Brian Woodbury's "Brief Mass" - FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

For Your Consideration

Best Contemporary Classical Composition

to the complete Brief Mass

to individual movements

I. Kyrie

II. Gloria

III. Credo i & ii

IV. Credo iii & iv

V. Credo v & vi

VI. Credo vii, viii & ix

VII. Credo x

VIII. Sanctus

IX. Benedictus

X. Agnus Dei

I hear so many composers these days incorporate pop/rock influences into ‘art’ music and totally water things down. And then there are the composers who believe nothing new can be done with melody, and that groove=sacrilege. While this Mass may have a Broadway musical element in it, which normally isn't so much my thing, I love the melodies and that it maintains a whimsical sort of complexity but without going full-on prog or full-on Darmstadt. Super interesting and really strong piece, unlike anything else I can think of right now.

Lukas Ligeti

Composer

A near eight-minute Catholic mass — in Latin, beautifully arranged for piano, drums, tuned percussion, trombone, numerous vocalists, and more.

Peter Thelen

Exposure

Arrestingly impressive - a scintillating liturgical polyphony delivered in Latin over quirky time signatures.

Dmitry M Epstein

Let It Rock

There’s nothing out there like this. If you like your limits stretched, your expectations undermined and your brain exercised, this is for you.

Chris Cutler

ReR

Though I’m not Catholic or religious, I’ve long wanted to compose a setting of the Latin Mass. A rite of passage for composers for hundreds of years, it loomed like a daunting challenge. I added to the challenge by condensing this large sprawling form into a miniature. A full Latin Mass in under eight minutes.

I come from the world of pop music - albeit the eccentric side of that world - where traditionally songs are short and sweet. Melody is imperative to me. And brevity is the ideal. So I created a Mass that, despite its rhythmic, harmonic and stylistic complexity, remained songlike, tuneful, and inventive – yet succinct. I aimed to pack the densest melodic content into the smallest possible space, while keeping it beautiful and singable.

Composing to a received text at first seemed liberating: no need to write lyrics. Half the work is already done! But quickly it became formidable: Latin is a language I don’t speak, so I had to rely on the English translation to find the right expressive meaning for the music. And as a non-believer, I had to make a further translation to find a meaning that could inspire my secular heart to the ecstasy and fervor in the liturgy.

I discovered that the text of the Mass is highly prosaic and wordy. So many syllables! Though there are some very beautiful sounding words, there is not a lot of poetry. For this reason, most settings of the Latin Mass use much repetition. In my Brief Mass, I chose to use very little repetition. I wanted to create a succinctness of form that can only be achieved in miniature. And I believe it is the shortest setting of the full text of the Latin Mass.

I needed singers who could realize my concept of a classical form sung in non-classical, non-operatic style, with very little vibrato and very pure tones – a mash-up of early music and pop vocal production. I enlisted a small choir of virtuoso vocalists.

Instrumentally, the Brief Mass traverses many terrains of musical styles, with a batterie of percussion from gongs and guiro to timpani and full drum kit, plus celeste, harp, vibraphone, piano, organ, a trombone choir, and my bass and guitars.

My approach to contemporary composition is informed by an unusual background. I studied composition with avant-garde composer Pauline Oliveros, and songwriting with the great comedic songwriter Tom Lehrer. There are strands of theater, progressive rock, experimental and aleatoric procedures, all woven into this unique Mass. Yet, my aim was the traditional one: to tap into this wellspring of inspiration for so much glorious music through the ages. And add mine to that tall pile. I hope my Brief Mass can reach and stir and move listeners of any background.

Download the Complete Score

Brian Woodbury