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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_(music)
Mass (music)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Mass (Latin: Missa), a form of sacred musical composition, is a choral composition that sets the
invariable portions of the Eucharistic liturgy (principally that of the Catholic Church, the Anglican
Communion, and Lutheranism) to music. Most Masses are settings of the liturgy in Latin, the liturgical
sacred language of the Catholic Church's Roman liturgy, but there are a significant number written in the
languages of non-Catholic countries where vernacular worship has long been the norm. For example,
there are many Masses (often called "Communion Services") written in English for the Church of
England. Musical Masses take their name from the Catholic liturgy called "the Mass" as well.
Masses can be a cappella, that is, without an independent accompaniment, or they can be accompanied
by instrumental obbligatos up to and including a full orchestra. Many Masses, especially later ones,
were never intended to be performed during the celebration of an actual mass.
Contents
1 Form of the Mass
1.1 Ordinarium
1.1.1 I. Kyrie
1.1.2 II. Gloria
1.1.3 III. Credo
1.1.4 IV. Sanctus and Benedictus
1.1.5 V. Agnus Dei
1.2 Short and solemn masses
1.2.1 Missa brevis
1.2.2 Missa solemnis
1.2.3 Missa brevis et solemnis
1.2.4 Other types of Masses with less than five of the usual parts of the ordinarium
1.3 Other sections
1.3.1 Proprium (Tridentine Mass)
1.3.2 Other denominations
2 Musical settings
2.1 Middle Ages
2.2 Renaissance
2.3 Baroque through Romantic (Catholic and Lutheran traditions)
2.3.1 Major works
2.4 20th and 21st century
2.4.1 Musical reforms of Pius X
2.4.2 Major works
2.5 Masses written for the Anglican liturgy
3 See also
4 References
5 Notes
6 External links
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Proprium
Introit
Kyrie
Gloria
Gradual with Hallelujah or Tract (Sequence)
Credo
Offertory
Sanctus, including Benedictus and Hosanna
Agnus Dei
Communion
Ite, missa est or Benedicamus
Ordinarium
A Missa tota ("full Mass") consists of a musical setting of the five sections of the ordinarium as listed
below.
I. Kyrie
In the Tridentine Mass, the Kyrie is the first sung prayer of the
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Mass ordinary. It is usually (but not always) part of any musical
A Gregorian chant Kyrie eleison
setting of the Mass. Kyrie movements often have an ternary
(ABA) musical structure that reflects the symmetrical structure
of the text. Musical settings exist in styles ranging from Gregorian chant to Folk.
Of 226 catalogued Gregorian chant melodies, 30 appear in the Liber Usualis. In what are presumed to be
the oldest versions, the same melody is repeated for the first eight iterations, and a variation used on the
final line (that is, formally, aaa aaa aaa'). These repeats are notated by the Roman numerals "iij" (for
three times) or "ij" (for twice). The Kyrie for the Requiem Mass in the Liber Usualis has this form. Later
Kyries have more elaborate patterns, such as aaa bbb aaa', aaa bbb ccc', or aba cdc efe'. Note that the
final line is nearly always modified somewhat; in some cases this may be because it leads into the Gloria
better. In forms both with and without literal repeats, most Kyries in the Liber Usualis have a closing
phrase used in nearly all of the lines of the text. This in fact parallels the text, as each line ends with the
same word "eleison".
Because of the brevity of the text, Kyries were often very melismatic. This encouraged later composers
to make tropes out of them, either by adding words to the melisma (as how a sequence is often
considered), or extending the melisma. In fact, because of the late date of most Kyries, it is not always
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clear whether a particular Kyrie melody or the apparently troped text came first; it could just as easily be
the case that a syllabic song was converted into a melisma for a Kyrie verse. In some cases, verses
interpolate Latin text between each "Kyrie" (or "Christe") and "eleison".
As the Kyrie is the first item in settings of the mass ordinary and
the second in the requiem mass (the only mass proper set
regularly over the centuries), nearly all of the thousands of
composers over the centuries who have set the ordinaries of the
mass to music have included a Kyrie movement.
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composers produced more embellished settings of the Sanctus text, the music often would go on so long
that it would run into the consecration of the bread and wine. This was considered the most important
part of the Mass, so composers began to stop the Sanctus halfway through to allow this to happen, and
then continue it after the consecration is finished. This practice was forbidden for a period in the 20th
century.
V. Agnus Dei
The Agnus Dei is a setting of the "Lamb of God" litany, containing the responses miserere nobis (have
mercy upon us), repeated twice, and dona nobis pacem (grant us peace) once at the end.
In a Requiem Mass, the words "miserere nobis" are replaced by "dona eis requiem" (grant them rest),
while "dona nobis pacem" is replaced by "dona eis requiem sempiternam" (grant them eternal rest).
Our church music is very different from that of Italy, since a Mass with the whole Kyrie, the
Gloria, the Credo, the Epistle sonata, the Offertory or motet, the Sanctus and the Agnus Dei
must not last longer than three quarters of an hour. This applies even to the most Solemn
Mass spoken by the Archbishop himself. Special study is required for this kind of
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Other sections
The sixth and last part of the Ordinarium (either Ite, missa est, or, in masses without Gloria,
Benedicamus Domino) is usually not set as part of a Mass composition. In a Tridentine Mass that part of
the Ordinarium is usually spoken, or sung to the Gregorian melody provided in the Roman Missal,
although early polyphonic settings for the "Deo gratias" response (e.g. in Guillaume de Machaut's Messe
de Nostre Dame) and for the Benedicamus Domino (e.g. in Magnus Liber Organi) are extant.
The Proper of the Mass is usually not set to music in a Mass itself, except in the case of a Requiem
Mass, but may be the subject of motets or other musical compositions. Some Mass compositions, like
for instance Rossini's Petite messe solennelle, do however contain parts outside the Ordinarium. Some
Mass compositions even consist entirely of such additions: Schubert's Deutsche Messe, a set of eight
hymns with epilogue,[4] is an example of such a mass.
Also purely instrumental compositions can be part of a mass celebration, e.g. a Sonata da chiesa,
sometimes with a liturgical function, like Mozart's Epistle Sonatas.
Proprium (Tridentine Mass)
In a liturgical Mass, there are other sections that may be sung, often in Gregorian chant. These sections,
the "Proper" of the Mass, change with the day and season according to the Church calendar, or according
to the special circumstances of the Mass. The sections of the Proper of the Mass include the Introit,
Gradual, Alleluia or Tract (depending on the time of year), Offertory and Communion.
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Ordinarium and proprium sections of a specific liturgical mass are not typically set to music together in
the same composition. The one major exception to this rule is the mass for the dead, or requiem.
Other denominations
Following the distribution of the Sacrament, it is customary in most Lutheran churches to sing the Nunc
Dimittis.
Musical settings
Middle Ages
The earliest musical settings of the Mass are Gregorian chant. The different portions of the Ordinary
came into the liturgy at different times, with the Kyrie probably being first (perhaps as early as the 7th
century) and the Credo being last (it did not become part of the Roman mass until 1014).[5]
In the early 14th century, composers began writing polyphonic versions of the sections of the Ordinary.
The reason for this surge in interest is not known, but it has been suggested that there was a shortage of
new music since composers were increasingly attracted to secular music, and overall interest in writing
sacred music had entered a period of decline.[6] The non-changing part of the mass, the Ordinary, then
would have music which was available for performance all the time.
Two manuscripts of the 14th century, the Ivrea Codex and the Apt Codex, are the primary sources for
polyphonic settings of the Ordinary. Stylistically these settings are similar to both motets and secular
music of the time, with a three-voice texture dominated by the highest part. Most of this music was
written or assembled at the papal court at Avignon.
Several anonymous complete masses from the 14th century survive, including the Tournai Mass;
however, discrepancies in style indicate that the movements of these masses were written by several
composers and later compiled by scribes into a single set. The first complete Mass we know of whose
composer can be identified was the Messe de Nostre Dame (Mass of Our Lady) by Guillaume de
Machaut in the 14th century.
Renaissance
Main articles: Cyclic Mass or Cantus firmus Mass, Paraphrase Mass, Parody Mass
The musical setting of the Ordinary of the Mass was the principal large-scale form of the Renaissance.
The earliest complete settings date from the 14th century, with the most famous example being the
Messe de Nostre Dame of Guillaume de Machaut. Individual movements of the Mass, and especially
pairs of movements (such as Gloria-Credo pairs, or Sanctus-Agnus pairs), were commonly composed
during the 14th and early 15th centuries. Complete Masses by a single composer were the norm by the
middle of the 15th century, and the form of the Mass, with the possibilities for large-scale structure
inherent in its multiple movement format, was the main focus of composers within the area of sacred
music; it was not to be eclipsed until the motet and related forms became more popular in the first
decades of the 16th century.
Most 15th-century Masses were based on a cantus firmus, usually from a Gregorian chant, and most
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commonly put in the tenor voice. The cantus firmus sometimes appeared simultaneously in other voices,
using a variety of contrapuntal techniques. Later in the century, composers such as Guillaume Dufay,
Johannes Ockeghem, and Jacob Obrecht, used secular tunes for cantus firmi. This practice was accepted
with little controversy until prohibited by the Council of Trent in 1562. In particular, the song L'homme
arm has a long history with composers; more than 40 separate Mass settings exist.
Other techniques for organizing the cyclic Mass evolved by the beginning of the 16th century, including
the paraphrase technique, in which the cantus firmus was elaborated and ornamented, and the parody
technique, in which several voices of a polyphonic source, not just one, were incorporated into the
texture of the Mass. Paraphrase and parody supplanted cantus-firmus as the techniques of choice in the
16th century: Palestrina alone wrote 51 parody masses.
Yet another technique used to organize the multiple movements of a Mass was canon. The earliest
Masses based entirely on canon are Johannes Ockeghem's Missa prolationum, in which each movement
is a prolation canon on a freely-composed tune, and the Missa L'homme arm of Guillaume Faugues,
which is also entirely canonic but also uses the famous tune L'homme arm throughout. Pierre de La Rue
wrote four separate canonic masses based on plainchant, and one of Josquin des Prez's mature Masses,
the Missa Ad fugam, is entirely canonic and free of borrowed material.[7]
The Missa Sine nomine, literally "Mass without a name", refers to a Mass written on freely composed
material. Sometimes these Masses were named for other things, such as Palestrina's famous Missa
Papae Marcelli, the Mass of Pope Marcellus, and many times they were canonic Masses, as in Josquin's
Missa Sine nomine.
Many famous and influential masses were composed by Josquin des Prez, the single most influential
composer of the middle Renaissance. At the end of the 16th century, prominent representatives of a
cappella choral counterpoint included the Englishman William Byrd, the Castilian Toms Luis de
Victoria and the Roman Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, whose Mass for Pope Marcellus is sometimes
credited with saving polyphony from the censure of the Council of Trent. By the time of Palestrina,
however, most composers outside of Rome were using other forms for their primary creative outlet for
expression in the realm of sacred music, principally the motet and the madrigale spirituale; composers
such as the members of the Venetian School preferred the possibilities inherent in the new forms. Other
composers, such as Orlande de Lassus, working in Munich and comfortably distant from the
conservative influence of the Council of Trent, continued to write Parody Masses on secular songs.
Monteverdi composed Masses in stile antico, the Missa in illo tempore was published in 1610, one
Messa a 4 da cappella in 1641 as part of Selva morale e spirituale along with single movements of the
Mass in stile concertato, another Messa a 4 da cappella was published after his death, in 1650.
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setting. Composers like Fux in the 18th century continued to cultivate the stile antico mass, which was
suitable for use on weekdays and at times when orchestral masses were not practical or appropriate, and
in 19th-century Germany the Cecilian movement kept the tradition alive. The Italian style cultivated
orchestral masses including soloists, chorus and obbligato instruments, spread to the German-speaking
Catholic countries north of the Alps, and used instruments for color and created dialogues between solo
voices and chorus that was to become characteristic of the 18th-century Viennese style. The so-called
"Neapolitan" or "cantata" mass style also had much influence on 18th-century mass composition with its
short sections set as self-contained solo arias and choruses in a variety of styles.[9]
The 18th-century Viennese mass combines operatic elements from the cantata mass with a trend in the
symphony and concerto to organize choral movements. The large scale masses of the first half of the
century still have Glorias and Credos divided into many movements, unlike smaller masses for ordinary
churches. Many of Mozart's masses are in missa brevis form, as are some of Haydn's early ones. Later
masses, especially of Haydn, are of symphonic structure, with long sections divided into fewer
movements, organized like a symphony, with soloists used as an ensemble rather than as individuals.
The distinction between concert masses and those intended for liturgical use also came into play as the
19th century progressed.[9]
Major works
After the Renaissance, the mass tended not to be the central genre for any one composer, yet some of the
most famous of all musical works of the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods are masses. Many of
the most famous of the great masses of the Romantic era were Requiem masses.
Among the Masses written for the Ordinary of the Mass are:
Messa Concertata by Cavalli (1656)
Missa Scala Aretina by Francesc Valls (Barcelona, 1702)
Mass in B minor (Flash (http://oregonbachfestival.com/digitalbach/cuepoints/)) and four Missae
by Bach
"High Masses" by Czech Baroque composer Jan Dismas Zelenka
Great Mass in C minor and 18 others by Mozart (1782)
Requiem Mass in D Minor by Mozart
12 masses of Joseph Haydn, including Nelson Mass and Mass in Time of War
Mass in C major and Missa Solemnis in D Major by Beethoven
Mass in G Major and 5 others by Schubert
Missa Choralis and Hungarian Coronation Mass by Liszt
Mass in D Minor, Mass in E Minor and Mass in F Minor by Bruckner
St. Cecilia Mass and 13 others by Gounod
Messa by Puccini
Petite messe solennelle (1863) by Gioachino Rossini
Mass in D minor, op. 10 (1866) by John Knowles Paine
Requiem by Gabriel Faur
Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi
Requiem in B-flat minor (1890) by Antonn Dvok
Mass in D major, Op. 86 (1887) by Antonn Dvok
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By the end of the 19th century, composers were combining modern elements with the characteristics of
Renaissance polyphony and plainchant, which continued to influence 20th-century composers, possibly
fueled by the Motu proprio Ta le sollecitudini (1903) of Pope Pius X. The revival of choral celebration
of Holy Communion in the Anglican Church in the late 19th century marked the beginning several
liturgical settings of Mass texts in English, particularly for choir and organ.[10] The movement for
liturgical reform has resulted in revised forms of the Mass, making it more functional by using a variety
of accessible styles, popular or ethnic, and using new methods such as refrain and response to encourage
congregational involvement.[10] Nevertheless, the mass in its musical incarnation continues to thrive
beyond the walls of the church, as is evident in many of the 21st-century masses listed here which were
composed for concert performance rather than in service of the Roman Rite.
Musical reforms of Pius X
Pope St. Pius X initiated many regulations reforming the liturgical music of the Mass in the early 20th
century. He felt that some of the Masses composed by the famous post-Renaissance composers were too
long and often more appropriate for a theatrical rather than a church setting. He advocated primarily
Gregorian plainchant and polyphony. He was primarily influenced by the work of the Abbey of
Solesmes. Some of the rules he put forth include the following:
That any Mass be composed in an integrated fashion, not by assembling different compositions for
different parts
That all percussive instruments should be forbidden
That ideally the choir should be all male
That the congregation itself should ideally be trained to sing the various modes of Gregorian chant
along with the choir.
These regulations carry little if any weight today, especially after the changes of the Second Vatican
Council. Quite recently, Pope Benedict XVI has encouraged a return to chant as the primary music of the
liturgy, as this is explicitly mentioned in the documents of the Second Vatican Council, specifically
Sacrosanctum Concilium 116.[11]
Major works
20th century
In the 20th century, composers continued to write masses, in an even wider diversity of style, form and
function than before.
Requiem Mass by Herbert Howells
Requiem by Maurice Durufl
Mass in G by Francis Poulenc
Messe Solennelle by Jean Langlais
Glagolitic Mass (1926) by Leo Janek
Mass in G minor by Ralph Vaughan Williams
Mass by Igor Stravinsky
Mass by Leonard Bernstein
War Requiem by Benjamin Britten
Requiem, for soprano and mezzo-soprano solo, mixed chorus and orchestra (196365) by Gyrgy
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Ligeti
Requiem by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Mass in F Minor by The Electric Prunes
Mass by David Maslanka
Berliner Messe and Missa Syllabica by Arvo Prt
Mass by Frank Martin
A Symphonic Mass by George Lloyd
Missa Laudate Pueri by Bertold Hummel [1] (http://www.bertoldhummel.de/english
/commentaries/opus_98B.html)
Mass of the Children, Requiem, and Gloria by John Rutter
Mass To Hope by Dave Brubeck
Misa Criolla by Ariel Ramrez
Misa by Rodrigo Prats
New Plainsong Mass by David Hurd
Mass in Honor of St. Cecilia by Lou Harrison
African Sanctus by David Fanshawe
Polish Requiem by Krzysztof Penderecki
Missa Luba by Guido Haazen
Missa supra Parsifal (1985) by Dimitri Aguero
21st century
Missa Latina: pro Pace by Roberto Sierra
Missa pro Pace (Mass for Peace) by Kentaro Sato
The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace by Karl Jenkins
Son of God Mass by James Whitbourn
Missa Carolae (Mass from Christmas Carols) by James Whitbourn
Bright Mass with Canons by Nico Muhly
Misa Flamenca by Paco Pea
Requiem by Christopher Rouse
Mass by James MacMillan
Missa Brevis by Douglas Knehans
Missa Gongso, for choir and gamelan, by Neil Sorrell
Messe brve: "Acclamez le Seigneur!", in French for choir and organ ( 2011) by Jean Huot;[12]
Messe de la Misricorde divine, in French for choir and organ (2015) by Jean Huot;[13]
Missa Papae Francisci (2015) by Ennio Morricone [14]
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With reforms in the Anglican liturgy, the movements are now usually sung in the same order that they
are in the Roman Catholic rite, leading, according to some, to the musical integrity of the settings being
somewhat compromised. Choral settings of the Creed, the most substantial movement, are rarely
performed in Anglican cathedrals now.
Well known Anglican settings of the Mass, which may be found in the repertoire of many English
cathedrals are:
Darke in F
Darke in E
Darke in A minor
Ireland in C
Stanford in C & F
Stanford in B flat
Stanford in A
Sumsion in F
Oldroyd, Mass of the Quiet Hour
Jackson in G
Howells, Collegium Regale
Leighton in D
Noble in B minor
Harwood in A flat
Wood in the Phrygian mode
See also
Alternatim
References
Gustave Reese, Music in the Renaissance. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954. ISBN
0-393-09530-4
Harold Gleason and Warren Becker, Music in the Middle Ages and Renaissance (Music Literature
Outlines Series I). Bloomington, Indiana. Frangipani Press, 1986. ISBN 0-89917-034-X
Lewis Lockwood, "Mass" The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie.
20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. ISBN 1-56159-174-2
The New Harvard Dictionary of Music, ed. Don Randel. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard
University Press, 1986. ISBN 0-674-61525-5
M. Jennifer Bloxham, "Masses on Polyphonic Songs", in Robert Scherr, ed., The Josquin
Companion Oxford University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-19-816335-5
http://classicalmusic.about.com/od/theordinaryofthemass/f/gloria.htm
Dennis Arnold, John Harper, "Mass 1600-2000" Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online.
Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Music of the Mass". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York:
Robert Appleton Company.
Roche, Elizabeth and Alex Lingas. "Mass" The Oxford Companion to Music. Ed. Alison Latham.
Oxford Music Online.
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Notes
1. Eisen, Cliff; Keefe, Simon, eds. (2006). The Cambridge Mozart Encyclopedia. pp.271274.
2. Walter Senn, NMA Series I: Geistliche Gesangwerke, Group I (Masses and Requiem), Division I: Masses,
Volume 2, Preface, pp. VIII-IX (http://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/nma/nma_cont.php?vsep=3&gen=&l=1&
p1=-25) 1975.
3. La Petite Messe Solennelle de Rossini (http://www.lepetitjournal.net/011016-148853-La-Petite-MesseSolennelle-de-Rossini.html_887) in Le petit journal, 10 April 2014
4. Brian Newbould. Schubert: The Music and the Man, pp. 284-285. (https://books.google.com/books?id=Faikq3F8VYC&pg=PA285&dq=%22set+of+eight+hymns+with+epilogue%22&hl=nl&
sa=X&ei=ogl6VMqkNYztaPzlgegF&ved=0CBwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&
q=%22set%20of%20eight%20hymns%20with%20epilogue%22&f=false) University of California Press,
1999. ISBN 0520219570 ISBN 9780520219571
5. Harvard Dictionary of Music, p. 472.
6. Lockwood, "Mass", Grove (1980)
7. Bloxham, p. 196
8. Benjamin van Wye, Review of Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Messe pour le Port-Royal, in Journal of
Seventeenth-Century Music 1999 (http://sscm-jscm.press.illinois.edu/v5/no1/vanwye.html)
9. Roche, Elizabeth and Alex Lingas. "Mass" The Oxford Companion to Music. Ed. Alison Latham. Oxford
Music Online.
10. McKinnon, James W. et al. Mass. Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online.
11. Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium (http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils
/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19631204_sacrosanctum-concilium_en.html#116)
12. http://www.diosher.org/file/Ens_AVRIL.pdf
13. http://www.diosher.org/file/pdf/ensemble/Web_Ensemble_Vol_46_no_1_janv._2015
14. http://www.rai5.rai.it/articoli/missa-papae-francisci-morricone/30466/default.aspx
External links
Johann Sebastian Bach's Mass in B Minor
(http://oregonbachfestival.com/digitalbach/bminor/)
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