Posted on 06/05/2006 4:57:15 PM PDT by sionnsar
I have been to the mountaintop:
A new Mass setting, composed in honor of Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, will receive its premiere performance during the 10 a.m. Eucharist on Saturday, June 17, as part of the Episcopal Church’s 75th General Convention in Columbus, Ohio.
Mother of...
Composed by Craig Phillips, associate director of music and composer-in-residence at All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Beverly Hills,
Figures.
the "Festival Eucharist" is structured in the same way as a standard Mass setting and includes the movements Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus and Benedictus, Christ our Passover, and Agnus Dei.
As every Roman Catholic in the entire world takes something for their nausea, the earthly remains of Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Gabriel Faure and anyone else who's ever set the Mass to music have just spun their way into orbit.
For Phillips, it was a great honor to be asked to write a piece for the entire church, and especially as a tribute to the ministry of Bishop Griswold whom, he says, he has never met, but has admired for many years.
Hey, I did a tribute to Frank too, you know! And mine can be ordered online and makes a great gift for Father's Day.
The Rev. Canon Anthony Jewiss, deputy executive officer in the Office of General Convention, contacted Phillips in 2004 about writing the new Mass setting. Both agreed on music that would be accessible and easily learned by congregations throughout the Episcopal Church, while also being "a work of substance and musical interest -- one that would endure over time," Phillips said.
There's an idea I want to take with me for the rest of my life. A work of art about Frank Griswold that will "endure over time."
A standard version -- set for Congregation, Choir and Organ -- is the simpler edition intended for use in churches on Sundays. A second version -- with accompaniment for organ, brass quintet and timpani -- could be used in many churches for festive occasions such as Easter or Pentecost. The third version, which will be performed at General Convention, has accompaniments for 12-part brass, percussion and organ.
A conservative version includes readings from this book. Which makes a great Father's Day gift.
The composition also includes two choices for a Fraction Anthem, Phillips explains -- one more festive in nature,
Dumdumdumdumdumdumdum "FRRAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNK T Griswold, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain!!"
and the other, more contemplative.
"It's beginning to look a lot like Griswold, everywhere you go..."
In some of the movements, especially the Gloria, the choir performs large portions of the text, while the congregation sings a recurring refrain, such as "Glory to God in the highest." The Sanctus and Agnus Dei movements are sung by the entire congregation throughout.
Those who aren't out in the parking lot losing their breakfasts anyway.
"One other element that was brought into the piece was the idea of ’inclusiveness,’" Phillips said, commenting on two of the refrains that may be sung in Spanish, or Spanish and English simultaneously. "Also gender neutral language was used where it seemed appropriate."
All together now.
WELL, OF COURSE IT WAS!!
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. Griswold is anti-American scum, as far as that goes.
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