Mass for chorus, chamber orchestra, and soloists

Abstract

My primary objective in composing this piece of music was to create a modern musical work based heavily on music of the Renaissance. Representative pieces of music on which I have modeled my work include Byrd's Mass for Five Voices, Bruckner's Mass in E Minor, Vaughan Williams' Mass in G Minor, Poulenc's Mass in G, Kodàly's Missa Brevis, Stravinsky's Mass (1948), Walton's Missa Brevis, P̈̈ärt's Berliner Messe, and Bach's B Minor Mass. Many of the more recent works, the Bruckner, Vaughan Williams, and Kodàly's for instance, are rooted in musical practices of the Renaissance. The Kyrie is written in the traditional tripartite form. Each major section also contains three smaller micro sections. The Gloria is set to alternating sections of polyphony and homophony sung by the tutti chorus and soloists. The third movement, Sanctus, has an ABAB form. Each A section consists of a Soprano solo that encompasses the text of the Sanctus and Benedictus, except for the last line. The line "Hosanna in excelsis," which occurs at the end of both texts is set for all voices in an antiphonal style. Angus Dei features a presentation and two repetitions/variations of music on the text "Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: Miserere nobis," followed by a statement of the text "dona nobis pacem." "Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi" is always stated by a group of soloists, while the entire choir and a large contingent of instruments realize the remaining text.