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Revision as of 20:54, 18 February 2003 by Ihcoyc (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The Mass as a genre of musical composition is a choral composition that sets the fixed portions of the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church to music.
Masses can be a capella, for the human voice alone, or they can be accompanied by instrumental obbligatos up to and including a full orchestra. Generally, for a composition to be a full Mass, it must contain the following six sections:
I. Kyrie
The text here is simply: Kyrie eleison; Christe eleison; Kyrie eleison (Κυριε ελεησον; Χριστε ελεησον; Κυριε ελεησον). This is Greek for "Lord have mercy on us; Christ, have mercy on us; Lord, have mercy on us."
II. Gloria
This is a celebratory passage praising God and Christ, which begins with the words Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus bonæ voluntatis; (Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will).
III. Credo
The longest text of the Mass, this is a setting in Latin of the Nicene Creed.
IV. Sanctus
This is a doxology praising the Trinity which begins with the words Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Domine Deus Sabaoth (Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts). There is also a section that begins with the words Hosanna in excelsis, "Hosanna in the highest."
V. Benedictus
This is a setting of the Latin words Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. (Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord).
After this is sung, the Hosanna is usually repeated.
VI. Agnus Dei
A setting of the Latin phrases,
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
- miserere nobis /
- dona nobis pacem.
(Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us / give us peace.)
These sections of the Mass as a musical composition have been standard since the Middle Ages; the very earliest Masses may include other parts, and omit some of the standard ones. The first Mass we know of whose composer can be identified was the Mass of Our Lady by Guillaume de Machaut. Many other composers wrote Masses, including Johann Sebastian Bach, who was not a Roman Catholic. Perhaps the greatest composer of church music ever was Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, whose Mass for Pope Marcellus is credited with saving polyphony from the censure of the Council of Trent.