John Burge

Commissioner: The Anglican Cathedral of Christ Church, Montreal, Quebec

Premiere: Christ Church Cathedral Choir, Patrick Wedd, conducting, at the Anglican Cathedral of Christ Church, Montreal, PQ, Sunday, August 10, 2008

Duration: approximately 20 minutes

Choral Score Purchase: This work can be purchased directly from this website by making a payment for a bulk order based on the number of members in the choir. After payment is made using the checkout icon and Paypal, a link is instantly sent to the purchaser to enable the immedatiate downloading of the score's pdf. The receipt indicates that the choir has permission to make the number of copies paid for but, if desired, the choir will be provided with a personalized cover page that states the choir has a photocopy site license to reproduce the number of copies purchased. Alternatively, choirs are encouraged to contact John Burge directly should they wish to receive an Invoice and/or make payment using cheque or e-transfer.

Movements:

1. Kyrie
2. Gloria
3. Sanctus
4. Benedictus
5. Agnus Dei

Program Note:The impetus for this Mass setting came from Patrick Wedd, Music Director and Organist of Anglican Cathedral of Christ Church, Montreal.  In honour of the 100th anniversary of Olivier Messiean’s birth, Patrick had programmed the performance of Messiaen’s entire solo organ repertoire during a two-week sacred music festival at Christ Church in the summer of 2008.  Having long admired, and been influenced by the music of Messiaen, John Burge decided that a fitting contribution to this event would be to compose an unaccompanied Missa Brevis which makes subtle reference to a single organ work of Messiaen’s. Messiaen’s, Le Banquet céleste, was selected, and it is treated in a kind of abstract fashion somewhat akin to the practice of the Renaissance parody Mass. 

It is worth initially mentioning that the choral work shares with the organ solo, the same central tonic key of F# major, This key often has significant religious symbolism for Messiaen.  Aural appreciation of this Missa Brevis does not require the listener to know the exact references to the original work but, by way of providing a compositional proof, the following summary is included. The closely voiced opening chord of the organ work (B-C#-E#-A#) is treated like a referential sonority in the opening choral Kyrie, as the voice parts repeatedly return to this chord or transpositions of it.  The central portion of the Gloria includes the same octatonic scale heard in the organ’s pedals (bar 11) with the choral work also maintaining the texture of a detached articulation against slower moving chords.  The opening of the Sanctus begins with a pentatonic wash of sound for double choir that emphasizes the same pitches of the pedal part’s last six bars.  The Agnus Dei incorporates the opening seven notes of the organ piece’s top voice, first heard in the Bass part in the Missa Brevis and then in all four voices towards the end of the movement.

With each passing year, the position and prominence of Messiaen’s music seems to grow  both in terms of performances and research activity.  This work is written as an homage to the great man’s technique and originality and one hopes that the resultant music will be compelling in its own right.