Mass (theatre)

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MASS (formally, "MASS: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers") is a musical piece composed by Leonard Bernstein. Specifically commissioned by First Lady of the United States Jacqueline Kennedy, wife of President John F. Kennedy, it made its premiere on September 8, 1971, conducted by Maurice Peress, as part of the opening of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.[1] Originally, Bernstein had intended to compose a traditional Requiem Mass, but instead decided on this more innovative style.

The work is based on the Tridentine Mass of the Roman Catholic Church, which was the order of liturgy in use at the time of its commissioning by Mrs. Kennedy. By the time the play debuted in 1971, however, the Catholic Church had adopted the Mass of Paul VI, following the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. It also includes some additional texts written by Bernstein, Broadway composer Stephen Schwartz[2], and Paul Simon (who wrote the first quatrain of the trope "Half of the People").

Contents

[edit] Cast of characters

In its traditional layout, the cast consists of the Celebrant, an altar server, and three choirs.

  • Celebrant – The central character of the play, he is a Catholic priest who performs the actions of the Mass.
  • Latin Choir – Arrayed to one side of the stage is a choir of men and women who sing the Latin portions of the Mass.
  • Boys Choir – This choir of boys responds to the Latin choir's chanting and is present on the opposite side of the stage from the Latin choir.
  • Street Choir – Sharing center stage with the Celebrant is a group of men and women who participate in the prayers of the Mass, and present their reactions to those prayers in a modern context.
  • Altar Server – He assists the Celebrant in various actions throughout the course of the play.

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

At the beginning of the score, all performers are in harmony and agreement. During the course of the Mass, however, the street choir begins expressing doubts and suspicions about the necessity of God in their lives and the role of the Mass itself. At the play's emotional climax, this doubt and confusion spreads to the Celebrant himself, who hurls the just-consecrated bread and wine to the ground in an act of sacrilege. The other cast members collapse to the ground as if dead while the Celebrant sings a song calling his lifetime of faith and beliefs into question. At the end of his song, he too, collapses.

The plot is resolved when the altar server, who was absent from the stage during the increasing tension of the various players, sings a hymn of praise to God and restores the faith of the Celebrant and the three choirs, who then join the altar server, one by one, in his hymn of praise.

As in the actual Mass, the last words of the piece are: "The Mass is ended; go in peace." In Bernstein's play these words are heard over pre-recorded tape.

[edit] Movements

  1. Antiphon: Kyrie eleison
  2. Hymn and Psalm: "A Simple Song"
  3. Responsory: Alleluia
  4. Prefatory Prayers
  5. Thrice-Triple Canon: Dominus vobiscum
  6. In nomine Patris
  7. Prayer for the Congregation (Chorale: "Almighty Father")
  8. Epiphany
  9. Confiteor
  10. Trope: "I Don't Know"
  11. Trope: "Easy"
  12. Meditation no. 1
  13. Gloria tibi
  14. Gloria in excelsis
  15. Trope: "Half of the People"
  16. Trope: "Thank You"
  17. Meditation no. 2
  18. "The Word of the Lord"
  19. "God Said"
  20. Credo in unum Deum
  21. Trope: "Non Credo"
  22. Trope: "Hurry"
  23. Trope: "World Without End"
  24. Trope: "I Believe in God"
  25. Meditation no. 3: De profundis, part 1
  26. De profundis, part 2
  27. "Our Father..."
  28. Trope: "I Go On"
  29. "Holy! Holy! Holy!..."
  30. "Agnus Dei..."
  31. "Things Get Broken"
  32. "Secret Songs"

[edit] References

  1. ^ Schonberg, Harold C.. "Kennedy Hall Gets Acoustics Workout", The New York Times, September 2, 1971.
  2. ^ The Official Leonard Bernstein Web Site page on Mass. Retrieved February 10, 2006.
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