Choral Music Suggestions


I'm interested in trying some well recorded choral music in SACD, CD or LP format. I listen to baroque and classical music but do not have any experience with choral works. I think I would prefer smaller scale works from the same periods (or even early music) rather than large scale more modern works. Can you help me get started with some suggestions?
dodgealum
Britten's Ceremony of Carols on Argo Lp is a wonderful piece and some of the solo work (with harp) is incredibly immediate, almost ghostly-real. Good, sometimes haunting tunes, too. Must have a really good tracking cart/arm for some of the high, forte passages towards the end!

I second Durufle's Requiem, probably Hyperion's Best/Corydon on CD....
Try the music of Hildegard Von Bingen: 11,000 Virgins by the Anonymous 4 (females) on Harmonia Mundi. She was a 12th Century abbess who was a poet and composer. The music is chants about the legend of St. Ursula and the Eleven Thousand Virgins. The singing is ethereal with a crystalline clarity.
For something really different try the Kodaly Girls Choir of Budapest recordings. A favorite is "Hungarian Songs" on Angel Records, the music of Zoltan Kodaly and Bela Bartok. Unusual music that is beautiful and at times very haunting.
Excellent! Thanks everyone. I'm generating a list and will keep tracking the thread and add as new suggestions are made. I really appreciate your collective contributions.