A Little Mass for Christmas
A Little Mass for Christmas is inspired by the missa brevis or “short mass” form. These pieces were musical settings of the Latin mass that either left out some sections of the mass (usually the long Credo) or had shorter durations than longer versions of the mass like the requiem or the missa solemnis.
This “little mass” sets the text of the Ordinary Mass in its entirety, and adds two hymns heard at the Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve: “Hodie Christus Natus Est” (Today, Christ is Born) and “In Spendoribus Sanctorum” (In the Splendor of the Saints).
A Little Mass for Christmas takes inspirations from both Gregorian and Eastern Orthodox chant, along with the Baroque and Classical periods, modern Minimalism, and American Spiritual and Gospel tradition.
A Little Mass for Christmas was commissioned by the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia through the support of a grant from the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage.
This “little mass” sets the text of the Ordinary Mass in its entirety, and adds two hymns heard at the Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve: “Hodie Christus Natus Est” (Today, Christ is Born) and “In Spendoribus Sanctorum” (In the Splendor of the Saints).
A Little Mass for Christmas takes inspirations from both Gregorian and Eastern Orthodox chant, along with the Baroque and Classical periods, modern Minimalism, and American Spiritual and Gospel tradition.
A Little Mass for Christmas was commissioned by the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia through the support of a grant from the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage.