Artist	Song
Bobby McFerrin	Circlesong Six, 1996
The Rustavi Choir (Georgia)	Chakrulo (Table Song), 1980s
The Rustavi Choir (Georgia)	Kebadi (Sacred Chorale), 1980s
Ladysmith Black Mambazo(South America)	Igazi Lemihlatshelo, 1988
Sweet Honey in the Rock (US)	Amen
Blue Highway (US)	Wondrous Love (edited), 2003
Aldyn-ool Sevek (Tuva)	Demonstration of Kargyraa, 1984
Oleg Kuular (Tuva)	Collection of H÷÷mei Styles
H. Hafiz Kani Karaca (Turkey)	Baqara Surah II (Qu'ran Recitation)
HobbysSnger Appenzell und MSnnerchor "Alpstee" Brnlisau (Switzerland)	Dank em Herrgott, 1992
Choralschola of the Nideraltaichre Scholaren (Gregorian Chant)	Regem regum Dominum-Venite exsultemus
Le mystFre des voix bulgares/The Bulgarian State Television Female Vocal Choir	Houbava Milka (Beautiful Milka), 1993
Le mystFre des voix bulgares/The Bulgarian State Television Female Vocal Choir	Zhalba Za Lazar (Lament for St. Lazarus), 1993
Tibetan Buddhism/Tantras of Gynt÷	Sangwa Dnpa (edited), 1972
Chelyabinsk Chamber Choir (Russia)	The Song of Cherub
Bobby McFerrin	The 23rd Psalm, 1990

Comment:

All performances on this CD are a cappella. Most of them are sacred music, with roots in Christianity, Buddhism and Islam (unfortunately I didn't have access to any sacred choral music representing Judaism, Hinduism, or other religions).

After I was halfway through selecting the tracks for this mix, I came across Muzag's Global Choral: Sacred & Profane Choral Music From Around The World from 2003--a great-looking mix. Fortunately there is not much overlapping; only two artists and none of the selections.

Some track notes:

1) Improvisations by Bobby McFerrin over vocal textures created by a choir of twelve voices.

2) A table song, and 3) a sacred chorale: "The Rustavi Ensemble is the best known of a considerable number of groups currently performing Georgian music. (...) The three-voice polyphony characteristic of much folk an liturgical music in present day Georgia existed by the beginning of the 12th century, and is probably much older. (Polyphony: music in which two or more related melodic lines move to some extent independently.) (...) To ears seasoned by the sounds of European music, Georgian polyphonic singing retains traces of archaism. Angular melodic leaps and parallel consonances call to mind the style of the medieval French motet and mass." (Liner notes, Georgian Voices by The Rustavi Choir).

6) The title track of contemporary bluegrass supergroup Blue Highway's gospel album Wondrous Love . I edited out a 30-second mandolin intro to keep the whole mix all a cappella.

7) An example of Tuvan throat-singing: "Sevek is a four-voiced choir of one, singing an octave below the fundamental, the fundamental itself (very subtle), a fifth above that, and the melody, made entirely of overtones." (Liner notes, Deep in the Heart of Tuva)

8) "Although the true genesis of throat-singing as practiced today is obscure, Tuvan pastoral music is intimately connected to an ancient tradition of animism, the belief that natural objects and phenomena have souls or are inhabited by spirits." (From the Internet)

10) A religious yodel song from Switzerland; a lesser-known side of Alpine yodeling. In the seventies some composers started to write entire yodel masses, a collection of about 5 songs (prayers put to melody) with yodel choruses. These masses are performed in some churches at religious holidays, weddings, or other special occasions.

12) and 13): Two songs from the follow-up album of the Bulgarian State Television Female Vocal Choir after their successful Le mystère des voix bulgares collections. The first is a Christmas carol, and the second a song for St. Lazar's Day, a health and fertility holiday occurring the Saturday before Palm Sunday.

14) A 14-minute excerpt from a 41-minute recording of 40 lamas and monks chanting part of a Buddhist ritual which lasts seven and a half hours in its entirety. "In Gyütö's extraordinary chanting style, which has been called "one-voice chording," each participant produces a chord, which seems to consist of a low bass note and of another note, two octaves and a third higher. However, the structure of the sound is in fact more complex (…). It took [the monks] at least three years to learn this technique." (Liner notes, Tibetan Buddhism-Tantras of Gyütö)

15) I had one of my deepest musical experiences when I heard a choir perform Russian choral music in an Orthodox church in Vladimir, not far from Moscow, some 10 years ago. The harmonies of Russian Orthodox music are simply otherworldly and have the ability to deeply touch one's soul. I bought this CD in Moscow, and I don't think it's available outside of Russia. My favorite track on this mix.

16) Bobby McFerrin's tribute to his mother: The 23rd Psalm, with altered pronouns.

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