs and MP3s, click here.
Note that Amazon now has
an excellent MP3 download store (US customers only) at very reasonable prices, and without the
messy digital rights management imposed by many digital downloads. Try the
search box to the right or go to Amazon MP3 downloads
Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis Vol. 4 - Portsmouth Cathedral
Choir 
You could be forgiven for not realising the naval town of
Portsmouth has a cathedral. In fact it didn't until 1927, but the old
parish church was suitably enlarged and now it's a lovely place to sing
in, as the choir demonstrates admirably, if perhaps slightly lower in
oomph than some. They also give excellent value for money, cramming over
78 minutes onto the CD. As usual with this series there's an excellent
mix. Andrewes is a lovely discovery - slap bang between Stanford (opens
rather like the Bluebird) and Howells. The big H himself is represented by
the excellent E major and the subtly dark B minor. Lassus and Victoria
give us a rare chance to hear magnificent renaissance Latin constructs on
plainsong, while Weelkes' treble service (which has men's voices too) is
interesting, if one of the weaker performances. Shephard's modern setting
is suitably haunting. And if Darke in F only means a eucharist setting to
you, the canticles are robust and occasionally surprising. The reliable
old warhorse here is Stanford's C, which is sympathetically treated, if a
bit slow for our liking. A few samples on the
Amazon.co.uk
site.
- Brewer in E flat
- Andrewes in G
- Howells in E
- Lassus Magnificat (Tone IV)
- Victoria Nunc (Tone III)
- Stanford in C
- Weelkes (service for trebles)
- Darke in F
- Shephard (Salisbury Service)
- Howells in B minor
- Bairstow in D
If you are new to church music, try our CD of the month. Alternatively, consider one of the collection CDs to get a flavour for different composers. One of the best-known pieces ever is Allegri's haunting Miserere. You might also like to try a CD of Byrd's 3 masses for a collection of some of the most perfect music ever written.
Not sure what it's all about? Listen to a couple of clips to get a feel for this remarkable music.
Real Audio
- From the excellent Atlanta Sacred Chorale - a snippet of Tallis' If ye love me
- From the Nebraska Wesleyan University Choir - Howell's A Spotless rose
MP3
- From the Chapel Choir of Royal Holloway College - a small part of Byrd's Sing Joyfully
- Collections - a good starting point if you don't have a particular composer in mind
- Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis - collections of these miniature masterpieces of the evening service
-
Christmas Collections - carols and other music for the Christmas
period
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- William Byrd
- Orlando Gibbons
- Herbert Howells
- John Rutter
- John Sheppard
- Caleb Simper - not one of our usual composers (and no recordings), but a Victorian mega-seller who has practically disappeared...
- Thomas Tallis
- John Tavener (20th century)
- John Taverner (16th century)
- King's College, Cambridge
- The King's Singers
- St. John's College, Cambridge
- The Oxford Camerata
- St. Paul's Cathedral
- The Sixteen
- The Tallis Scholars
- Westminster Cathedral
CDs of Hymns
We now have a separate No Organist page on different ways to accompany hymns from CD to electronic hymnal, including our own superb value accompaniment CDs, and our individual tracks section where you can build your own CD from over 250 hymns and voluntaries, or have tracks emailed direct.
If you want a CD with a popular selection of hymns with singing, particularly for wedding ideas, try these:
-
The Complete New English Hymnal 22 CDs - click link to see what is on each
In the UK
-
Abide with Me - 50 Favourite Hymns (many of the favourites)
-
The English Hymn 1 (20th century, but all well knowns, like ‘My Song is Love Unknown’
-
The English Hymn 2 (19th century)
-
The English Hymn 3 (assorted)
-
The English Hymn 4 (assorted)
-
The English Hymn 5 (assorted)
-
Love Divine: The Complete Guide to Music for a Church Wedding (includes organ music)
-
Wedding Hymns - Queen's College, Cambridge with a wedding-oriented hymn CD featuring 22 of the most popular hymns for weddings
In the US:
CDs of Wedding music
See our wedding music page for more information on choosing music for a wedding.
In the UK:
-
Love Divine: The Complete Guide to Music for a Church Wedding
-
Music for a Civil Wedding - don't be put off by the title: although may not be played by organ, the selection of music is entirely appropriate for a church wedding too
-
Music for a Civil Wedding volume 2 - don't be put off by the title: as above, may not be played by organ but the selection of music is entirely appropriate for a church wedding too - in fact this CD has more traditional church wedding music on it than the first one
-
Wedding Hymns - Queen's College, Cambridge with a wedding-oriented hymn CD featuring 22 of the most popular hymns for weddings
-
A Bride's Guide to Wedding Music - a strange CD in that most of the music on it is very rarely heard at weddings, but would go down well - so worth a listen, but don't expect your local church choir to perform the Bluebird (for instance)
In the US:
CDs of Settings
If you're a fan of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, we've some fine recordings in our collections section.
Looking for a particular type of music or a CD with a particular piece on? Drop us an e-mail and we'll try to help. Do let us know also if you can recommend on online resource and we'll add it to our lists.
Copyright © Creativity
Unleashed Limited 2006
Last update 18 October 2007
The site is part of the Creativity Unleashed Limited site. Click here to go to the Creativity Unleashed home page..
Return to our main Church Music page
For sheet music, try MusicRoom's site.
MP3 downloads (US ONLY):