Theresa Stacy <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Does anyone else that' s a singer have different opinions based on
>whether you are singing a composer's work as opposed to listening to
>it? ....

A work that I really love singing I will also love listening to, because
listening will bring back the experience of what it is like to sing it.
There are many other works that I would rather sing than listen to.  An
example is Saint-Saens' Requiem; when I performed it recently I enjoyed
it moderately, but when I listened to it on a recording I found it
interminable.  There are other works which I would rather listen to than
sing, because I find singing them uncomfortable:  Beethoven's Ninth is the
example that comes to mind.

As for great composers of choral music, I'd certainly second Purcell -
I really enjoy those awkward intervals and jerky rhythms.  Has anyone
mentioned Walton and/or Tippett yet? I think Tippett in particular has
a rare feel for vocal writing.  (and I agree with whoever nominated the
transition to 'Steal Away' as a magic musical moment).  I've yet to see
much merit in Liszt's choral music, I'm afraid, and I prefer singing
Victoria's pieces to Palestrina's and Haydn's to Mozart's.

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