Bright Mass with Canons (for chorus and organ) | Nico Muhly

For John Scott and the choir of Saint Thomas Fifth Avenue, New York

Orchestration
Organ
ChorusSSAATTBB choir
Duration13 min 30 s

CategoryChorus a cappella / + 1 instrument
Topic
- Religion and spirituality

Composer
Nico Muhly

Performances
View Past Performances

Programme Note

There are canons – imitative repetitions – in almost every bar of the Mass. In the Kyrie and Gloria, canons reference the imitative writing of early English composers Byrd and Weelkes, whereas the canonic writing in the Sanctus and the Agnus Dei is more abstract and spatial. The most intense use comes towards the beginning the Sanctus, in which each singer repeats a given figure in his own time, creating a flurry of sound to fill the space in Saint Thomas’s sanctuary.