Missa Brevis, a work for chamber choir, soloists, and chamber ensemble score and analysis

Transcription

1 Eastern Michigan University Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations Master's Theses, and Doctoral Dissertations, and Graduate Castone Projects 2008 Missa Brevis, a work or chamber choir, soloists, and chamber ensemble score and analysis Joshua Adam Bornield Follow this and additional works at: htt://commons.emich.edu/theses Part o the Music Perormance Commons Recommended Citation Bornield, Joshua Adam, "Missa Brevis, a work or chamber choir, soloists, and chamber ensemble score and analysis" (2008). Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations htt://commons.emich.edu/theses/170 This Oen Access Thesis is brought to you or ree and oen access by the Master's Theses, and Doctoral Dissertations, and Graduate Castone Projects at DigitalCommons@EMU. It has been acceted or inclusion in Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator o DigitalCommons@EMU. For more inormation, lease contact libir@emich.edu.

2 Missa Brevis a Work or Chamber Choir, Soloists, and Chamber Ensemble Score and Analysis by Joshua Adam Bornield Thesis Submitted to the Deartment o Music and Dance Eastern Michigan University in artial ulillment o the requirements or the degree Master o Arts in Music Theory and Literature March 15, 2008 Ysilanti, Michigan

3 ii APPROVAL Missa Brevis: a Work or Chamber Choir, Soloists, and Chamber Ensemble Score and Analysis by Joshua Adam Bornield APPROVED Dr. Anthony Iannaccone Date Director Dr. C. Nelson Amos Date Committee Member Dr. David Pierce Date Committee Member Dr. David Woike Date Head, Deartment o Music and Dance Dr. Deb DelaskiSmith Date Dean, Graduate School

4 iii ABSTRACT The Missa Brevis dislayed and discussed herein is comosed or chamber choir, vocal soloists, and a chamber ensemble o nine instrumental erormers. This setting o several sections o the Catholic Mass exlores a narrative interretation o that text, using a rogrammatic comositional aroach, through which all arameters o music were systematically lanned. The thesis is in two arts. Part One is an analysis o the comosition, both in ull and movement by movement, with regard to structure, harmonic contour, melodic design, timbral choices, and the comositional rocess required or its creation. Part Two is the comlete original score o the work.

5 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES v PART ONE Preace...1 Chater 1: Overall Structure. Chater 2: Kyrie..5 Chater : Gloria 9 Chater 4: Sanctus/Benedictus 19 Chater 5: Agnus Dei.25 Chater 6: Persective and Growth 29 PART TWO Musical Score..1 Instrumentation 2 Kyrie Gloria.49 Sanctus/Benedictus 86 Agnus Dei 111

6 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1 Missa Brevis largescale structural diagram... 2 Kyrie exanding chord motive (reduction, mm. 1225). 5 Functional harmony, inal three bars o Kyrie 8 4 Gloria rimary motive Gloria chant line Gloria secondary motive Gloria harmonic structural design Amajor diatonic relationshis in the Gnatural acoustic scale 16 9 Overlaing acoustic scales in Gloria inal section Motivic interval relationshis, Sanctus/Benedictus Benedictus modal ourths sequence Sectional arallels between Kyrie and Agnus Dei

7 PREFACE The Missa Brevis discussed herein was comosed between December 2006 and May It was scored or student instrumentalists and an advanced universitylevel chamber choir with sorano and tenor soloists o the same caliber. It is in a traditional ourmovement structure consisting o settings o the Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus/Benedictus, and Agnus Dei texts and has a duration o aroximately 16 minutes. The Lux Choir o Ann Arbor, Michigan, and instrumental musicians rom Eastern Michigan University and the Ann Arbor community remiered it on Friday, 2 November, 2007, in Pease Auditorium, Eastern Michigan University. In general, I have comosed music based on the character o the erson who has asked me or the music, or with a certain erormer in mind. This work was no excetion, and or several weeks I roceeded to write a Missa Brevis conditioned by the character and strengths o the conductor who requested the work. In the irst hase o comosition, a dramatic narrative was alied to the text. The tone o each movement and a largescale structural outline were interolated rom that narrative. Ater a ew weeks work on the roject, I ound mysel without my usual comositional resource, because the conductor who asked me or this work was unable to gather the orces necessary to erorm such a work. Thus, this work was ultimately comosed without seciic erormers in mind, although I retained and brought to comletion my concetion o the work as originally envisioned with a seciic conductor. Each movement o the mass has an underlying rogrammatic element or dramatic narrative. In the Kyrie, a character searches or a meaning in a tragic

8 2 event; my ather had died several months beore I began this iece; my ardent desire to comose this work stemmed rom a need to settle my emotions surrounding his death. The Gloria shows the character raising God or his own lie, thanking Him or the lie o the one he has lost. As the character changes his raise to a meditative blessing in the Sanctus, the Lord resonds with a benediction in that character s own voice; this Benedictus is the moment o redemtion and exhilarating ulillment. As the character embraces the ain o his exerience, he gains the ower to ind eace in all those emotions and exeriences in the Agnus Dei. The original Latin text, along with an English translation, is given at the beginning o each chater.

9 CHAPTER 1 OVERALL STRUCTURE In setting the Missa Brevis text, the comositional rocess began with a largescale structural outline o the work s rimary tonal areas. The aroach resembled Schenkerian analysis in reverse: the overall structure was conceived irst; then came the greater motion o each movement, based generally on a rimary motive generated through a combination o research and imrovisation. Next came the oreground comosition section by section, creating goal sonorities and orchestrational ideas beore maniulating any o motivic materials. The structural lan or this Missa Brevis is as ollows: Fig. 1: Missa Brevis largescale structural diagram The lower sta o this grah shows the most undamental structural concetion and an imortant hilosohical idea, that the ursatz o the whole iece is a simle tonal rogression. The work has a strong basis in tonality though its languages alternate between antonality, modal scales, the acoustic scale, octatonic itch collections, and at times a unctionallyree harmonic system o tonal saturation, the exhaustive use o a large itch collection (generally nine or more itchclasses) over a short eriod o time to rovide harmonic relie with an

10 4 harmonically directional small itchclass set. The antonal directional line at the to o the uer sta reresents the next level o organization, an ascending chromatic line rom Bnatural to Enatural that comes rom the thirds and iths o each o the undamental harmonies o either a whole movement or a large section o one. Next come the tones o the to sta connected by dotted beams. There are moments o the iece in which I established a theoretical congruence linking certain sections o the whole iece: an Alat tonal center in the Christe eleison is linked to the Alat tonal center in the Benedictus and, enharmonically, the Gshar o the inal cadence (E major s mi); the Fnatural sonorities link the Agnus Dei section o the Gloria to the Agnus Dei movement; Bnatural in the Sanctus becomes Clat in the Benedictus. The slurs show a movement s harmonic rogression rom start to inish.

11 5 CHAPTER 2 KYRIE Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison. Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy. The mass begins with an ethereal assage o winds and iano using notes rom the Enatural naturalminor scale. While there is great deal o severe dissonance in stark colors as the harmonic language and vertical columns o sound exand, the goal o this assage is to guide the ear to a tonal center without centering the sound or giving it any body. When Enatural is established as the work s oint o dearture, it is only loosely stable. An imagined character is ready to ace the emotions, but this rovides him no solace. The choir asks or mercy, and the strings unctuate the singers calls, but nothing grounds the harmony, and no melody is roosed which might ocus the sound. The choir s sound is only the act o breathing, a andiatonic chord that exands, contracts, and exands again: Fig. 2: Kyrie exanding chord motive (reduction, mm. 1225)

12 6 The winds and iano add a ang o color, but it is only color, not resonsorial (m. 18). The reetitive motion, exansion o color (esecially in the strings at m. 1), and dynamic contour o this agonizing section create a reality or the imagined character s ain, a truth or it, a consolation o resence and acknowledgement. There is no reresentation o any secure triadic harmony or nearly 90 seconds in the iece, almost a tenth its total length. Even then, the insecure triad inversion aears with a seventh added: comlete, but still unstable (m. 5), and then it is urther destabilized almost immediately by a dramatic modulation to an unrelated key (Alat major, m. 4). The Christe section has a much more stable harmonic contour; its colors are brighter and more embodied. It reresents the resonse o a community to an individual s need, the resence o other members o a aith. It is an immediate consolation, and certainly hels in a time o need, but it exists outside o the imagined character, a sulicant and mourner. Its unction is to remind the sulicant that he is not alone in his suering and reentance and that both o those actions have meaning and goals in themselves beyond his momentary ain. As he embraces the hel, he comes to understand that it is no relacement or exeriencing those emotions and living through them, which, ater some consideration (mm. 5570), he allows himsel to do (mm. 7097), in a ulilled and exanded version o the irst choral material o the movement. The melodic material o this movement is severely limited. Almost all the motion in every voice is stewise, with a strong emhasis laced on a wholeste voiceexchange between the outer voices. This creates both melodic and harmonic stasis that would imly a eeling o brooding. The eelings may change,

13 7 but their content is essentially the same; it is not that dissonance evolves into urther dissonance that is imortant, but that the outer voices make it so aarent, as though there were no other otion. As the choir moves into the Christe section there is a bit more disjunct motion in all the voices, as the basses inally take on a role o harmonic suort instead o simly adding another layer o sound, and the uer voices call out or hel to Christ. The exandingchord motive returns, and the choir s cries or hel become more ronounced and dissonant, eventually introducing an octatonic melodic ragment in the sorano voice that will become a central element in the Gloria (m. 66, b. 2m. 68, b. 2). The inal section o the Kyrie unites the two rior sections in a more urgent setting o extreme dissonance (though the music is tonally rooted strongly in E lat minor) and renzied color exchanges. Once the irst wail asses, the strings and the choir take turns adding energy in rhythmic develoment (mm. 7684). A ew bars o eisodic ree counteroint (mm. 8589) bring the ensemble to a everishly loud decetive cadence (iv taking the lace o VI). The harmonic rogression o the inal hrase is the most comlicated assage o the iece, as each chord relates to a Blat minor but none clearly centers the tonality. Only the directional bass line rovides stability, though that center is shortlived; its harmonic urose is simly to chromatically guide the listener to the Amajor Gloria.

14 8 Fig. : Imlied unctional harmony, inal three bars o Kyrie The harmonic urose o these three measures is to raise tension to an inestimable itch without comletely tonally saturating the listener, to reresent a chaos that can be resolved only by aith in a divine ower. The outer voices cadence to an Anatural (the second movement s tonic) through an octatonic attern that will mimic the Gloria s rimary motive.

15 9 CHAPTER GLORIA Gloria in excelsis Deo. Et in terra ax hominibus bonae voluntatis. Laudamus Te. Benedicimus Te. Adoramus Te. Gloriicamus Te. Gratias agimus Tibi roter magnam gloriam tuam. Domine Deus, Rex coelestis, Deus Pater omniotens. Domine Fili unigenite, Jesu Christe. Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris, Qui tollis eccata mundi,miserere nobis. Qui tollis eccata mundi, suscie derecationem nostram. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, miserere nobis. Quoniam Tu solus sanctus. Tu solus Dominus. Tu solus altisimus, Jesu Christe. Cum Sancto Siritu in Gloria Dei Patris. Amen. Glory to God in the highest. And eace on earth to men o good will. We raise you. We bless you. We worshi you. We gloriy you. Thanks we give to you because o your great glory. Lord God, King o heaven, God the Father almighty. Lord the only Son, Jesus Christ. Lord God, Lamb o God, Son o the Father, Who takes away the sins o the world, have mercy on us. Who takes away the sins o the world, receive our sulication. Who sits at the right hand o the Father, have mercy on us. For You alone are holy. You alone are Lord. You alone are most high, Jesus Christ. With the Holy Sirit in the glory o God the Father. Amen. The Gloria is a text o outstanding raise and a call or eace. Its energy is high and the words themselves are melliluous. In this movement, the character thanks the Lord or His blessings and extols His virtues as he searches or a way to coe with his loss. In this resect, the emhatic rhythmic emhasis o the nearconstant uneven meter serves to create an ecstatic escae rom the doldrums o

16 10 emotional ain and rustration. The movement develos into a long assage o a more eventemered meter (mm.12117), and when the 5/8 returns, its character sobers and becomes more direct through longer hrases and a sense o unity in the orchestration; the choir and instrumental ensemble unite or a single, uroseul statement on the inality o the Lord s love and righteousness. The Gloria s oening chord and ollowing areggio serve to reresh the energy ut orward at the end o the Kyrie and to rovide the listener with the irst true tonal center, but the rimary motive aears in the sorano voice in bars 810: Fig. 4: Gloria rimary motive I chose to use this motive because o the incredible level o harmonic reedom it aorded me while retaining an unmistakably diatonic character in all circumstances. Its basis is the ancient chant line o the Catholic Doxologia Magna service, which is constructed entirely rom rotating scale atterns in the thirds o the Dorian mode: Fig. 5: Gloria chant line The chant is the most imortant eature o this setting o the Gloria text. It is directly quoted twice (iano, mm , and clarinet/viola, mm. 2225), and its contour governs nearly every asect o both the surace iligree and the largescale design.

17 11 Most o the melodic construction in this movement is a combination o the rimary motive and maniulations uon it, using a ortion o the octatonic series (014 collections). That itchclass collection lends itsel well to extended sections o acoustic scalelike sections and Phrygian cadences resolving to a major chord, which aear oten in this movement (mm. 6, 24, 8285, 115, 157, 184, 228, 22, 25) to create a sense o duality in the lines: antiquity among contemorary, music that is neither old nor new, but both together. An old source is used in an old way, but using a new language, and so becomes a new music. The listener hears both, but because the materials are so aroachable, so amiliar, the notion o novelty is let behind. Another instance o an old itch attern gaining new meaning in a contemorary context occurs at bar 6: Dunstableinluenced harmony and voiceleading lies within a long octatonic chorale set to the ax hominibus text. Since that ortion o the text deals with man and not God, the secondary motive (a rising third ollowed by a descending second) is introduced directly ater the choir states its call or eace.

18 12 Fig. 6: Gloria secondary motive Its use is limited to a short assage, ater which it is not heard again until the central section o the Gloria, in which the text does not seak to God directly but about him concerning the divinity o Jesus. The instrumental introduction and slight develoment o that motive serve the listener as time to relect uon eace, and serve the work itsel as a chance to build momentum and enter a new key area. An extensive sorano solo in the second section relects the largest exansion o melodic construction based on the rimary motive. Most o the movement is crated o relatively short, nearly Debussian melodic ragments, but the arioso among the lauds allows the lines to blossom into loridity that adds more than a touch o Monteverdi to the movement as a whole, seciically at the adoramus Te (m. 70). These hrases are extremely long to aint the text as Monteverdi, Purcell, Buxtehude, or Bach would have, to give credence to the raise on which the entire Doxologia Magna is based beore discussing Christ s divinity. The second motive takes over as the soloists take the Domine Deus section. Through the Rex coelestis (mm ), it is the only theme that is maniulated. The next hrase o the text introduces the rincile o omniotence, which, by deinition, imlies raise, so the rimary theme reenters in the lute s iligree above the soloists (m. 129). The interaction o these two

19 1 motives continues in counteroint through the rest o this section, oten with the second motive s irst interval relaced with a ourth or the second inverted to rovide a dierent direction to the melodic lines. The soloists ask o the Lord suscie derecationem nostram, to take away their sin. This rayer is on a singular basis, so the choir continues to ask or mercy. In the call or absolution, the ensemble is marked with a good deal o iligree in the higherrange instruments, relecting the singularity o the rayer. A large crescendo through the Qui sedes hrases (mm ) marks the end o the second motive in melodic ront matter in this movement. A shit in the mood o the text occurs with the word quoniam. While the discussion o Christ s divinity continues ater this oint, the seaker resumes his raise to the Lord instead o seaking about him. This section is thematically uniied with the gratias music since it is an extension o the same thanks: the indirect object clause o a comlete sentence, so to seak. The only new material in these inal sections occurs in the assage in which the choir states Christ s name directly (mm.19198), a single rolonged chordal statement by the entire ensemble. Even then the bass and tenor sing (and their corresonding doubled strings lay) a Cnatural and Gshar resectively, enharmonically binding it to the Christe eleison statement in the irst movement, the Benedictus in its entirety, and the inal cadence o the Agnus Dei. This moment is amelodic to create a sense o eternity about that name, to evoke the idea that the love o God is not a rite o assage, not something to which one comes in lie, but a state being that exists without time. The intent to suggest a sense o the eternal extends

20 14 to the object o God s love, i.e., that the object o God s love has always had it, and always will. It is notable that at the climax o the movement the only moving line is an acoustic scale in the iano that rises through three and a hal octaves. The melodic ragments that have imlied this scale throughout the rest o the movement come to ruition here. When the Gloria line returns ato the Amen (mm ), its comleteness is no longer in question; the whole vocabulary o the melodic ragments is comlete, the uzzle is assembled. Now these hrases are a smaller art o an understood whole. The harmonic contour o this movement is a structural exansion o the rimary motive. Each section and subsection had a seciic harmonic area in relation to the outer sections deending on its unction within my interretation o the text. The raming exclamatory sections revolve around Amajor; the songs o raise (sections two and our) hold Gmajor as their rimary key; and the discussion o divinity with the rayer or redemtion are based in Fmajor. The subsections also held very seciic goals to create a trajectory that would mimic either the alling third or the rising third ortion o the rimary motive, sometimes overlaing their structural unction with the larger design. It is worthy o note that the internal harmonic motion establishes structural ties with major ortions o other movements (see Fig. 1): the Agnus Dei section o the Gloria text uses Fnatural as its tonal center; the smaller subsection motion o a alling third returns as the rimary harmonic motion o the Benedictus.

21 15 Fig. 7: Gloria harmonic structural design The lowest line o the Schenkerian grah (Fig. 7) shows the central key areas; the tomost line gives transition centers; the inner dotted beams reresent key areas o the dramatic low o each hal o the iece; and the subordinate lower dotted slurs show transitions rom a text o raise to a text o reose and viceversa. The relationshi o Fnatural to Cshar/Dlat in the central section was o aramount imortance. Its natural occurrence within the structural sketch rovided a simle IivI harmonic context as the uniying oreground motion o nearly the entire movement. It was the maniulation o the major scale to encomass the iv harmony that generated the idea to use the modes o the acoustic scale (WWWHWHW); with a key center o Gnatural, the scale s second mode yielded Amajor and dminor without alteration.

22 16 Fig. 8: Amajor diatonic relationshis in the Gnatural acoustic scale The only tonal modiication was the adjustment o Bnatural to Blat or Phrygian cadences. The rerise o the Gloria line with the amen text modiies the cadential harmony to incororate the Blat acoustic scale or starkly exressive dissonance; since a iv harmony was the basis or most o the oreground motion, it was natural to use a loweredii in substitution as a reerence to the IivI relationshi as it would aly to a tonicized IV (D major), and the two acoustic scales tones overlaed in a very convenient way: Fig. 9: Overlaing acoustic scales in Gloria inal section Figure 9 shows these scales in their resective modes with each using A as its tonal center to illustrate that in this mode, they have in common scale degrees 1, 4, 5, and 7. Each o these scales has the ower to imly the A minor entatonic scale. Since the third scale degree does not match, however, neither can ully exress either the Ionian or the natural minor mode on its own. It ollows, then, that the two bars o Aminor (mm ) serve as the most natural resolution o the revious hrase while unctioning as a structural dissonance, but not an harmonic one. There is a inal use o the rimary motive in this last section as well: Blat in measure 221 leads to C in 222, and the Blat

23 17 in the bass in leads to Anatural in 228. The movement ends with a raucous and loud Amajor airmation. The Gloria s rhythmic cadence and temi were easy choices: a simle dramatic reading o the text in Latin was enough to ind its assonance, which clearly ointed to a meter with a strong trileeel, but the music needed to be more imerative than just an exclamation o raise. An uneven meter was not only logical or the sections o ast material, it was also intuitive or the emotional tone that this movement required. The movement is in art orm, loosely related to a Rondo in the Baroque style ABA B A coda (based on A). All the ast music occurs at the same temo, but the slower sections dier rom each other slightly, deending on the nature o their exression and their oint in the general acing o the movement. Pax hominibus, or instance, is just slightly slower than its receding section desite the text s lessthandirect relation to the material immediately beore it, because a drastic shit in time would have stalled the energy in that section o music. The melodic material comes rom the develomental section o the Kyrie. The moment mentioned reviously in which the sorano generates the rimary motive or the Gloria also uses a neighbor tone; though the scalar motion o those our ascending notes is a natural extension o the motive, its character diers distinctly, as this collection does not all in any standard modal series without alteration. The instrumental assage in measures 44 to 5 is the source or the Domine Deus material. Their motivic material is not erectly related, but since neither o these moments texts are in the second erson, their temo shits and their textural lightness tend to link them as individual arts.

24 18 CHAPTER 4 SANCTUS/BENEDICTUS Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria Tua. Osanna in excelsis Deo. Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Osanna in excelsis Deo. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God o hosts. Heaven and earth are ull o Your glory. Hosanna to God on high. Blessed is he who comes in the name o the Lord. Hosanna to God on high. The true ocal oint o the third movement is its timbral shit between the two large sections. The Sanctus eatures a strongly grounded, rich, dense string sound with a diuse bowed vibrahone to create a nocturnal soundscae. A strong, irmly rooted sound kees this section humble even with the brightness o the lute s detail work, esecially at the end o the leni sunt coeli (mm. 1617). The deth and resonance o the chalmeau register in the clarinet is a secial sound as it suorts the entire ensemble in the same assage and its reeat (mm. 2124). It was essential to me that this section eel terrestrial; I imagined a wide valley beneath a night sky illed with the aurora borealis sotly glowing. In this way the benedictus could truly ly, a dawn ater the warm enveloing darkness, a music o air ater one o earth. The shimmer o the modal melody at the start o the next section shows the dawn asect o this music; the ceaseless motion o its rolonged iligree is the stirring o the subconscious in a new comrehension o beauty and love. The soloist s lyric line is thereby not only the rincial ront

25 19 material, but also the stabilizing element among the organized chaos o this largescale rhythmic counteroint. These blessings, the Sanctus and Benedictus texts, are set to relect the singularity o this imagined character s sychological journey. He joined a community in the Kyrie, and with the hel o his riends he embraced the love o God irst with exuberance and then with a reverent resect through the Gloria. The concet behind this setting o the Sanctus is the ollowing rogrammatic idea, a hilosohical quandary suggested earlier in the Gloria text: i God is all things then his ain is God s also, which must make it not just accetable, but comletely aroriate and even necessary to eel in its ull maniestation. The harmonically centered but qualitatively indecisive sound that ervades this movement stems rom this resectul conusion and accetance. Once he reaches the conclusion to eel, the roverbial heavens oen and take that ain away, revealing the love o God in too many layers to exerience simultaneously. As each scrim is thrown back his understanding grows. He exects to see the lan ully with each distinct level, but he never quite gets to the whole icture. By the end o the movement he has seen so much that he inds his eace in accetance. Extensive andiatonicism throughout the submovement creates a eel o velvety omniscience. The tonal center is always clear, but its mode shits with every bar. The dynamic shits o the inner hrases are the listener s only guide to which mode should dominate the mood and which set o notes are exressive dissonance. The strong eeling o being rooted in a secure area is enough. The edal shit at bar 1 takes the listener only as ar as the subdominant, which continually shits modes as well; a modiied lagal cadence returns the harmony

26 20 to its original Bminor area (m. 17), and the ull choir resonds to the tenor soloist by reentering Eminor (m. 21). Instead o reeating the lagal idea, the choir settles in Dmajor beore a cadential hrase that marks the end o this section, a short chorale that uses harmonies in descending thirds based mostly in Amajor. The low strings wedge outward rom the tonic in the inal hrase to create a very unstable i 9 harmony inverted so the stack sounds much more like a v 1 in second inversion (m. 0, b. ). The only grounding in this harmonic voicing comes rom the exected voice exchange between the contrabass and lute. Both voices are chromaticized in the resolution that begins the Benedictus so that the harmony created is a direct modulation rom Bminor to Alatmajor. This resolution makes use o the exected Dshar o a Bmajor harmony that alls in the attern o modal mixture used throughout the Sanctus and establishes a new tonic on a note that was already exected as a colortone (Gshar) while also roviding the new third (a resh and welcome Cnatural) as the most rominent tone by orchestral range. The tenor and the choir retain their relationshi rom the Sanctus or the second submovement. The harmonic traits between the two arts are undamentally similar, i more develoed in the Benedictus, due to its lace in the dramatic narration o the larger work. The ensemble still has astermoving but subordinate subhrases to the tenor s lyrical melody. Melodically, the tenor s dramatic major ninth at leni sunt coeli (m. 1) becomes the raming interval or the moodestablishing instrumental melody at the start o the Benedictus, the

27 21 only moment in the whole work where a single line is reresented in three instruments. Fig. 10: Motivic interval relationshis, Sanctus/Benedictus Pandiatonicism ervades this large section as well, though the modal mixture is markedly absent; the love o God is certainty, unquestionable by man even in his conusion. The erectintervalrelationshis that established the mood o the Sanctus and structured the initial instrumental statement o the Benedictus become the rimary harmonic content as the iece rogresses urther and urther rom the tonic:

28 22 Fig. 11: Benedictus modal ourthssequence The choir resonds with an initial reeat o the material rom the irst hal o the section, but elaborates in Dlat Lydian (m. 57) or a moment beore cadencing ast Glat to Clat major on a andiatonic IV chord that imlies F lat Lydian (m. 60). The harmony exands in the next hrase, using a nonresolving modal seventh chord in Clat major. The inal chord here unctions only in assing (combined vii 7 and V 7 /V/vi), but its stark dissonance substantially raises the tension as the enultimate hrase commences. This moment is marked by its action: comlete sets o counteroint are resent in the voices (doubled by strings), the iano and vibrahone are linked with another air o voices (though the iano also doubles some o the choral arts), and the winds have a twovoice obligato that is indeendent o the rest o the motion elsewhere. All told, there are roughly eight lines moving at any oint in three suervoices o rhythmic counteroint in measures The harmony is, i ramantly andiatonic, conventional with the excetion o the cadence; Clatmajor should have a traditional evaded cadence to Alatminor, but a Piccardy third turns this resolution into another oular music/jazz reerence. This cadential structure gives Clatmajor a measure o equality to Alatmajor in this section, harmonically uniying both halves o the movement and roviding a motivic reerence to the internal harmonic shits within the Gloria with a

29 2 harmonic stewise descent o a minor third as aears between the oening o the second movement and the ax hominibus; both sections extol the Lord s greatness and have been treated similarly.

30 24 CHAPTER 5 AGNUS DEI Agnus Dei, qui tollis eccata mundi, miserere nobis. Agnus Dei, qui tollis eccata mundi, miserere nobis. Agnus Dei, qui tollis eccata mundi, dona nobis acem. Lamb o God, who takes away the sins o the world, have mercy on us. Lamb o God, who takes away the sins o the world, have mercy on us. Lamb o God, who takes away the sins o the world, give us eace. The Agnus Dei is a stylized rewriting o the Kyrie. Structurally, it is an emotional ulillment o that earlier material. The Kyrie s disembodied oening assage is delayed so that the choir can enter immediately with its exanding chord motive, and the aesthetic instrumental sonoritybuilding that began the iece resumes as a resonse to the voices, hrase by hrase. The musical reorganization reresents the imagined character s accetance o his ain and renewed ability to move orward. Through the course o the iece, the rotagonist recognizes that his initial ain was a relection o his need to see the loved one that he lost; it is that need that makes him human and hels him to remember that ain and love are indelibly linked, that care and trust are required or both emotions. Harmonically, the Agnus Dei unctions nearly identically to the irst movement, though the harmonic language is a bit more centered rom the start in Fminor. Preserving the key center rom the end o the Benedictus to the start o this movement makes it ossible to hear the Agnus Dei as a natural extension o the ormer movement s intent. The Lord blesses the eole; the eole then ask his inal grace. The harmonic motion is the least comlex o all the movements,

31 25 as this ortion o the iece deals with accetance. Internally, each section deals exclusively with one diatonic mode at any given time in a slow harmonic rhythm, with the excetion o mm. 486 in which I used the acoustic scale or the same dramatic eect as its corresonding moment in the Gloria. This is the one distinct key change at the most dramatic section o the movement (mm. 48) that takes the ensemble rom a relatively stable mode o Fminor to an Eminor itchclass collection, though the tonal centers shit between C and Enatural. The only moment that uses a higher degree o dissonance than one might ind in the standard romantic reertoire is the inal cadence, which owes a large debt to the cadential structures o Benjamin Britten, seciically his War Requiem. The combination o two modes ollowed by a olytonal chord (mm ) creates a harmonic omniresence, an unknowable but satisying divinity to end the work. Since this movement s harmonic and melodic content is a recomosition o the Kyrie s materials, its structure bears a striking resemblance to the irst movement as well. The introductory materials rom the Kyrie no longer serve their earlier unction, though they remain in the Agnus Dei as acing devices, still develoing over the course o the movement, but now ading into the larger textures. The sectional divisions are as ollows:

32 26 Fig. 12: Sectional arallels between Kyrie and Agnus Dei Kyrie material mm. 111 (introduction) mm. 124 (1 st solitude ) mm. 554 (1 st lea) mm (2 nd solitude ) mm (2 nd lea) mm ( exerience ) K. section Agnus Dei material A mm. 117 (call/resonse) B mm. 185 ( 1 st reelction ) C mm. 647 ( realization ) B mm. 486 ( rogress ) C mm ( 2 nd relection ) B mm ( accetance ) D. section A B K. material used in D. A+B C C B B A+C B B +C A B Very little new material exists in the Agnus Dei. Even when the music develos what was given in the Kyrie, that material is based on smaller sections rom other movements. The transitional material in mm. 4447, or instance, is a diminution o the crescendo into the quoniam section o the Gloria; the inal cadence o the iece is rom the Agnus Dei section o the same movement. Since so much o this music is directly rom the irst movement, melodic develoment is minimal so that the textural arallels will be clearly heard. What little strictly melodic material there is exists or energy and counteroint. In the sections where the choir is develoing chords, a melody comes through in the overlaing o new arts. This loose touch o klangarben is a welcome reose rom the highly structured melodic material that deines the Sanctus/Benedictus. A similar melodic develoment haens when the choir is losing voices in ascent (mm. 9 47): the ragments each voice sings dovetail each other to orm a single longing cry. The statement sans two octaves and a major sixth as it changes voices.

33 27 The orchestral sound o this movement was conceived entirely or its resonance. The goal was to roduce a sound that was ull and ure but also gentle. Each instrument lies saely in its most coortable range. The euhonous blend o simle sounds gives the whole movement a codalike eel. The music here is a bit more ree o orm; sections that do not rely on highly energetic assagework in the ensemble assume a more imrovisatory character. The chordbuilding moments in the beginning that lank the choir s chord exansion, the melodic develoment in the iano mm. 1015, the vocal soloists melodic interest through bar 5, high dissonant chords at the iano mm. 54, the cello s melodic ragment in an orchestral moment o reose (mm. 6869): all these things add an element o individuality to an otherwise uniied statement. A hint o solo character adds interest to a music that is about simlicity. Once the inal line o the mass text begins, however (m. 70), the individuality o each voice alls aside and the ensemble unctions communally using its warmest tones in the call or eace. The cadence material comes rom the choralaccomanied duet within the second movement ( Domine Deus. Rex coelestis Gloria, mm ). The harmonic structure is very similar, as are the orchestral colors and temo, but unlike the Agnus Dei section o the Gloria, there is no singular detail in the uer register instruments. That irst statement o the call or mercy unctions or the individual, though it is voiced in the lural. When the ensemble calls or eace at the end, it does so as a societal unit. The urose o the mass within the church liturgy, ater all, is not just a conirmation o aith, nor solely a call or the absolution o sin, but a rayer or eace through that aith and the community that osters it.

34 28 CHAPTER 6 PERSPECTIVE AND GROWTH This Missa Brevis was the most ambitious roject I have assumed as a comoser. Its comosition required the use o an accomanimental ensemble to a chamber choir; while that ensemble has a vast alate o timbral qualities, the chosen text had such a antastic dramatic content that the limits to the chamber grou s color ossibilities were resent in nearly every section. There were very ew sections in which recisely the chosen instruments could deliver a seciic sound: the irst homohonic section o the Kyrie (mm. 554); the small interlude ater the ax hominibus in the Gloria (mm. 4457); the central duet in the same movement (mm ); and the introduction o the Agnus Dei (mm. 129). This work served well not only as a reresentation o creative otential but also as a hilosohical introduction to the orchestra at large. A wealth o sound ossibilities created an unexected desire or yet more colorul orchestration. Writing or a larger ensemble rovided the chance to think about ully using an ensemble to ace a work successully, to create musical variation without substantially changing an harmonic or melodic structure. The slowed harmonic rhythms required in a iece or a larger ensemble thereby caused a change in my ercetion o the dramatic low o time. Writing this Missa Brevis changed the way I heard music externally and ocused my inner ear.

35 0 Missa Brevis or Chamber Choir and Chamber Ensemble Joshua Bornield

36 1 Instrumentation Sorano solo Tenor solo Fourart choir (divisi in S, T, B) Flute Clarinet in B One ercussionist: Vibrahone Bass Drum Medium & large TomToms Small air Bongo drums Small, medium and large wood blocks Crotales (low set reerred, but scored or high set) Triangle Medium susended cymbal Two violins Viola Violoncello Contrabass Score sounds as written excet or octave transosing instruments, which sound in their traditional ranges

37 Flute Clarinet in Bb Adagio sostenuto (q = ca. 60) Kyrie 5 s m Vibrahone Piano Sorano Alto Tenor Bass s Violin I Violin II Viola Adagio sostenuto (q = ca. 60) Violoncello Contrabass Coyright 2007

38 Fl. Vib. oco rit. a temo accel. 10 A Andante solemno (q = ca. 90) 4 oco rit. a temo accel. A Andante solemno (q = ca. 90) Ky Ky Ky izz. izz. izz.

39 5 Fl m Vib. m Ky ri e ri e ri e Ky ri e izz. m Ky m m m

40 6 Fl. 25 m m Vib. m Ky ri e Ky Ky ri e Ky ri e ri e arco m m arco Ky Ky izz. izz. arco m m izz. arco izz.

41 Fl. B Vib. m ri e m ri e m ri e cresc. Ky cresc. Ky cresc. Ky ri e ri e m Ky m Ky ri e Ky m ri e ri e ri e m m m m ri e cresc. Ky ri e Ky arco arco B m m arco arco m m m ri e m m m m m

42 Fl. Vib. C 40 med. yarn beaters sim. Ky sim. Ky sim. Ky sim. Ky ri e e ri e e ri e e ri e e lei son e lei son e lei lei son m m m son lei C son Chris lei son Chris Chris Kyri e e lei son te te te Christe Christe 8

43 9 Fl. 45 Vib. Chris te e lei son Chris Chris te te e lei son e lei Chris te Chris te e lei son Chris Chris te Chris te

44 40 Fl. 50 rit. Vib. m e lei son son e lei son e lei son Chris te te e lei son rit.

45 Fl. Vib. D a temo D a temo e e e lei son lei son lei son m e izz. lei e e e m m lei lei lei son e lei izz. izz. izz. izz. 41

46 Fl. Vib. accel son Chris son Chris son Chris son Chris te Chris te te Chris te te Chris te te Chris e lei son Chris te Christe e lei son e lei son Christe e lei son e e lei son Christe e lei te e lei lei son son son accel. arco arco arco arco

47 Fl. Vib. E 70 Allegro (q = ca. 120) Ky Ky ri e ri e s m Ky Ky ri e ri e 75 sub sub sub sub Ky ri e sub Ky sub ri e 4 Ky Ky E ri e ri e Allegro (q = ca. 120) Ky Ky ri e ri e arco Ky sub Ky ri e ri

48 44 Fl. 80 Vib. e lei Ky Ky ri e e ri e e lei son Ky lei son e ri e Ky lei son Ky ri e e lei ri e e lei Ky e e ri e e lei lei son e son lei son Ky Ky ri e e ri e lei

49 Fl. Vib son son son son e e lei lei son e lei son Ky ri e e son Ky e lei son izz. izz. izz. e

50 46 Fl. 90 Vib. lei son Ky rie rie Ky ri e e lei son Ky ri e e lei son lei son Ky arco arco arco ri e Kyri e e lei son Ky ri e e lei son Ky ri e e lei son Kyri e e lei son

51 Fl. Vib. e e e e lei lei lei lei Lento (q=ca. 55) Lento (q=ca. 55) son e son e son e son e lei son lei son lei son lei son 47

52 Fl. Vib. accel. 95 Ky Ky molto accel. Allegro giusto (q=ca. 12) ri e e lei son ri e e lei son 48 Ky Ky ri e e lei son ri e e lei son accel. molto accel. arco Allegro giusto (q=ca. 12) attacca

53 Flute Clarinet in Bb Percussion Piano Sorano Alto Tenor Bass Violin I Violin II Viola Violoncello Contrabass e=e throughout Snare sticks SU CYM. Allegro giusto (q=ca. 12) Allegro giusto (q=ca. 12) e=e throughout Gloria marcato Coyright 2007 Glori a Glori a Glori a Glori a 49

54 Fl Perc. Glo ri a Glo ri a ri a Glo Glo ri a Glo Glo Glo Glo ri a in ex cel ri a in ex cel ri a in ex cel ri a in ex cel sis De sis De sis De sis De

55 Fl. Perc. A 15 o. o. o. o. Glo ri a Glo ri a Glo ri a Glo ri a 51 A

56 52 Fl. Perc Glori a, Gloria in ex cel sis De o, De o. m Glori a, Glo Glori a, ri a Gloria in Glori a, Glo De ex cel sis De ri a De o, o. o. De o. Et in Et in

57 Fl. Crot. 0 oco rit. 5 ter ra ax, ax, ax, ter ra ax, ax, ax, oco rit.

58 Fl. Crot. 5 m m B Meno mosso (q=ca. 112) Brass mallets m m m ax m m ax, ax, B ax ax ho mi nibus, ax ho mi nibus, ax ho mi nibus, ax Meno mosso (q=ca. 112) ho mi ni bus, ax ho mi nibus, ax ho mi nibus, ax ho mi nibus bonae volun ta ho mi nibus bonae volun ta ho mi nibus bonae volun ta izz. izz. izz.

59 Fl. Crot. C Temo rimo (q=ca. 12) 45 m m 55 tis. tis. tis. C Temo rimo (q=ca. 12)

60 Fl. Perc Snare sticks (strike edge o cymbal laterally) 56 arco arco

61 Fl. Perc. D 60 W. BL. m 57 solo D arco Lau da mus Te. Lau da mus Te. Lau da mus Te. Bene

62 58 Fl. 65 Perc. solo di cimus Te. () Bene di ci mus Te. () Bene di ci mus Te.

63 Fl. Perc. solo () A do ra mus Te. () 59 Ado ra mus Te. () () Ado ra mus Te. Ado ra mus Te. () () () ()

64 60 Fl. Perc. 80 m m solo Glo ri i ca Glori ica mus, glo ri i ca mus, Glori i ca mus, glo ri i ca mus, Glori ica mus, glo ri i ca mus, Glori ica mus, glori i ca mus, izz. izz. izz. izz.

65 Fl. Perc. solo 85 mus Te. glori ica mus, glo ri i ca glori ica mus, glo ri i ca glo 90 ben norm. mus Te. mus Te. ben Glo ri i 61 ri ica mus, glori i ca glori ica mus, glori i ca arco arco arco arco mus Te. mus Te.

66 Fl. Perc. solo m m m 95 E ben ca mus Te. Gra 62 tias, Te. Gra Gra tias, Gra ti as, ti as, Gra ti as, E

67 6 Fl. 100 Perc. gra gra ti as, ti as, gra ti as, gra ti as, izz. izz. izz. izz.

68 64 Fl. 105 Perc. gra ti as a gimus Ti bi, ro ter mag gra ti as, gra ti as, gra gra arco ti as a gimus Ti ti as, arco arco bi gra ti as, gra ti as ro arco arco ter mag

69 Fl. Perc. 110 m 65 nam glo gra tias a gra tias a gimus Ti bi roter mag nam gimus Ti bi roter mag nam glo nam glo glo riam Tu riam Tu riam Tu riam Tu

70 Fl. Perc. oco rit m TRGL. Triangle beater m 66 am. am. am. am. m m m oco rit. m m

71 F Meno mosso (q= ca. 100) m 125 m 67 solo m tis, solo Domine De us, m Domine De us, Rex Rex coe coe les les tis, Fl. Crot. solo m Brass Mallets m m 10 m De us Pa ter om ni solo m De us Pa ter om ni

72 68 Fl. Crot. 15 es. senza vib. 140 es. solo solo o tens. o tens. Domine Fi li uni ge ni te, Je su Chris Domine Fi li uni ge ni te, Je su Chris m es. m es. m es. m es. m es.

73 Fl. Crot. solo solo rit. G a temo (q= ca. 100) 145 m m te. te. m Do mine De us, Do mine De us, Ag nus De Fi li us Fi li us i 69 G Ag rit. a temo (q= ca. 100) Ag nus De Ag nus De nus De i i i

74 Fl. Crot. solo solo 150 Pat () Pat ris Qui Qui Qui Qui tol tol tol tol ris lis ec lis ec lis ec lis ec ca ta ca ta ca ta ca ta 70

75 Fl. Crot. solo solo Sus 155 ben ben mun mun mun mun Sus ci e ci e di, di, di, di, derecati o nem mi se re re derecati o nem mi se re re mi se re re mi se re re no no no no bis. bis. bis. bis. senza vib. ben senza vib. ben senza vib. ben senza vib. nos tram. nos tram. con sord. con sord. con sord. ben 71 con sord.

76 72 Fl. stringendo q=ca. 120 rall. q=ca m Perc. m Qui Qui Qui sedes ad sedes ad sedes ad dexteram Pat ris, dexteram Pat ris, dexteram Pat ris, ben cresc. mise re re ben cresc. mise re re ben cresc. no no m bis, mise re m bis, m mise re re no bis, re, mise Qui sedes ad dexteram Pat ris, ben cresc. m mise re re no bis, mise stringendo senza sord. q=ca. 120 rall. ben senza sord. senza sord. senza sord. q=ca. 100 ben ben ben ben ben m m m m

77 Fl. Perc. m re re 170 m accel. mi se re re no re no bis, no mi se re re no re no B DR. Medium Tymani elt mallets bis. bis, no bis. bis. bis. 7 accel. m

78 Fl. Perc. H Temo rimo (q = ca. 12) oss. m m Snare sticks sub m sub m Quo niam, Quo niam Quo niam Quo niam quo ni am, quo quo sub m ni am, quo sub m quo ni am, quo sub m quo ni am, quo ni am Tu solus sanc tus, ni am Tu solus sanc tus, ni am Tu solus sanc tus, ni am Tu solus sanc H Temo rimo (q = ca. 12) m m m tus, m Tu Tu 74

79 Fl. Perc. so lus sanc sanc sanc tus, sanc tus, sanc tus, sanc tus, Tu tus, Tu tus, sanc so lus sanc 185 solus Do solus Do mi nus, Do mi mi nus, Do tus. tus. mi nus, Do mi nus, Do nus. mi nus. 75 m m

80 Fl. I Perc. Tu so lus al ti Tu Tu so so lus al lus al ti si si mus, ti si Tu so lus al ti si mus, I ()

81 Fl Perc. mus, mus, Je Je Je Je su Chris su Chris su Chris su Chris te. te. te. te.

82 Fl. 200 J 78 Perc. Strike edge o cymbal laterally norm. Medium Tymani elt mallets Cum Cum Cum Cum Sanc Sanc Sanc Sanc to Si to Si to Si to Si J

83 Fl. Perc. 205 m ri tu ri tu ri tu ri tu in in in in glo glo glo glo ri a De ri a De ri a De ri a De i Pat i Pat i Pat i Pat

84 Fl. Perc ris. ris. ris. ris.

85 Fl. Perc. ben Glo ri a in ex cel sis De o. ben oco rall. oco rall. Glo ben A ben A K a temo 220 K a temo ben ben ri a in men. men. ben ben ben ex cel sis De o. ben 81

86 Fl. 82 Perc. A A Glo Glo men. ri a in ri a in ex ex cel sis De cel sis De o. o. men.

87 Fl. Perc. 225 rall. a temo rall. A A A A a temo men. men. men. men. 8

88 Fl. Perc. 20 sz sz 84 div. A men. A men. A A men. men.

89 Fl Perc. A unis. A A A oss oss oss oss oss sz oss. div. men. men. men. men.

90 Flute Clarinet in Bb Adagio esressivo q=ca. 69 Sanctus/Benedictus 5 86 Vibrahone Piano arco m Tenor solo m Sorano Alto Tenor Sanc Bass Violin I Violin II Viola Violoncello Contrabass Adagio esressivo q=ca. 69 con sord. con sord. con sord. con sord. izz. m Coyright 2007 m sim. sim. sim. sim. sim.

91 87 Fl. 10 Vib. sim. Ten. solo m tus Sanc tus Sanc tus Do minus De us sa ba

92 Fl. Vib. A Ten. solo oco, es. oco, es. 88 oco oth. Ple oco ni sunt coe li et Ple ni sunt coe li Ple ni sunt coe li A senza sord. oco senza sord. oco senza sord. oco senza sord. oco

93 89 Fl. 15 Vib. ben m Ten. solo ter ra Glo ri a Tu a, Tu a. et ter ra Glo ri a Tu a. et ter ra Glo ri a Tu a m

94 Fl. Vib. Ten. solo 20 B senza vib. m m with mallets m ben Osan na oss. Osanna in in ex cel sis ex cel sis De 90 De B izz. arco m izz. arco m es. izz. m izz. m arco sul A m m ben ben m

95 Fl. Vib. 25 rall. a temo 91 arco m Ten. solo o, o, ben Osan na ben Osanna in in ex cel sis, ex cel sis ben ben arco ben arco sul G ben ex ex ex ex m cel m cel m cel m cel sis De sis De sis De sis De rall. ben o. ben o. ben o. o. ben a temo con sord. sul E con sord. con sord. con sord.

96 92 Fl. 0 sz Vib. Ten. solo m m ben ben ben ben ben

97 Fl. Vib. Ten. solo C Andante sostenuto q=ca. 100 oco es. with mallets 9 C Andante sostenuto q=ca. 100 es. es. es. arco es. es. Be ne

98 94 Fl. 5 Vib. m Ten. solo dic tus qui ve nit in no mi ne Do mi ni. sub m m izz. izz. m

99 Fl. Vib. Ten. solo () D sz m m m 95 Be ne dic tus qui Be Be ne dic tus, be ne ne dic tus, D arco arco

100 Fl. Vib. Ten. solo ve nit in no mi ne Do 96 dic tus, be ne be ne dic tus, be ne

101 Fl. Vib. 40 m m 97 Ten. solo mi ni, qui ve nit, qui ve nit in dic dic tus, tus, qui ve nit, qui ve nit, qui qui m m m m ve ve nit nit

102 98 Fl. Vib. Ten. solo 45 cresc. no mi ne, in no mi ne in in no no m mi mi ne, ne, in in no mi ne no mi ne

103 Fl. Vib. 99 Ten. solo Do Do Do sub sub

104 Fl. Vib. Ten. solo E es. 100 mi ni. E mi mi ni. ni. O O

105 101 Fl. 50 m Vib. san na in ex cel sis De o, in ex san na in ex cel sis De o, in ex sub m m izz. izz. m

106 Fl. Vib. () cel cel sis sis De De m sz o, o, 55 m 102 legg. legg. legg. arco O O legg. arco san na in san na in ex ex cel sis cel sis De De