Tuesday, July 11, 2006

NEW TRANSLATION MUSIC - GLORIA IS FINISHED

OK, so I decided instead to rework a Gloria from my 1991 Mass in Honor of the Precious Blood. This will simply be called Mass in Honor of the Precious Blood, second edition. Hey, what the heck? If GIA can print hymnals such as Gather Apprehensive - 105,798th Edition, a rework of a Mass can't hurt, especially if it conforms with Liturgiam Authenticam.

Feel free to click on the music to the left to sneak preview the melody. Also, click here for a basic MIDI (no choral or instrumental parts yet - just melody and organ accompaniment). I won't get fancy on choral parts until the translation is approved by Rome. This will save me in how many parts I might have to re-work. Later instrument additions will include brass and timpani. I promise there will be no guitars, accordions, washboards, banjos, or kazoos! ;)

One further note - in the original 1991 version of this Mass, the Gloria was responsorial. In this 2006 version, it is through-composed.

Let me know what you think.
Peace,
BMP

14 comments:

DominiSumus said...

I like it! I would use it at my parish.

Brian Michael Page said...

Thanks much. Wait till you see the choir and brass/timp parts (coming soon).
BMP

Anonymous said...

Hey, I like it. One beef. Thou shalt not write high Eb for a congregation! That's one of my problems with most H/H music, those darn high D's. I'm not sure the slower tempo in the middle is necessary. The mode change does the trick just fine. You can ritard right before the flourish that starts the A' section. Just some thoughts. All in all, just what I've been hoping more folks would write!

Mike

Brian Michael Page said...

I'll have to admit the E-flat's are rare for me. Since these couple of E-flat's go quick, I let them fly. A couple of notes:

1. There are no D's in the melody.
2. The E-flat's don't come early (like the E's on "We are called").
3. Nor do they are held for long periods of time (like in the refrain of "We have been told" - four rather slow beats. Of course, one publisher, not the copyright holder, drops the tune down a half step.)

Yeah, more like the Charles H.H. Parry high note than the Haugen-D'Hass indeed.

I did cut the middle to 80 bpm, but could actually go 90 with it. It was a bit extreme. But I did want to show some kind of contrast in the midi. The front and back sections are at 100.

Thanks for the feedback, and the overall compliment.
BMP

Anonymous said...

Dear Brian,

You mean that you WILL HAVE A MONOPOLY over the liturgical music once the translations are approved????

boo-wahaha

Brian Michael Page said...

Let's hope I don't become a monopoly. I would, however, like to see the Haugen-D'Hass variety upstaged by those Proulx/Peloquin styles, and of course, chant.
BMP

Anonymous said...

Keep up the good work. I just saw your name (and recognized it for the first time) in the Cantica Nova catalog. Get to work on a full cycle of choral introits for the church year. You may stop to eat and attend Mass. Now get moving : )

Mike

Anonymous said...

Your text is missing the following lines:
"Lord God, heavenly King,
O God almighty Father"
after "we give thanks to you for your great glory"

Brian Michael Page said...

Thanks much for pointing that out. I don't know how the sam hell I missed that.
Once I get the full translation I'm going to include it in my re-works. Thanks again.
BMP

Daniel Muller said...

I am not too sure about the thirds and fifths in the melody, but I would definitely change the accentuation of some of the lines, in which the primary beat falls under "we."

In the following two examples I have rewritten the rhythm to fall according to regular spoken English, although a case could be made for emphasizing the word "You" instead:

We | PRAISE You (3) We | BLESS You (3) We | WOR-ship You
Timpani on beats 2-3 of each measure

for | YOUR great | glo-ry.
Timpani beginning on "-ry:" 2-3-4|1

Similarly, in the following, I would try to de-emphasize "us" by coming at it from above; e.g.:

have | MER – cy on | us.
F_Ab Bb_C D Eb C

Daniel Muller said...

Whoops! Of course the D is flatted in that last line. Of course, the entire melody line could be lowered according to the harmonic progression that you have got.

Daniel Muller said...

Sorry; one final note, so to speak.

Thank you so much for converting from the responsorial Gloria religion. More and more I think that responsorial Glorias should be specifically banned out of respect for the text; if you are in such desperate straits, you might as well have the choir sing or schola chant it ... or just start learning a real setting of the text.

Now an antiphonal Gloria might be a horse of a different color ...

Brian Michael Page said...

Daniel - definitely some good points to consider. Thanks much. Reworking will be done once I get access to the final text. As it is, I have to put in a forgotten line - which I continue to dopeslap myself for. (oof)
Peace,
BMP

Daniel Muller said...

Thanks for your irenic remark. By the way, do you ever check your Yahoo account? I thought that that was a pretty good gag ... or gig.