Mass Setting for Small Church
  • ericbevansericbevans
    Posts: 5
    Hello,
    I am looking for a new English language Mass setting for our small church (30 to 40 people). We are currently using the Mass of Redemption (Janco). Since we only have a couple folks in the choir, we are just singing the melody - no harmony.

    Of the mass settings I've listened to so far, Missa Simplex (Proulx, O'Connor) seems like a viable option.

    Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

    Eric
  • irishtenoririshtenor
    Posts: 1,342
    Missa Simplex (Proulx, O'Connor) would be a great choice. I might also consider Heritage Mass (Alstott) and Mass of St. Francis (Buchholz).
    Thanked by 2LauraKaz RC_Liturgy_Music
  • ericbevansericbevans
    Posts: 5
    I will check those out. Thanks!
  • RC_Liturgy_Music
    Posts: 7
    Hi, Eric! We have a YouTube channel with some popular Mass Settings videos. These are all for novus ordo Parishes like yours. Some are traditional-ish, others mainstream, a few contemporary, and a couple of them are chant. None of them are in Latin or for the extraordinary form (although we want to upload those, too!).

    https://www.youtube.com/@rcliturgyandservicemusic

    Also, our website has 400 settings you can browse by style/genre.

    https://rc-music.org/

    But in short, we agree with @IrishTenor --> Heritage and Simplex are good bets for your needs.
  • Richard MixRichard Mix
    Posts: 2,826
    I've revised and completed my Missa brevis for St David of Wales. The 8:00 congregation sings it in unison with considerably more gusto than the 11:00 choir Mass audience.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • wspinnen
    Posts: 5
    I use Peter Latona’s Mass of the Immaculate Conception. English setting that has elements of chant and metrical music. In my opinion a good, mid-road setting that gently introduces chant style.
  • Bobby Bolin
    Posts: 423
    I really like the WLP settings: Danish, People's, Pope Paul VI, very simple and very singable.
    Thanked by 1Roborgelmeister
  • CatholicZ09
    Posts: 296
    Proulx’s Community Mass is pretty easy, too. I wouldn’t use the Gloria; it is awkward and probably the most difficult part of the setting.
  • Don9of11Don9of11
    Posts: 729
    At St. Mary's in Akron, Ohio - myself and the organist have recently done Mass of St. Mary Magdalene (Sarah Hart). We are currently sing Mass of St. Paul the Apostle (Christopher Walker). Mass of Renewal (Curtis Stephan) is a nice mass setting so is Missa Emmanuel (Richard Proulx), although Missa Emmanuel is more for Advent. Another Mass setting you might take a look at is Mass in Honor of of Pope Paul VI (Edward Connor), which originally appeared back in the 1970s, but has had the wording revised to meet the new standards. It was our Sunday Mass setting for nearly thirty some years at St. Mary's.
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