Solemn Mass, Op. 12: No. 2, Gloria

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It is usually but not always part of any musical setting of the Mass. Kyrie movements often have a ternary ABA musical structure that reflects the symmetrical structure of the text. Musical settings exist in styles ranging from Gregorian chant to Folk.

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Of catalogued Gregorian chant melodies, 30 appear in the Liber Usualis. These repeats are notated by the Roman numerals "iij" for three times or "ij" for twice. Later Kyries have more elaborate patterns, such as aaa bbb aaa', aaa bbb ccc', or aba cdc efe'. Note that the final line is nearly always modified somewhat; in some cases this may be because it leads into the Gloria better.

In forms both with and without literal repeats, most Kyries in the Liber Usualis have a closing phrase used in nearly all of the lines of the text. This in fact parallels the text, as each line ends with the same word "eleison". Because of the brevity of the text, Kyries were often very melismatic. This encouraged later composers to make tropes out of them, either by adding words to the melisma as how a sequence is often considered , or extending the melisma.

In fact, because of the late date of most Kyries, it is not always clear whether a particular Kyrie melody or the apparently troped text came first; it could just as easily be the case that a syllabic song was converted into a melisma for a Kyrie verse. In some cases, verses interpolate Latin text between each "Kyrie" or "Christe" and "eleison". As the Kyrie is the first item in settings of the mass ordinary and the second in the requiem mass the only mass proper set regularly over the centuries , nearly all of the thousands of composers over the centuries who have set the ordinaries of the mass to music have included a Kyrie movement.

Kyrie movements often have a structure that reflects the concision and symmetry of the text. Many have a ternary ABA form known as a three-fold kyrie, where the two appearances of the phrase "Kyrie eleison" consist of identical or closely related material and frame a contrasting "Christe eleison" section. Famously, Mozart sets the "Kyrie" and "Christe" texts in his Requiem Mass as the two subjects of a double fugue. The Gloria is a celebratory passage praising God the Father and Christ.

In Mass settings normally in English composed for the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer liturgy, the Gloria is commonly the last movement, because it occurs in this position in the text of the service. In Order One of the newer Common Worship liturgy, however, it is restored to its earlier place in the service. The Credo , a setting of the Nicene Creed , is the longest text of a sung Mass. The purpose of singing these two texts in Latin is to engender a sense of unity in the faithful, all of whom thus sing the prayer of Jesus and the shared belief of the universal Church in the same language.

The Sanctus is a doxology praising the Trinity.

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A variant exists in Lutheran settings of the Sanctus. While most hymnal settings keep the second person pronoun , other settings change the second person pronoun to the third person. This is most notable in J. Bach 's Mass in B minor , where the text reads gloria ejus "His glory". German Sanctus from his Deutsche Liturgie also use the third person. The Benedictus is a continuation of the Sanctus. Hosanna in excelsis is repeated after the Benedictus section, often with musical material identical to that used after the Sanctus , or very closely related.

In Gregorian chant the Sanctus with Benedictus was sung whole at its place in the mass. However, as composers produced more embellished settings of the Sanctus text, the music often would go on so long that it would run into the consecration of the bread and wine.

This was considered the most important part of the Mass, so composers began to stop the Sanctus halfway through to allow this to happen, and then continue it after the consecration is finished. This practice was forbidden for a period in the 20th century. The Agnus Dei is a setting of the " Lamb of God " litany, containing the responses miserere nobis have mercy upon us , repeated twice, and dona nobis pacem grant us peace once at the end. In a Requiem Mass , the words "miserere nobis" are replaced by "dona eis requiem" grant them rest , while "dona nobis pacem" is replaced by "dona eis requiem sempiternam" grant them eternal rest.

There is some additional terminology regarding Mass settings indicating whether or not they include all five usual sections of the ordinarium, and whether or not the mass is intended for exceptionally festive occasions. Masses containing only a setting of the Kyrie and the Gloria , or a mass containing all these parts, but relatively short in duration, or a mass in a setting that is less extended in vocal and orchestral forces than that of a Neapolitan mass. Missa longa "long Mass" can indicate the counterpart of Missa brevis when the aspect of duration is considered.

Missa solemnis indicates a solemn mass, usually for special festive occasions and with an extended vocal and orchestral setting. In that sense Missa brevis is sometimes used to indicate the counterpart of a Missa solemnis. The Missa brevis et solemnis short and solemn is an exceptional format, for its best known instances tied to the Salzburg of archbishop Hieronymus Colloredo , although earlier examples are extant.

Mozart described it thus in a letter he wrote in "the Archbishop" in this quotation refers to Colloredo: Our church music is very different from that of Italy, since a Mass with the whole Kyrie, the Gloria, the Credo, the Epistle sonata, the Offertory or motet, the Sanctus and the Agnus Dei must not last longer than three quarters of an hour.

This applies even to the most Solemn Mass spoken by the Archbishop himself. Special study is required for this kind of composition, particularly as the Mass must have a full contingent of instruments—trumpets, drums and so forth. The "brevis et solemnis" description applies to several of the Masses Mozart composed in Salzburg between and , the Sparrow Mass being considered as its first instance for this composer. Tongue-in-cheek, and not indebted to Viennese traditions, Gioachino Rossini qualified one of his last compositions, a mass, as both "petite" "small" and "solennelle" "solemn".

In this case "small" rather refers to the modest forces needed for its performance, and "solemn" to its duration, although later commentators would describe the composition as "neither small nor solemn". During Lent in Latin: Quadragesima and Advent in Latin: Adventus the Gloria is not sung.

Michael Haydn composed a mass suitable for Lent and Advent, the Missa tempore Quadragesimae , in D minor for the modest forces of choir and organ. Missa senza credo "Mass without a Credo" indicates a musical setting of the usual parts of the Mass ordinary with exception of the Credo.

The sixth and last part of the Ordinarium either Ite, missa est , or, in masses without Gloria, Benedicamus Domino is usually not set as part of a Mass composition. In a Tridentine Mass that part of the Ordinarium is usually spoken, or sung to the Gregorian melody provided in the Roman Missal, although early polyphonic settings for the "Deo gratias" response e. The Proper of the Mass is usually not set to music in a Mass itself, except in the case of a Requiem Mass , but may be the subject of motets or other musical compositions.

Some Mass compositions, like for instance Rossini 's Petite messe solennelle , do however contain parts outside the Ordinarium. Some Mass compositions even consist entirely of such additions: Schubert 's Deutsche Messe , a set of eight hymns with epilogue, [5] is an example of such a mass. Also purely instrumental compositions can be part of a mass celebration, e. In a liturgical Mass, there are other sections that may be sung, often in Gregorian chant. These sections, the "Proper" of the Mass, change with the day and season according to the Church calendar, or according to the special circumstances of the Mass.

Ordinarium and proprium sections of a specific liturgical mass are not typically set to music together in the same composition. The one major exception to this rule is the mass for the dead, or requiem. Following the distribution of the Sacrament, it is customary in most Lutheran churches to sing the Nunc dimittis.

The earliest musical settings of the Mass are Gregorian chant.

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The different portions of the Ordinary came into the liturgy at different times, with the Kyrie probably being first perhaps as early as the 7th century and the Credo being last it did not become part of the Roman mass until In the early 14th century, composers began writing polyphonic versions of the sections of the Ordinary. The reason for this surge in interest is not known, but it has been suggested that there was a shortage of new music since composers were increasingly attracted to secular music, and overall interest in writing sacred music had entered a period of decline.

Two manuscripts from the 14th century, the Ivrea Codex and the Apt Codex , are the primary sources for polyphonic settings of the Ordinary. Stylistically these settings are similar to both motets and secular music of the time, with a three-voice texture dominated by the highest part. Most of this music was written or assembled at the papal court at Avignon.

Several anonymous complete masses from the 14th century survive, including the Tournai Mass ; however, discrepancies in style indicate that the movements of these masses were written by several composers and later compiled by scribes into a single set. The musical setting of the Ordinary of the Mass was the principal large-scale form of the Renaissance.

Mass (music)

The earliest complete settings date from the 14th century, with the most famous example being the Messe de Nostre Dame of Guillaume de Machaut. Individual movements of the Mass, and especially pairs of movements such as Gloria-Credo pairs, or Sanctus-Agnus pairs , were commonly composed during the 14th and early 15th centuries.

Complete Masses by a single composer were the norm by the middle of the 15th century, and the form of the Mass, with the possibilities for large-scale structure inherent in its multiple movement format, was the main focus of composers within the area of sacred music; it was not to be eclipsed until the motet and related forms became more popular in the first decades of the 16th century. Most 15th-century Masses were based on a cantus firmus , usually from a Gregorian chant, and most commonly put in the tenor voice. The hymn begins with the words that the angels said when the birth of Christ was announced to shepherds in Luke 2: Other verses were added very early, forming a doxology.

Gloria in excelsis Deo is an example of the psalmi idiotici "private psalms", i. Other surviving examples of this lyric poetry are the Te Deum and the Phos Hilaron. The Latin translation is traditionally attributed to Saint Hilary of Poitiers c. However, this word is used near the end: The Greater Doxology is always sung, whereas the Lesser Doxology is read. There are certain textual differences between the two, and the order is somewhat altered in the two forms.

By contrast, in the Roman Rite this hymn is not included in the Liturgy of the Hours , but is sung or recited in the Mass , after the Kyrie , on Sundays outside of Lent and Advent and on solemnities and feasts. The Gloria is sometimes omitted and the Kyrie and Gloria are never sung together. In the Church of England 's edition of the Book of Common Prayer , it was used in the same position as in the Roman Rite but was later moved to the end of the service, immediately before the concluding blessing. The recently published Common Worship provides two Orders one of which places the hymn in the earlier position.

This edition, still the standard in the breakaway Continuing Anglican churches, allowed the hymn to be used in place of the Gloria Patri after the psalms and canticles at Evening Prayer. In a Rite Two i. It may also be used at other times as desired excepting Lent and Advent.

The hymn is also used in the Divine Service of the Lutheran Church and in the services of many other Christian churches. A tradition recorded in the Liber Pontificalis attributes to Pope Telesphorus —? After the 12th century Advent began to be considered a penitential period in imitation of Lent , to the exclusion therefore of the Gloria in excelsis Deo. In the Tridentine Mass , the priest is instructed, when saying the opening phrase "Gloria in excelsis Deo", to extend his hands and raise them to shoulder height and, at the word "Deo", to join them and bow his head.

He is then to continue the recitation standing erect with hands joined and bowing his head to the cross at the words "Adoramus te", "Gratias agimus tibi", "Iesu Christe" twice , and "Suscipe deprecationem nostram", and at the concluding phrase as also at the concluding phrase of the Nicene Creed and the Sanctus , to make a large sign of the cross on himself.

The Roman Missal as revised in simplifies this, saying: If not sung, it is to be recited either by all together or by two parts of the congregation responding one to the other. The priest puts on his phelonion chasuble.

When it comes time for the Great Doxology the deacon opens the Holy Doors , and the priest raises his hands orans and exclaims: The Great Doxology concludes with the chanting of the Trisagion and leads into the chanting of the Troparion of the Day. If the bishop is present he vests in his full pontifical vestments for the Great Doxology, and the subdeacons stand behind the Holy Table altar holding the lit dikirion and trikirion.

When the Lesser Doxology is called for, it is simply said by the reader , the priest does not put on his phelonion, the Holy Doors remain closed and no lamps or candles are lit. The Lesser Doxology does not end with the Trisagion and is followed by an ektenia litany. The Gloria has been and still is sung to a wide variety of melodies. Modern scholars have catalogued well over two hundred of them used in the medieval church. These expanded the basic Gloria by, for instance, adding to mentions of Jesus Christ a mention of some relationship between him and his mother.

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