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Movements: 1. Kyrie 2. Gloria 3. Sanctus 4. Benedictus 5. Agnus Dei Scoring: Mixed chorus a cappella (SATB) Style: Baroque stile antico, circa 1700 Composed: June 23 – July 9, 2014 at Wichita, Kansas, USA I here present my second attempt at a Missa Brevis. This one is a cappella, and in the Dorian mode throughout. The first was composed in 2000, modeled after the short Masses Mozart wrote for Salzburg Cathedral in his youth; I posted it here some years ago. This work was commissioned in 2014 by a Roman Catholic church in Colorado that supports and highly values the best in traditional church music for their liturgies. A long-time friend and colleague happened to be the director of their small but well-trained choir, and he regularly programs 16th Century polyphony for them to perform during Masses. When he proposed the commission to me, he specified that I would compose a short but solemn Mass, as well as a set of Propers (the variable parts of the Mass, including the Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Offertory, and Communion) specifically for the feast day of the church’s patroness, Our Lady of Mount Carmel; he further stipulated that ideally the work would emulate Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611) – his favourite composer – in style and substance. Flattered that he thought highly enough of me to think that I was capable of this, my response was that the style would be a tall order – Victoria was one of the giants of Renaissance liturgical music, and not easily imitated – but that I would gladly do my best to present him with the best polyphony I could manage. My friend was satisfied with that, so we negotiated what I thought was a fairly generous stipend, and I accepted the commission. Though it was not due to be fulfilled until the following spring, I immediately set to work (I’ve rarely been one to procrastinate on a commission), though not without some trepidation; I am relatively facile in several historical styles, but I had never attempted to write 16th Century polyphony before, and I wasn’t altogether sure I would succeed. I worked diligently and completed the entire Mass in 15 days. While the final product did not disappoint me, despite having employed all my knowledge and skill, I knew I had not produced an authentic piece of 16th Century at all. Rather, I had written a solid work in stile antico. For those unfamiliar with the term, to quote Wikipedia: “Stile antico (literally "ancient style") is a term describing a manner of musical composition from the sixteenth century onwards that was historically conscious, as opposed to stile moderno, which adhered to more modern trends. It has been associated with composers of the high Baroque and early Classical periods of music, in which composers used controlled dissonance and modal effects and avoided overtly instrumental textures and lavish ornamentation, to imitate the compositional style of the late Renaissance. Stile antico was deemed appropriate in the conservative confines of church music, or as a compositional exercise as in J. J. Fux's Gradus Ad Parnassum (1725), the classic textbook on strict counterpoint. Much of the music associated with this style looks to the music of Palestrina as a model.” I had done my best, so I presented the Mass to my patron, and to my relief, he was very pleased. The work was premiered by my friend’s choir at a festal Mass on July 19, 2015, the Sunday following the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (July 16) when the patronal feast was observed, on which occasion the present recording was made. The following year, I was invited to come to Colorado to join the choir in performing the Mass again, and I accepted. The appreciation of the choir and congregation for my work was most affecting – a memorable experience indeed. I hope you enjoy this little Mass, and do let me know what you think of it. I’d especially like feedback on the counterpoint from any of you out there who may be experts in the art. Thanks for your time!

Hello Everyone, This is another experimental etude I wrote recently. The whole piece consists of many modulations. Again, there are syncopations and irregular time signatures. I have included some notes in one of the pdfs. Hope you like it and I appreciate your comments! Best, HoYin

I quite liked it. Harmonically fairly basic it's unpredictable, the abruptness of the ending that I particularly liked, leaving it just hanging. The rocking between subdominant and dominant worked because it's a pretty lively piece and short enough not and you did vary the tonal centre part way through. It had hints of Nyman's "Think Slow Act Fast" to me but only just. I looked at the score. Perhaps I'd have done some of the doubling differently but what you've done would work. Not sure about all the tuned percussion being necessary but that's just my opinion and it may be just what you want. Some of the balance was lost with this particular rendition. If performed, a conductor should sort out any problems there. Edit. Maybe I should add, given the section in which you've posted the work, that I see it as a piece complete in its own right, not part finished. It could be one of a suite of movements.

Noah, you bring up a good point in that labels of style or originality are usually pinned on artists by "the audience," and most composers, myself included, do not feel so defined by an identifiable style. I have propensities and weaknesses, and I put in a lot of effort to keep them hidden. 😉

Agreed more or less. CPP and counterpoint probably developed as "pleasing" to the ear because the human is attuned to the harmonic series. Minor keys sound sad or angry because the 3rd of the minor scale clashes with the natural 5th harmonic of any fundamental - and things. I believe a certain level of semiotics comes into music in that unless I'm wildly out, its performance seeks to communicate something to a listener so there must be elements understood by both performer and listener. It involves expectation: resolution of contrived tensions. Stray too far from the diatonic and problems arise. I used to listen to BBC3 Hear and Now. So often the works were neither pleasing nor did they make any sense, tonal or structurally. Occasionally they did but I got the feeling that much was just thrown together by people in musical education who really didn't know what they were up to or what their "composition" should sound like. I felt someone's embarrassment once at a summer school where one of these "composers" presented a score that looked good on paper, all very complicated but... the ensemble's conductor played a section then asked what the composer thought. The composer thought it was fine. Then, said the conductor, let me tell you... and he listed a whole lot of instances where things hadn't gone as per the score. Oh dear. That's why I think re Hear and Now and elsewhere, so many of those premières were also their dernières! Such music clicks with some listeners, others not and I suspect fashion comes into this more than a little!

Seems like a bit of a straw man, no? My point is simply knowing the artistic concepts doesn't translate to good art inherently. That takes time, and yes, experimentation.