K Y R I E ( F R O M N E W G O T H I C M A S S )
For mixed choir (optional organ)
New Gothic Mass
This setting will function in a typical mass service. (No Credo)
The score for both the Kyrie and the full mass is also available on Sheet Music Plus.
Winner of the American Prize in Choral Composition, 2015:
From a rich and powerful new setting of the mass that treats its text with care and thoughtfulness. Most of the Kyrie was written during a wild thunderstorm in Brooklyn, as the composer sat in an old building looking out at the stone walls of a cathedral. The dark and tremendous character that pervades this work explores a raw sense of the mass's themes, doing so in a way that is solemn, reverent, and thoughtful.
This setting of the mass is particularly dark and tremendous, and some may complain that movements like the Gloria are less celebratory than is conventional. For me, though, this is a sincere and deeply human interpretation. It focuses on the human experience of worship in a way that is perhaps closer to the medieval or Renaissance tradition than to the Classical and Romantic interpretations, embracing the turmoil, fear, awe, wonder, and sublimity inherent in the text and practice of the mass, and refusing to shy away from the intensity of the experience. In this way, I hope it evokes the ageless sentiments of the mass and brings them to the present in a way that feels both ancient and electrifyingly real.
© 2016 Kyle Randall
K Y L E R A N D A L L