This would be much easier if that woman would shut up while I’m trying to listen to the excerpt!
It sounds like something from the Mass in C Minor, but I can’t find which bit. At least I’m getting some quality Mozart-listening done. 
After a little piracy, Wikipedia and Google, I have a strong hunch that it may be one of Vivaldi’s two Credos (RV 591 and 592). Can someone check?
Actually, screw that. Back to square one we go.
im dyinnnnnnng to know!!!
I looked up the psalms from about 75% of the music in Hyperion Records’ Vivaldi Sacred Music discs 1-10 (I don’t know how complete those discs are but it’s the best list I’ve found so far) and all I can say at this point is that it doesn’t look like it is Vivaldi. I also asked someone much more knowledgeable than I am and he said it sounds like Neo-Baroque to which all I can say is I fucking hope not. Anyway unless I find the patience and inclination to look up the words to the other 25% which don’t appear to be from psalms I think I am finished here. I hope someone else can find the answer.
Personally I reckon it’s a modern piece designed to sound a lot like generic dramatic classical music - i.e. a movie soundtrack or royalty-free clip.
I’ve heard this on commercials before…there was a Rogers cable one up here with it so I don’t think they would use the same “neo-baroque” track…It really seems like Mozart…I wish we could figure this out 
pinkfreud, perhaps you could contact Christopher Hale. He is the director (and I think a producer of this documentary as well). I would do it myself, but have not seen the documentary, and wouldn’t be able to describe the particular segment in question.
p.s. I asked around my music department, and nobody could make a better guess than Vivaldi or pseudo-Vivaldi. So we’re stumped too, and curious about the identity of this piece! (And we’re also getting flashbacks to listening exams in music class!)
I agree with this assessment. The counterpoint, such as it is, is really poor. Stylistically, it’s odd: parts of it sound more Classical, others more Baroque.
It’s either a pastiche modern piece or a very mediocre composer from some early Classical period. I find the former to be far more likely.
I can’t wait to find out the real source i think it sounds great.
Hi there. I’m the person who originally posted the link of the clip at http://www.essentially.net/what-is-this.mp3.
So far, nearly 700 people have listened to the clip, but nobody’s been able to figure out what it is. I’ve asked people on Google Answers, various Usenet newsgroups, AllExperts.com, and a few less formal venues – all with no luck. I even emailed Chris Hale, the director of the BBC program that the clip comes from; he’s a very nice guy and had interesting information about the documentary, but his records don’t go back far enough for him to be able to provide an answer either.
Percussion, maybe you could ask Rogers Cable if they have any leads? Do you have any other information about the commercial in which you heard it?
At any rate, the piece originally sounded to me like genuine late baroque as well, but I’m beginning to think that with this many people having looked at it, it can’t be especially well known and may be a modern imitation. I’m personally familiar with much of Vivaldi’s sacred music, and though I agree that parts of it are reminiscent of Vivaldi, I don’t believe it’s one of his works. I think it reminds us of Vivaldi largely because part of the strings mirror his famous “Summer” allegro movement in “The Four Seasons,” not because the style is typical of Vivaldi’s work as a whole. Nonetheless, I agree that one of his Credos – and also his Lauda Jerusalem (RV 609), which is a terrific piece – sound similar too. I also agree that another part of the strings is reminiscent of Mozart’s famous requiem – the one that featured so prominently in Amadeus. But I can’t find the piece in Mozart’s work either.
This has been quite an effort, so I’d hate to give up!
I suspect that the piece is of modern origin in a baroque style. I haven’t looked, but surely there must be some baroque/classical/composer forums that could be tapped.
I wondered if it was the guy who wrote the DeBeers commercial music but I didn’t find any that snippets that sounded the same.
A couple of suggestions:
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Try Musipedia. I found it by Googling, and I have no idea if it’ll be helpful or not.
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Does anyone recall the name of that music professor in Canada who’s got an encyclopedic knowledge of classical music? The one who can identify a piece just by looking at the (vinyl) record album, judging from its length and percussiveness? Someone look that guy up; I can’t seem to find him via Google.
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I’ll send the link to my Dad and uncle, both of whom are lifelong classical music nuts.
That’s all I got.
Jackelope, you’re thinking of Arthur Lintgen