Bernstein Mass CD

During his legendary tenure at the New York Philharmonic from 1958 to 1969, Leonard Bernstein composed only two works, Symphony No. 3: Kaddish (1963) and Chichester Psalms (1965). He had dedicated Kaddish to the memory of John F. Kennedy shortly after his assassination, and when Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis asked Bernstein to compose a piece for the 1971 inauguration of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., he was eager to honor the occasion with a new, large-scale work because he knew he had always wanted "to compose a service of one sort or another." The son of Russian-Jewish parents, a social liberal, and lifelong activist, Bernstein made a surprising choice: the Roman Catholic Mass. But instead of a straightforward, purely musical setting of the Latin liturgy, he created a broadly eclectic theatrical event by placing the 400-year-old religious rite into a tense, dramatic dialog with music and lyrics of the 20th century vernacular, using this dialectic to explore the crisis in faith and cultural breakdown of the post-Kennedy era. Over the years, the ideas and dissent embodied in MASS, which were so threatening to the political and religious establishments in the volatile early-1970s, have become a more accepted part of spiritual and political discourse. MASS came full circle when, in 2000, Pope John Paul II requested a performance at the Vatican. It's radical mixing of musical styles, too, has also become less shocking and more accepted in the musical sphere. Time has revealed MASS to be a visionary piece that continues to be relevant and move audiences as it enjoys performances around the world.

1. I. Devotions Before Mass 2. 1. Antiphon: Kyrie Eleison 3. 2. Hymn and Psalm: "A Simple Song" 4. 3. Responsory: Alleluia 5. II. First Introit (Rondo) 6. 1. Prefatory Prayers 7. 2. Thrice - Triple Canon: Dominum Vobiscum 8. III. Second Introit 9. 1. in Nomine Patris 10. 2. Prayer for the Congregation (Chorale: "Almighty Father") 11. 3. Epiphany 12. IV. Confession 13. 1. Confiteor 14. 2. Trope: "I Don't Know" 15. 3. Trope: "Easy" 16. V. Meditation #1 17. VI. Gloria 18. 1. Gloria Tibi 19. 2. Gloria in Excelsis 20. 3. Trope: "Half of the People" 21. 4. Trope: "Thank You" 22. VII. Meditation #2 23. VIII. Epistle: "The Word of the Lord" 24. IX. Gospel-Sermon: "God Said" 25. Voice [Preacher] 26. X Credo 27. 1. Credo in Unum Deum 28. 2. Trope: "Non Credo" 29. 3. Trope: "Hurry" 30. 4. Trope: "World Without End" 31. 5. Trope: "I Believe in God" 32. XI. Meditation #3 (De Profundis, Part 1) 33. XII. Offertory (De Profundis, Part 2) 34. XIII. the Lord's Prayer 35. 1. "Our Father..." 36. 2. Trope: "I Go On" 37. XIV. Sanctus 38. XV. Agnus Dei (Beginning) 39. XV. Agnus Dei (Conclusion) 40. XVI. Fraction: "Things Get Broken" 41. XVII. Pax: Communion ("Secret Songs"