A Cappella Missa Brevis (2012-2013)
This missa brevis is an attempt at creating new sounds within a traditional frame and format. This piece grew out of an idea that came from a commission that fell through. I wrote this piece while studying with Dr. Lawrence Moss.
I. Kyrie
This is the first instance of two of my compositional ideas that have become fairly integral to my style since I studied at the University of Maryland: intentionally jarring juxtapositions of less-than-tonal material with very tonal, chordal sounds; and glissandi down or up to indiscriminate ending pitches.
This recording is from a live performance of the Kyrie at the New Music at Maryland concert, 5 December, 2012. Kathleen Jagielski and Courtney Kalbacker, sopranos. Megan Ihnen and Christina Massimei, altos. Rameen Chaharbaghi and Michael Oberhauser, tenors. Sean McArdle Pflueger and Eric Sillers, basses. Michael Oberhauser, conductor.
This recording is from a live performance of the Kyrie at the New Music at Maryland concert, 5 December, 2012. Kathleen Jagielski and Courtney Kalbacker, sopranos. Megan Ihnen and Christina Massimei, altos. Rameen Chaharbaghi and Michael Oberhauser, tenors. Sean McArdle Pflueger and Eric Sillers, basses. Michael Oberhauser, conductor.
II. Gloria
This movement begins with an "almost tonal" feeling that I found with Dr. Moss's help. From there, it develops into little cascades down that proceed largely sequentially before returning to the "almost tonal" feeling, which is then stripped down to stark octaves.
III. Sanctus
This movement plays with the octaves from the end of the second movement. These octaves grow out of and into chords that punctuate the important words at the beginning of the text. From there, a theme begins in the basses that is imitated by first the altos, then the sopranos. We also hear a counter-theme, drawn from the glissandi of the Kyrie. In the "pleni sunt caeli," I revisit the "almost tonal" feel of the Gloria, with some added asymmetry in the meter. The "benedictus" introduces a new idea to this piece, which is built from an idea I've used many times before and since (chords slowly growing out of unisons or octaves) combined with another idea I've been exploring since: an almost mechanical repetition of material of different lengths in the separate voices, which creates new harmonies each time. When the pattern has run its course, the voices work together until the end and a final statement of the theme from the beginning of the movement.
IV. Agnus Dei
The initial A section of this movement grew out of a piece I composed and abandoned several years prior: a setting of Robert Herrick's "To the Virgins." I ended up not liking the older piece, but with a few tweaks it fit well into this Agnus Dei, though it is markedly more tonal than the other movements. It still focuses on a sound that is common to the rest of this piece (and many of my other pieces): the perfect fourth (whether melodic or harmonic). I quickly revisit several ideas from previous movements before going into the final A section, which ends in an obviously tonal last few measures.