Interactive poll XXL-26 - the choir edition

Welcome to the next Interactive Poll. This time the theme is: Choir.

And what does that mean? Well: the song or piece you nominate must be either a choir piece, or the music must contain choir of some sorts. To make things easier, I define choir as the sound of three or more people singing together at the same time, so e.g. a pop or a rock song with vocal harmonies as a crucial part would also count. You can choose any genre you like. Prog artists are allowed, but please don't pick too well known artists.

The other rules are the usual ones: Nominate one song or piece, and once all the nominations are in, you should vote for three submissions other than your own. You can post more than one track, but please don't overdo it.

EDIT: You should have your nominations ready on Tuesday 12 October at latest, so the voting can open on Wednesday.

So let me start with my own nomination: "Wiigenlied" by the Danish composer Per Nørgård:

Ennio Morricone - Dies Irae (from Il Sorriso del Grande Tentatore)

I had some pieces that'd fit in here nicely already in these polls (Meredith Monk, Barbara Morgenstern). Let's see how much I have left. I think I had Wim Mertens once among my suggestions but he didn't eventually go into the poll. Some nice choir work in here. Let's see whether this is "Maximising the Audience".

Well, you have them, of course:

Mieskuoro Huutajat - Oulujoki:

(I'll be back...)

Phoenix made their first comeback in the early 90s with the ambitious SymPhoenix that had old songs re-worked with an orchestra and choirs (on a few songs) and a couple of new songs. Some of the re-worked songs are great, others were slaughtered  (predictable though IMO).

Now Therion is a symphonic metal band since the mid 90s. Two songs from them as well. 

 

Someone was bound to pick Mieskuoro Huutajat for this poll. I considered it myself, but I thought someone else would choose them. I love them.

Here is their take on "The Star Spangled Banner". Out of competition of course.

Ayreon is a project headed over by Arjan Lucassen, a multi-instrumentalist that has written a lot of concept/story albums that use various vocalists to act as different characters in his story.  One of my favorite albums from the project is "The Human Equation".  The track that I am posting uses several singers doing these character parts, but there are several parts in this track where many of them are singing together, so I think that qualifies for this poll.

Ayreon - "Day 2: Isolation"

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The next submission is from a project from Toronto called "Choir! Choir! Choir!"  I have always loved large ensembles of vocalists like this.  It always gives me chills to hear a group of people making music together, whether it is in choirs or orchestras.  It only goes to prove that music brings about unity among individuals.  For just a few minutes, people can come together, regardless of their backgrounds, and produce something beautiful and powerful.  This should give us all hope that we can work together bring unity among all of mankind when we have a singular purpose to create or re-create anything we want and in the process, bring peace and unity amongst ourselves.  

This is the project's tribute to David Bowie.  There is an introduction at the beginning, so if you want to skip past that and get right into the performance, skip up to 1:10 on the video.

Choir! Choir! Choir! - "Space Oddity"

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Finally, here is a choir piece from the amazing composer Krzysztof Penderecki (who sadly passed away in March of 2020).  

Krzysztof Penderecki - Agnus Dei (performed by Filharmonia Narodowa)

First up are the wonderful Mediaeval Baebes, a song from their latest release, "Memorare." 

Next, to break up the feeling between my first and third choices, is Jefferson Airplane's version of "Wooden Ships."  This is the one that stretches the theme a bit, but all of the vocalists are in on it.  I have always found the harmonized chorus on this just exquisite between the vocalists in this band.  Always gives me chills when Grace Slick's voice first appears.  

Lastly, the women's ensemble, Kitka, here performing "Kirilesa," in a live setting.  

George: Bulgarian TV Choir video doesn't play for me. Hope this is the same thing: