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In most cases the cover art links to a site where you can listen to excerpts from the disc.

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Early medieval music (before 1300)

Gregorian chant for the Church year
Choralschola Vienna Hofburgkapelle
(Philips, 6CD)

Sung by a professional male choir rather than a genuine monastic choir, this is nevertheless an excellent way to acquire the chant for the major liturgical feasts.  The singing is very impressive, the sound quality is rich, and the price is right.

Leonin - Early polyphony from Notre-Dame
Red Byrd
(Hyperion)

In the West, polyphonic music emerged in the 12th century as elaborations on chant at Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris. Leonin was one of those involved, and this is a wonderfully atmospheric recording of works attributed to him.

Hildegard von Bingen - Songs
Sequentia
(Deutsche Harmonia Mundi)

Hildegard (1098-1179) is one of the few well-known female composers.  Her ecstatic monophonic melodies are very distinctive; she claimed that she received them in dreams.  There have been many recordings of her music, but I'm partial to this one.


Late medieval music

Paolo da Firenze - Narcisso Speculando
Mala Punica
(Harmonia Mundi)

This is way off the beaten path, but what a delight!  This strange and beguiling music is almost certainly unlike anything you have heard before, and this virtuosic ensemble does it full justice with performances of great verve and confidence.

Ockeghem - Requiem
Ensemble Organum, Marcel Peres
(Harmonia Mundi)

Johannes Ockeghem wrote the first known polyphonic setting of the funeral mass, and while it has been recorded many times, this performance stands out: dark and moody, these singers find something in the music that more polite renditions miss.

Dufay - Isorhythmic motets
Huelgas Ensemble, Paul van Nevel
(Harmonia Mundi)

Guillaume Dufay is sometimes considered a 'bridge' composer between the medieval sound world and that of the renaissance.  If so, this disc shows off his medieval side: these pieces are like musical fractals in which the a basic rhythm recurs on different time scales, creating music of incredibly intricate complexity.  It must be nearly impossible to sing correctly, but this wonderful group tosses it off with style.


Renaissance music

Byrd - Mass for 5 voices
Winchester Cathedral Choir
(Hyperion)

William Byrd (d.1623) is one of the few first-tier composers that England has produced.  This exquisite disc contains a rendition of his Mass for 5 voices in the context of the liturgy for the Feast of Corpus Christi.  Thus we hear Byrd's settings for the Corpus Christi propers interspersed between the movements of the Mass.  The disc closes with a concentrated and moving account of his wonderful motet 'Ave Verum Corpus' - you won't hear a finer four minutes of Renaissance polyphony.

Victoria - 'Et Iesum'
Carlos Mena (counter-tenor), Juan Carlos Rivera (lute)
(Harmonia Mundi)

Tomas Luis de Victoria (c.1549-1611) is most famous for his soaring and intricate polyphony, but this disc shows his work from another angle.  Victoria himself, it seems, made some intimate arrangements of his church music in which one of the lines from the polyphonic texture was given to a voice, and the others to the accompaniment.  The result is very interesting and, with the creamy voiced Carlos Mena at the helm, very beautiful music-making.

In Paradisum: Music of Victoria and Palestrina
Hilliard Ensemble
(ECM New)

This is one of the most beautiful records in my collection.  The music is a Gregorian Requiem interspersed with motets of Victoria and Palestrina.  The real draw for this recording is the singing: four voices sounding together simply doesn't get any better.  In paradisum, indeed.

More to come in this category.

Music of J. S. Bach

Suites for solo cello
Pieter Wispelwey, cello
(Channel Classics, 2CD)

Our first impressions can colour our perception ever after.  This was the first recording of these great works that I heard - a gift from a friend when I was taking my first steps into the world of classical music - and, though I have heard a half-dozen others since, this recording remains my favourite.  Indeed, the others cannot touch it. Wispelwey is somehow able to touch two poles at once: on the one hand, he never forgets that this is dance music, keeping it lively and rhythmically deft, yet, on the other hand, it is all played with great inward-looking concentration, like a meditation.  A treasurable performance of the very greatest music.

St. Matthew Passion
Soloists, Collegium Vocale Gent
Philippe Herreweghe
(Harmonia Mundi, 3CD)

Some people consider this work to be the greatest single composition in Western music, the Sistine Chapel of sound, as it were.  It, too, has been recorded dozens of times, but Herreweghe's is among the best. He has a light touch, such that Bach's writing comes through with great clarity, and his choir is superb.  A good way to pass a few hours on Good Friday afternoon.

Toccotas and Fugues
Christopher Herrick, organ
(Hyperion)

A complete edition of Bach's organ music runs to something like 20 CDs.  That's a lot of music, but who's complaining? This set gathers together some of the most monumental compositions, including the great Passacaglia and Fugue (BWV 582).  The sound on this Hyperion disc is rich and clear.  This is (almost) a party record.

More to come in this category.

Music of Benjamin Britten

Benjamin Britten composed in all genres, but I have a special preference for his choral and vocal music. This is reflected in my recommendations.

A Ceremony of Carols, and other choral music
Choir of Westminster Cathedral, David Hill
(Hyperion)

Britten wrote some of the best Christmas music around.  This collection of his choral music contains a knock-out performance of A Ceremony of Carols, a suite of ten unusual carols for boy-choir. The singers are outstanding, and the recording is vivid. Also included are his strange Missa Brevis (which sounds at certain points like a soundtrack for a 1930s detective thriller) and his touching Hymn to the Virgin. A seasonal favourite.

St. Nicolas / Christ's Nativity
Langridge, Tallis Choir, ECO, Bedford
(Naxos)

The church cantata St. Nicolas is a minor work, but this performance is so wonderful that I'm including it anyway. Britten wrote it for performance by amateurs, so the music is not difficult, but a wonderful spirit of celebration and humour pervades the writing. And, at Naxos' prices, this is a bargain.

Holy Sonnets of John Donne, and other songs
Ian Bostridge (tenor), Graham Johnson (piano)
(Hyperion)

Britten wrote many songs for solo voice, and he was good at it. He is one of the few top-tier composers to have made extensive settings of English language poetry, setting poems by Tennyson, Blake, Jonson, Hopkins,  Keats, Auden, and others. This recording, featuring the wonderful voice of Ian Bostridge, has as its centerpiece Britten's settings of nine of John Donne's Holy Sonnets. They are tough, angular, uncompromising, and not to be forgotten.  The final song, Death be not Proud, is the finest.


Music of Arvo Pärt

Tabula Rasa, Fratres, and other works
Jarrett, Kremer, Schnittke
(ECM New)

This was the recording that introduced the music of Arvo Part to a wide audience in the West. Unlike most of the subsequent recordings, this one is entirely instrumental, containing two versions of the fine Fratres, a beautiful performance of his Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten, and, as the centerpiece, the wonderful Tabula Rasa for string orchestra, prepared piano, and two violins. All of the pieces are written in Part's unique 'tintinabulli' style, giving the music an enchanting, reverent sense of repose.


Arbos
Hilliard Ensemble
(ECM New)

The Hilliard Ensemble have probably done more than anyone else to bring the music of Arvo Part to life. It could hardly have better advocates, and it is hard to see how their recordings could be surpassed. This disc has two acts: the first consists of a number of short vocal pieces that capture the stark beauty of Part's writing, including his powerful setting of the De Profundis, all framed by two renditions of Arbos, a short instrumental piece. The second act consists of a single major work: the Stabat Mater. Many dozens of composers have set this text through the centuries, but none have more movingly captured its sorrowful majesty. It is a major achievement.


Kanon Pokajanen
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Kaljuste
(ECM New, 2CD)

If Arvo Part were to lay down his pen today, I think that Kanon Pokajanen would stand as his magnum opus. Lasting nearly 90 minutes in performance, this work for unaccompanied chorus sets the Canon of Repentence from the liturgy of the Orthodox Church (of which Part is a member). It is structured in a series of odes, and closes with a beautiful prayer. The music, by turns pleading, sorrowing, and praising, is uncompromisingly austere, highly formal, and everywhere immediate and involving. Part's countrymen, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, who are undoubtedly one of the world's finest ensembles, give the music everything they have. Listen for the unexpected, but unforgettable, high soprano in the closing Amens!


Music of Olivier Messiaen

More to come in this category.

Great Box Sets

Eton Choirbook
The Sixteen, Harry Christophers
(Coro, 5CD)

The Eton Choirbook is a 15th century collection of English sacred music. It is one of the few sources of English polyphony to have survived the destruction of church artifacts that occured during the English Reformation. That it has survived is a blessing, for this is among the most beautiful polyphony from the period. Works by composers like John Browne, Walter Lambe, and Richard Davy, who would otherwise have been entirely forgotten, are preserved in it. The English style sounds, to these ears, sweeter and more melodic than the music being written on the continent in that period. The performances by The Sixteen are outstanding.

Shostakovich - String Quartets 1-13
Borodin Quartet
(Chandos, 4CD)

Shostakovich wrote a terrific cycle of 15 string quartets. In my opinion they are his best music, and the best string quartet music since Beethoven. This box set contains only the first 13. I recommend it not because the last two are unimportant (on the contrary, they are superb), but because this set of recordings by the Russian Borodin Quartet, made in the late 1960s, are so outstanding. The sound they make isn't always pretty, but they do get inside this music in a way that others do not.

Messiaen - Complete Organ Music
Olivier Latry, organ
(Deutsche Grammophon, 6CD)

To a first approximation there has only ever been one composer for the organ, and that was J.S. Bach.  But if we are willing to relax the standards of excellence only a little, another emerges. The musical vision of Olivier Messiaen could hardly be more different than Bach's, but like Bach his organ music is full of beauty and strength. These recordings were made at the great cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, and the sonics are spectacular. This set isn't cheap, but it's worth every penny.


Recording Guides

Anyone exploring classical music is going to be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of it.  Not only are there hundreds of composers to hear, but in some cases there are hundreds of recordings of individual pieces. Where is one to start?  A guide can be a great help.  Here's a few recommendations.

The Rough Guide to Classical Music
Joe Staines and Duncan Clark, Eds.
(Rough Guides, 642 pp.)

The Rough Guide is a good place to begin.  It will give you a good idea of the sweep of musical history, and contains short biographies of all of the well-known composers.  It can also help you get started on a collection, recommending a small number of recordings for each of the featured composers.  I suppose that this could be all that some people need (but that would be a pity).

The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs
Ivan March, Edward Greenfield, and Robert Layton
(Penguin, 1588 pp.)

Once you've mastered the Rough Guide, you can graduate to the Penguin Guide.  The main difference is that this guide aims not so much to teach about classical music as to help the reader sift through the available recordings.  It assumes you know what work you're looking for, and simply gives a list of recordings (the list may range from one or two for obscure works to several dozen for core repertoire) along wth a short paragraph or so on each trying to sum up its qualities, for better or for worse. Of course, these assessments are necessarily subjective, but, with a few exceptions, I have found their judgment to be generally sound.

This kind of guide can be useful in two ways: as a pointer toward recordings of particular distinction (to which they give a 'rosette'), and as a warning about particularly poor recordings.  It's also a good way to learn what music particular composers wrote.  The really great thing about the Penguin Guide is the sheer scope of it: they cover a lot of ground!  I've spent many happy hours paging through mine, and have learned an enormous amount from it.  For several years I thought it was the most comprehensive guide around, but I was wrong...

Third Ear Classical Music
Alexander J. Morin, Ed.
(Backbeat, 1202 pp.)

I am in awe of this book.  It sometimes seems in life that, no matter how hard you work at something, there's always someone somewhere who knows more about it than you, is more devoted, more obsessive.  When it comes to classical music, I think all those people got together and wrote this book.  It's simply an amazing achievement.  I wouldn't venture to guess how many different recordings they discuss, or even how many compositions, but there are close to 600 composers listed in the table of contents: from Bach to Mozart to Wagner (like all guides), from Bax to Messiaen to Webern (like the Rough Guide), from Boyce to Medtner to Widor (like the Penguin Guide), but what about from Blomdahl to Magnard to Wolf-Ferrari? It's all here, in 1200 pages of small print.  A feast.

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