The Fredösphere

Okay, Terry, here's my list of must-have pieces:

Britten A Ceremony of Carols
Daugherty Jackie O
Durefle Requiem
Gorecki Miserere
Mancini Moon River
Messiaen Apparition de l'Eglise Eternelle
Nystedt O Crux
Poole Wymondham Chants (tracks 5-8)
Prokofiev Alexander Nevsky
Rachmaninoff Vespers
Ravel Daphnis et Chloe
Schnittke Choir Concerto
Tavener Lamentations and Praises

I think my list is a little less tied to the present than Terry's.   For example, it has been many months since I've listened to the Messiaen (although I think I'll pull it out soon, now that its on my mind).  On the other hand, the strong bias toward vocal music is more than general preference; I've been staying away from pure orchestral listening lately (like Sibelius #3 or Shostakovich #10) because it screws up my a cappella writing.  Getting a choir to produce orchestral colors is impossible when one is reluctant to use whips, so it's best if I don't have those sounds ringing in my head right now.