Mass (Maslanka)

From Wind Repertory Project
David Maslanka

David Maslanka


General Info

Year: 1995 / 2005
Duration: c. 1:35:00
Difficulty: VII (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: David Maslanka, through Carl Fischer
Cost: Score and Parts - Rental


Movements

1. Before the Kyrie "She is the moss under my feet" – 7:15
2. Kyrie – 10:15
3. Before the Gloria: "Quietly entering your presence…" – 4:50
4. Gloria – 10:25
5. Before the Credo: "Bright window…" – 4:40
6. Credo – 18:25
7. Before the Sanctus: "Near the heritage of my dreams"/Sanctus – 9:45
8. Hymn to Sophia/Benedictus – 9:15
9. Before the Agnus Dei: "O Earth, o stars…" – 4:15
10. Agnus Dei – 5:50
11. Before the Dona nobis pacem: "I lay my sorrow down…" – 4:05
12. Dona nobis pacem – 7:15


Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute I-II (I doubling Piccolo)
Oboe I-II (II doubling English horn)
Bassoon I-II (II doubling Contrabassoon)
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Contra-Alto Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II (both doubling Soprano Saxophone)
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
C Trumpet I-II (I doubling Piccolo Trumpet; II doubling Flugelhorn)
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Harp
Piano
Organ
Timpani
Percussion (4 players), including:

  • Anvil (2: different sizes)
  • Bass Drum (2)
  • Bongos
  • Brake Drum (2: different sizes)
  • Cabasa
  • Castanets
  • Chimes (3)
  • Conga
  • Crash Cymbals (2)
  • Crotales (4)
  • Gong (5 small, 3 medium)
  • Hi-Hat
  • Maracas (2)
  • Marimba (2)
  • Orchestra Bells (2)
  • Shakers (small)
  • Sleigh Bells
  • Snare Drum
  • Suspended Cymbal (3 small, 3 large)
  • Tambourine
  • Tam-tam (2)
  • Tenor Drum
  • Tom-tom
  • Vibraphone
  • Wood Block (small)
  • Xylophone (2)

Soprano voice
Baritone voice
SATB chorus
SA children's chorus


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

I have come to understand that transformation is the main theme of my life. Over the course of many years and a long inner journey, I have gravitated toward the Latin Mass as the significant statement of transformation. If I have gravitated toward the Mass, I must also acknowledge the action of God in all the years of my life, especially in the years of turmoil and uncertainty, moving me toward this point of opening and understanding. If transformation is the issue, then transformation toward what? The center of the Mass is the Credo, and the center of the Credo is the Crucifixus. For me the Crucifixus symbolizes the opening of the ego, and the Resurrexit the birth of the inner child. The whole of the Mass supports and makes plain this inner transformation and its result: the heart of love, the voice of praise, the assurance that the universe is ultimately personal and that no one is lost. In mysterious statements and in a “dead” language, the Mass texts speak to the opening of the heart and its connection to God.

Almost from the start of my thinking about the Mass, I was moved to include the “female creative,” or the “Holy Mother,” an image which has arisen in many forms in my meditative life. I asked my friend Richard Beale to consider the problem. His marvelous and almost instantaneous response was Hymn to Sophia, Holy Wisdom, a set of seven poems on the “Holy Mother” theme, which I have used as preludes to the Latin texts. I must say that the awareness of the “Holy Mother” has become over a number of years the significant catalyst for my creative work, and I acknowledge this presence in my life with a sense of wonder and gratitude.

If I have been moved in a special way to write this Mass, my friend Gregg Hanson has been moved in an equally special and mysterious way to bring this music into sound. He has worked on this project for nearly three years with unflagging purpose and enthusiasm, for which he has my deepest thanks and appreciation. And in this same spirit I wish to thank the supporting conductors, all the performers, and the very large number of people who have joined in to make this presentation possible.

Finally, I wish to dedicate this work to the generations of my family -- my grandfathers and grandmothers, my father Stanley, my mother Mary, my brothers John and Robert, my wife Alison, my children Stephen, Matthew and Kathryn -- and to the continued opening of the human spirit in this age of transformation.

- Program Note by composer


N.b. Extensive further notes may be found on the composer's website.


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

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Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources

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