William Byrd - Ave verum corpus

he is my great great great great great great grandfather

sublime polyphonic sacred music

This is extraordinary and in response to JWEST456 in fact in chant there are no women's parts. The music was written for men and boys as women were excluded from singing sacred music at this time.

There is a very clear difference in the tone and quality of a boys unbroken voice and that of a woman and as you say this should be taken into consideration at all times.

I LOVE this song! I sang it in choir a couple years ago, and it was one of my favorite pieces by far

hear hear...

Stunning!  Love this piece.

Amazing, i've sung this a few times and it's a brilliant. I love finding clips like these, good quality non-concert choir stuff.

Thanks for posting.

i love listening to this contemplative music in the early early morning while working.... few things are more ethereal and exquisite...

Absolutely gorgeous! I have heard people sing this wonderful piece before with WAY too much vibrato absolutely unable to capture the non-pretentious, simple quality of it. And the fact that the women's parts were traditionally sung by boys should be ALWAYS be considered when singing repertory from this time period.

Well done! :)

what a fantastic ending at 3:39