Names for Mass Settings..
  • BrBearOFS
    Posts: 21
    I have completed an English Mass Setting for the OF and as I was preparing to print it out in preparation for shipment to the Office of Divine Worship for approval, it occured to me that I have not given the Mass setting a name. Since this is one of my first works, I find myself in a bit of a quandry... I need a name for it.. and I dont really know if there is/are any rules for naming these things or can we name them however we feel lead? I would have picked a saints name.. however, since this is just the ordinary parts and not the propers it seems like it possibly should be named something else.. Any ideas there ?

    THank you in advance
    Mark
  • Bobby Bolin
    Posts: 417
    I don't think there are really any rules for naming them. A lot seemed to be named after the composer's home parish, a patron saint, the key the setting is in, etc...
  • Chris Garton-Zavesky
    Posts: 6,902
    Mark,
    There are several intelligent ways to address this question.

    1) Do you have a patron? A patron saint? Or even a particular inspiration for the Mass?
    2) Did you use an existing melody as the basis?
    3) Did you compose it for a particular occasion (i.e., Requiem; Nuptial; installation of a pastor, bishop.)?

    When I wrote a setting of the Mass, in four parts, I called it the Missa in honore Papa Benedicte or something similar (don't have the title page in front of me).

    If you're hoping to use it for a fledgling EF community, could you call it something like Missa Summorum Pontificum or Missa Novum Evangelium.

  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,160
    Oops: St. Paul told us we aren't allowed to have a novum evangelium ("new gospel")! But I have an idea too: if it's for the EF, you could name it "Missa para la Comunidad Latina", and I'm sure that would help. :-)

    If you do pick a Latin name, feel free to share it here on the forum for proofreading. Even the best of us occasionally make a typo and don't notice it; and we wouldn't want a good setting to be burdened with a stealth grammar error in the title!

    Anyway, saints' names seem pretty common in this field, so that is an option.
    Thanked by 2stulte Gavin
  • Chris Garton-Zavesky
    Posts: 6,902
    Richard,

    I don't make serious typographical mistakes too often, but this was clearly a case of just such. I meant to type Mass of the New Evangelization.

    Thank you for not giving me more than a gentle ribbing.

  • StimsonInRehabStimsonInRehab
    Posts: 1,916
    Mass name? That's easy. Just take the name from the first few words of the trope in your Kyrie and you're all set.
    Thanked by 5Salieri Adam Wood Ben Gavin MarkThompson
  • SalieriSalieri
    Posts: 3,177
    Alternately, you could simply give the key. Mass is D is a very popular name among composers.
  • melofluentmelofluent
    Posts: 4,160
    Just not "Missa Crayola."
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen Ben
  • Liam
    Posts: 4,946
    I've used "Little Black Dress Mass" (the new nomenclature for Missa Brevis) colloquially for certain unnamed Mass settings....
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • StimsonInRehabStimsonInRehab
    Posts: 1,916
    Missae breviae (sp?) are like little black dresses are like statistics. All the essentials are covered, but people are always intrigued by what isn't.
    Thanked by 2Liam Gavin
  • BrBearOFS
    Posts: 21
    Thank you all for your input.. I figured a number of these suggestions would be workable. I love the Missa Crayola idea.. LOL..

    Since the writing bug has hit me.. I am sure there will be a more than just the two I have finished, so I should have opportunity to use your collective wisdom at one point or another.. Somehow a Little Black Dress Setting should somehow have a Jazz influence :)

    Peace and Good,

    Mark
    Thanked by 1StimsonInRehab
  • RichCMusicRichCMusic
    Posts: 4
    This is interesting. Seems like there are a few ways to lead you to a title. After a deep inspiration and conferring with Latin specialists at Notre Dame, UCS and the American Catholic University I named a mass about resurrection "Missa Resurrexit".
    Now working on a Gospel Mass setting. The style of music is Gospel ofcourse. Something in the genre of an Andre Crouch style. Just far enough out there to be compelling to experience. Keeping all the liturgy correct. I am with an Episcopal Church in Laguna Hills. sacredmusicpublishers.com
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,048
    I find it's about the concept of the piece. If I were to write a mass so simple that anyone could sing it, I might call it the Mass of St. Jude. A L'homme arme mass might be "...in honor of St. Gabriel Possenti".
    Thanked by 2Salieri StimsonInRehab
  • SalieriSalieri
    Posts: 3,177
    I find that it is usually about the concept of the work, or the reason for it's composition, or even an incidental facet of the piece:

    I have an English Mass that was composed for various reasons, and dedicated to the Diocesan Bishop, so I named it after the Diocese: Missa Campifontis

    I have a Two-part accompanied Latin Mass, that I specifically intended for joyful ocassions, which I named Missa Jubilate

    I have a Three-part acappella Latin Mass that includes the incipit of the Sanctus of Mass IX in the Sanctus (obviously), so I called in Missa Brevis in Honorem B.V.M.

    Then I have a Latin Mass that I'm working on SATB accap., which is in the Mixolydian mode, so I'm simply calling it Missa Brevis Septimi Toni.
  • francis
    Posts: 10,668
    You can also do a chronological name... Mass I, Mass II, Mass III, etc.
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