Mass Setting
Located in 2 routes
Mass Setting organizes music around the Ordinary of the Mass, creating large cyclic forms whose recurring text invites architectural unity, contrast across movements, and solemn ceremonial pacing. The sound can range from austere chant-derived writing to grand polyphonic edifices and full symphonic-choral declarations.
History
From Machaut through the cyclic masses of the Renaissance, through Baroque magnificence and the concert-scale masses of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Bruckner, and beyond, the mass has served as one of classical music’s great containers for style. Chapel, cathedral, court, and concert hall all shaped its evolution, and changing liturgical practice repeatedly altered whether masses were heard as functional worship, court splendor, or public art.
Defining artists
Essential listening
- Messe de Nostre Dame Kyrie — Orlando ConsortSpotifyYouTube
- Missa Papae Marcelli Gloria — The Tallis ScholarsSpotifyYouTube
- Mass in B Minor Credo — Monteverdi ChoirSpotifyYouTube
- Great Mass in C minor Kyrie — Collegium Vocale GentSpotifyYouTube
- Nelson Mass Gloria — Westminster Cathedral ChoirSpotifyYouTube
- Missa Solemnis Gloria — Monteverdi ChoirSpotifyYouTube
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Mass” citeturn2search9
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Choral music: Sacred music” citeturn0search0
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Choral music” citeturn4search5