Mass (amber)

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MASS (complete: MASS: A Theater Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers , English for " Mass ") is a musical theater piece by Leonard Bernstein .

Content and music

The piece is a kind of worship service where things get out of hand. A celebrant gathers his congregation around him - the “street people” - and a Catholic mass is celebrated. This is interrupted by deep life and faith crises of the priest and the parishioners.

The music style is constantly changing and there are many styles of the 20th century: jazz , blues , rock , Broadway style , expressionism and twelve-tone technique .

Origin and background

The commission for the composition came from Jacqueline Kennedy , widow of US President John F. Kennedy . The premiere was on September 8, 1971 as part of the opening ceremonies for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC The European premiere took place in 1973 with a guest performance by the Yale Symphony Orchestra under the direction of John Mauceri at the Wiener Konzerthaus . The German-language premiere took place on February 16, 1981 in the Vienna State Opera under the direction of Maurice Peress , the German text is by Marcel Prawy .

“It took Bernstein a few years to compose; it was the time of the sexual revolution , the women's and environmental movements . In addition, the USA was in the middle of the Vietnam War . In this politically tense mood, Bernstein's 'Mass' sparked heated controversy. His handling of the Mess rite was as controversial as the message of peace and brotherhood with which Bernstein indirectly expressed his rejection of the Vietnam War. "

- Ruth Halle, Sebastian Fleischer : Ö1 Kulturjournal, April 14, 2011

The piece is based on the Latin liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church from 1962 , which was in use at the time the composition was commissioned. The premiere (1971) took place after the liturgical reform carried out in accordance with the decision of the Second Vatican Council . The piece also includes other texts by Bernstein and Broadway composer Stephen Schwartz .

Bernstein extracted three movements from the work entitled Three Meditations for Cello and Orchestra.

sentences

  1. Antiphon: Kyrie eleison
  2. Hymn and Psalm: "A Simple Song"
  3. Responsory: Alleluia
  4. Prefatory Prayers
  5. Thrice - Triple Canon: Dominus vobiscum
  6. In nomine Patris
  7. Prayer for the Congregation (Chorale: "Almighty Father")
  8. Epiphany
  9. Confiteor
  10. Trope: "I Don't Know"
  11. Trope: »Easy«
  12. Meditation no.1
  13. Gloria tibi
  14. Gloria in excelsis
  15. Trope: "Half of the People"
  16. Trope: "Thank You"
  17. Meditation no.2
  18. "The Word of the Lord"
  19. "God Said"
  20. Credo in unum Deum
  21. Trope: "Non Credo"
  22. Trope: "Hurry"
  23. Trope: "World without End"
  24. Trope: "I Believe in God"
  25. Meditation no.3: De profundis, part 1
  26. De profundis, part 2
  27. "Our Father ..."
  28. Trope: "I Go On"
  29. “Holy! Holy! Holy! ... "
  30. "Agnus Dei ..."
  31. "Things Get Broken"
  32. "Secret Songs"

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Yale Symphony Orchestra - Our History ( Memento of the original from May 24, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / yso.research.yale.edu
  2. ↑ Ruth Halle, Sebastian Fleischer: Bernstein's "Mass" at OsterKlang - Life and Faith Crises of the 1960s , oe1.orf.at, April 14, 2011