In my previous post here, I included a beautiful piece of music by Ola Gjeilo from the Sunrise Mass.
A friend e. mailed me to say they enjoyed it and so as a bonus here's the whole Mass in Four Parts. The text is the accompanying description from the Vimeo site.
If you experience problems with buffering on these, try clicking on the text link directly below each video which takes you to the Vimeo site.
Performed by The Chancel Choir; Festival Orchestra; Scott Dean, Director.
Part 1. The Spheres. Kyrie.
"The Kyrie is in Greek and may be the oldest text of the Mass. It is a simple yet profound three-part prayer for mercy that addresses the Father ("Lord, have mercy"), the Son ("Christ, have mercy") and the Spirit ("Lord have mercy"). Gjeilo creates aural imagery in the music he writes. In the case of the Kyrie, Gjeilo named it The Spheres. That title is represented in the way he evokes an atmosphere that sounds like "floating in space, in deep silence, between stars and planets." This double-chorus movement begins the Mass as a beautiful and sacred meditation: a spiritual and contemplative journey beginning in the heavens.
Part 2 Sunrise Gloria
Can we have a Gloria in Lent ??- Ver Sacrum, Sacred Spring /Bright Sadness and all that...
The Gloria is a song of praise that responds to God's love and forgiveness of sin. From the very beginning of this movement high strings on a minimalistic wavering accompaniment set the scene for the angelic hymn first sung at Jesus' birth, Gloria in excelsis Deo ("Glory be to God in the highest"). Gjeilo thinks of this music as a symphonic, metaphorical sunrise. It is followed by joyful acclamations of praise and majestic invocations to the Father, before returning to the ethereal music of the Sunrise to accompany a doxology (a song of praise to the Trinity). The movement concludes with a rich yet sombre Amen section.
Part 3 The City: Credo.
The Credo is a setting of the Nicene Creed. Gjeilo says that this text 'is the most powerful and assured text in the mass. 'I believe' is a strong statement." The movement begins with stacatti and accented sixteenth notes in a driven line, suggesting the bustle and activity of people in a large city. It is in such a setting where people, by nature of their actions, proclaim their faith.
Part 4 : Identity and the Ground (Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei)
The two last movements, Identity and The Ground, work through elements of resolution. While there are technically two movements after The City, Gjeilo connects them as a single movement, even though they are separated textually.
In the Sanctus, Gjeilo returns to the exact music of Kyrie-The Spheres. The only differences are the text and the use of a delicate, warm-colored violin solo that floats above the choral line. According to Gjeilo, the solo violin symbolizes the individual and the emer¬gence of a conscious self in the midst of the heavenly realm; thus this movement is called Identity. Gjeilo sets out to compose a work that is evocative and ultimately uplifting. The Mass begins in the stars (Kyrie); in the Sanctus, it circles back to the same material to symbolize the individual. It is as if it looks towards the stars, then mirrors what it sees, becoming aware of itself while connecting to its Creator.
Gjeilo draws from tradition, and in honoring J.S. Bach he culminates the Mass with what he labels the "Chorale." The Ground is different from any other part of the Sunrise Mass. Gjeilo defines it with the terms "resolution," and "release". It is also the point at which one feels that one has arrived and is finally "grounded." No longer is the music floating in the spheres, rising with the sun, bustling in the city, or discovering the self and its origins. It now depicts being one with humanity, the Earth and its Creator; herein lies a sense of awareness of everything grounded and real. To bring the work to a close, he returns to the music from the Amen section of the Gloria for the final prayer for peace {Dona nobis pacem) and ends with an ascending cadence in E-flat major, hopeful and transformative; a complete resolution to the journey.
A friend e. mailed me to say they enjoyed it and so as a bonus here's the whole Mass in Four Parts. The text is the accompanying description from the Vimeo site.
If you experience problems with buffering on these, try clicking on the text link directly below each video which takes you to the Vimeo site.
Performed by The Chancel Choir; Festival Orchestra; Scott Dean, Director.
Enjoy !!
Part 1. The Spheres. Kyrie.
"The Kyrie is in Greek and may be the oldest text of the Mass. It is a simple yet profound three-part prayer for mercy that addresses the Father ("Lord, have mercy"), the Son ("Christ, have mercy") and the Spirit ("Lord have mercy"). Gjeilo creates aural imagery in the music he writes. In the case of the Kyrie, Gjeilo named it The Spheres. That title is represented in the way he evokes an atmosphere that sounds like "floating in space, in deep silence, between stars and planets." This double-chorus movement begins the Mass as a beautiful and sacred meditation: a spiritual and contemplative journey beginning in the heavens.
Part 2 Sunrise Gloria
Can we have a Gloria in Lent ??- Ver Sacrum, Sacred Spring /Bright Sadness and all that...
The Gloria is a song of praise that responds to God's love and forgiveness of sin. From the very beginning of this movement high strings on a minimalistic wavering accompaniment set the scene for the angelic hymn first sung at Jesus' birth, Gloria in excelsis Deo ("Glory be to God in the highest"). Gjeilo thinks of this music as a symphonic, metaphorical sunrise. It is followed by joyful acclamations of praise and majestic invocations to the Father, before returning to the ethereal music of the Sunrise to accompany a doxology (a song of praise to the Trinity). The movement concludes with a rich yet sombre Amen section.
Part 3 The City: Credo.
The Credo is a setting of the Nicene Creed. Gjeilo says that this text 'is the most powerful and assured text in the mass. 'I believe' is a strong statement." The movement begins with stacatti and accented sixteenth notes in a driven line, suggesting the bustle and activity of people in a large city. It is in such a setting where people, by nature of their actions, proclaim their faith.
Part 4 : Identity and the Ground (Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei)
The two last movements, Identity and The Ground, work through elements of resolution. While there are technically two movements after The City, Gjeilo connects them as a single movement, even though they are separated textually.
In the Sanctus, Gjeilo returns to the exact music of Kyrie-The Spheres. The only differences are the text and the use of a delicate, warm-colored violin solo that floats above the choral line. According to Gjeilo, the solo violin symbolizes the individual and the emer¬gence of a conscious self in the midst of the heavenly realm; thus this movement is called Identity. Gjeilo sets out to compose a work that is evocative and ultimately uplifting. The Mass begins in the stars (Kyrie); in the Sanctus, it circles back to the same material to symbolize the individual. It is as if it looks towards the stars, then mirrors what it sees, becoming aware of itself while connecting to its Creator.
Gjeilo draws from tradition, and in honoring J.S. Bach he culminates the Mass with what he labels the "Chorale." The Ground is different from any other part of the Sunrise Mass. Gjeilo defines it with the terms "resolution," and "release". It is also the point at which one feels that one has arrived and is finally "grounded." No longer is the music floating in the spheres, rising with the sun, bustling in the city, or discovering the self and its origins. It now depicts being one with humanity, the Earth and its Creator; herein lies a sense of awareness of everything grounded and real. To bring the work to a close, he returns to the music from the Amen section of the Gloria for the final prayer for peace {Dona nobis pacem) and ends with an ascending cadence in E-flat major, hopeful and transformative; a complete resolution to the journey.
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