Miserere Mei, Deus - Gregorio Allegri

Miserere Mei, Deus (meaning Have mercy on me, O lord) which is also known as Miserere in short is a renaissance polyphony representation of psalm 51 composed by Gregorio Allegri and the greatest thing about this historical work is that it was only performed in Sistine Chapel (at Vatican City), specifically only on Holy Wednesday and Good Friday. Funny thing was that there were "copyright" issues in the past; writing the score down or performing it anywhere else other than the Sistine Chapel was punishable by excommunication, which is equivalent to being banished from the church. Thank god for the little musical genius Mozart who written the entire score down from memory after hearing it being performed at Sistine Chapel, if not this chant would forever be trapped in the mystery of Sistine Chapel. 

Being a vocally demanding and intensive piece, due to extremely high range required for Sopranos (Soprano C is the highest note) and the fact that is no mere SATB arrangement but a 9-part arrangement (Cantus I, Cantus II, Secundus I, Secundus II, Altus I, Altus II, Tenor, Bassus I, Bassus II) makes it a challenging choral work, which challenges even the best of choirs around. There are no accompaniment to mask anything and the slightest of any musical error would be highly visible. 

I decided to use a professional renaissance-dedicated vocal ensemble, The Tallis Scholars who performed this musical piece since it has one of the best blend around (it's professional anyway) and just hearing the Soprano C makes me go "wow"!

The Prayer - David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager, Alberto Testa and Tony Renis

The Prayer, hailed as one of the most popular contemporary classical pop duet of the 21st century was written by David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager, Alberto Testa and Tony Renis. Originally written in F major (high Bb for male vocals), a soprano and tenor is recommended due to the high notes involved, especially for the male.

An excellent mix of both the usage of english and italian (foreign language) as well as simple, beautiful accompaniment (only a piano or keyboard is required for it to work) makes it a common song to be sung in weddings, performances and even recitals.

Here, a young talented duo Jonathan and Charlotte performs The Prayer as their final performance in Britain's Got Talent and it's amazing how young they are, putting even people like me to shame. I simply like how Jonathan ends it off with the high B! Fast forward to 1:26 for the start of the song. If this young duo doesn't satisfy your cravings, you can check out Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion as well.

Crucifixus - Johann Sebastian Bach

This is the first time I'm covering choral works and it's getting me all hyped up since I was from a church choir for more than 10 years. Crucifixus from the mass in B minor composed by Johann Sebastian Bach was Bach's last work before he passed away and this piece is one of my favorite choral work by Bach besides Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring. Crucifixus which means "nailed to the cross" in Latin has an extremely mysterious feel due to the fact that it is performed in a minor key and bears an extremely sad lyrics. I reckon it's best performed with strings and a Harpsichord.

This is by far the best recording I encountered in Youtube by a group of soloists, Taverner Consort & Players with Andrew Parrott as the conductor. Just hearing the bass soloist's E at 2:58 is enough to give me goosebumps.