New mass setting WIP
  • TTPerotti
    Posts: 3
    Hi folks, I took a stab at writing some music for the Mass which includes the Kirie, Gloria, Alleluia, Sanctus, and Angus Dei. My goal was to produce something that is bit more intermediate, specially for the accompanist, and more musically interesting than your everyday NO mass setting, but that was still approachable for volunteer choirs and the contemporary congregation. I'm curious to get some feedback from choir directors and singers on the feasibility of use and maybe help check the parts for glaring issues as well as overall comments about the direction. (And to showcase my work and asset interest levels of course.)

    Besides tidying, further work would probably include a dedicated organ part as an option instead of piano, including a composition for the memorial acclamation, and producing parts singers and the worship aid.

    About myself, I'm a singer and pianist in Sonora, CA at Saint Patrick's Parish. I studied composition at San Jose State University and a hobbyist composer since then. I started volunteering in the choir here a few years ago and have been wanting to contribute new music to the Church ever since.

    Thanks for looking.
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen Xopheros
  • Xopheros
    Posts: 120
    Thanks for posting this work. As I do not have the time for a complete peer review, here are only a few points that I have noticed while looking at the first pages:
    1. Why do you use a piano as accompanying instrument? Almost every church has a pipe organ, but rarely a piano.
    2. If the congregation is meant to sing along with the choir, some men will sing the soprano part an octave lower. In your setting, this will lead to awkward chord inversions because the bass is often higher than the soprano. I would suggest to take care that the bass is always the lowest voice, even when the soprano is sung an octave down.
    3. As you use the new ICEL text (e.g. "... to people of good will"), make sure that you obtain permission from the copyright holding authorities. If you plan to publish this with a commercial publisher, the publisher will take care of this, but if you intend to self-publish, there are some forum members with experience (not sure whether they have been successful, though).
    Thanked by 1TTPerotti
  • TTPerotti
    Posts: 3
    @Xopheros
    Thanks for your attention! I'll consider what you wrote. On your first point, its been my experience in the western US that most churches have a piano or keyboard and rarely use their organ. Though I would of course prefer the organ (I plan to write a dedicated organ accompaniment) I wanted this piece to be accessible to the parishes that do the OCP style piano driven music.
    On your second point, I think in some places I neglected a dedicated bass part and opted for the hybrid baritone singer so most of the parts you're probably referencing are more like tenor parts. That said, what if I produced a "melody only" part that would be for use in the worship aid? Again, I'm trying to be accessible and I know a lot of congregants simply don't read music or at least feel confident singing harmony parts.
    As for the text, I had no idea I was in danger of copyright issues.. Isn't this a common prayer of the church? How can the text be copyrighted? Thanks for that heads up, I will look into it.
  • trentonjconn
    Posts: 814
    Why do you use a piano as accompanying instrument? Almost every church has a pipe organ, but rarely a piano.


    To our collective great sorrow, the precise opposite of this statement is true in the US. Your average Catholic church has a piano or a key board. The organ, if there even is one (and if there is one, it's likely digital) tends to sit disused. O Traurigkeit, O Herzeleid...
    Thanked by 1TTPerotti
  • Richard MixRichard Mix
    Posts: 2,986
    My preference is for less piano-centric settings, but neat Kyrie! A couple of minor details: the altos are not in an efficient register for Sanctus. Why not score as earlier at "in gloria Dei Patris"? 2) At "miserere nobis" I'd break the default beaming, especially if omitting slur.

    We don't live far apart. Maybe our paths will cross sometime!
    Thanked by 1TTPerotti
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,505
    This is a valiant effort with some good musical ideas. I'm hesitant to get too in the weeds with problems because I don't want to discourage you, and also I don't have enough technical chops to suggest solutions to any of the problems. I would highly recommend finding a composer (whose music you like) who can offer personalized advice.

    I hope none of the following discourages you (remember, I'm just some guy.)

    My overall impression is that this is not well suited to a Novus Ordo parish (in the current year and geographic area). It's A LOT. The melody (I assume the top line the melody) is not particularly easy to sing congregationally - it's too interesting, too complicated. The accompaniment feels like you want an orchestra. It also feels, idk - like late 19th century, maybe. Some of it feels like a classic movie score. If this were intended as an orchestral Mass at a(n Episcopal) Cathedral or for a concert, I could see it working. But at a semi-normal parish? I have a hard time envisioning it.

    Also, I wouldn't switch back and forth between English and Latin in a single movement.
    Thanked by 1TTPerotti
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,505
    oh, and not at all related to the quality of the composition, but...

    If you're going to be a working composer, you should figure out how to make better midi realizations. The tech has gotten A LOT better recently and you are more likely to be taken seriously if your simulations sound more professional.
    Thanked by 1TTPerotti
  • TTPerotti
    Posts: 3
    @"Adam Wood" Thank you for your time to take a look at my work, I really appreciate it. I certainly understand what you mean about it maybe not being suited for the "current year and geographic area". I did write it intentionally to push some of the norms of that milieu and, yes, to bring a more orchestral sound to the "piano Mass" ensemble. As a pianist myself, I get pretty bored by the basic realizations we're handed and the stock left hand figures.
    Honestly, I would be happy if it were used more for a special Mass, feast days, and solemnities and such. I wonder, who would be interested in something like this?
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