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BERNSTEIN
Mass
**
I. Devotions before Mass
1. Antiphon: Kyrie eleison
2. Hymn and Psalm: “A Simple Song”
3. Responsory: Alleluia
II. First Introit (Rondo)
1. Prefatory Prayers
2. Thrice-Triple Canon: Dominus vobiscum
III. Second Introit
1. In nomine Patris
2. Prayer for the Congregation (Chorale: “Almighty Father”)
3. Epiphany
IV. Confession
1. Confiteor
2. Trope: “I Don’t Know”
3. Trope: “Easy”
V. Meditation No. 1
VI. Gloria
1. Gloria tibi
2. Gloria in excelsis
3. Trope: “Half of the People”
4. Trope: “Thank You”
VII. Mediation No. 2
VIII. Epistle: “The Word of the Lord”
IX. Gospel-Sermon: “God Said”
X. Credo
1. Credo in unum Deum
2. Trope: “Non Credo”
3. Trope: “Hurry”
4. Trope: “World without End”
5. Trope: “I Believe in God”
XI. Meditation No. 3 (De profundis, part 1)
XII. Offertory (De profundis, part 2)
XIII. The Lord’s Prayer
1. Our Father …
2. Trope: “I Go On”
XIV. Sanctus
XV. Agnus Dei
XVI. Fraction: “Things Get Broken”
XVII. Pax: Communion (“Secret Songs”)
There will be no intermission in this program.
**
First performance at Ravinia and by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Supertitles by Jonathan Burton
Ravinia expresses its appreciation for the generous support of
Featured Sponsor
The Dancing Skies Foundation
and
The
Mass
Consortium
.
The
Mass
Consortium comprises Judy and Merrill Blau,
Don and Susan Civgin, Kenneth and Jodi Meister, Barry and Amita Poll,
Jennifer W. Steans and James P. Kastenholz, and Pamela B. and Russ M. Strobel.
LEONARD BERNSTEIN (1918–90)
Mass
: ATheater Piece for Singers, Players,
and Dancers
Scored for an orchestra in two parts, the Celebrant,
a Street Chorus comprising singers and dancers, a
mixed choir in robes, a children’s choir with soloist, a
wind band, and a complement of dancers in hooded
robes playing Acolytes who assist the Celebrant in
the ritual of the Mass. The stage orchestra includes
two flutes and two piccolos, two oboes and English
horn, three clarinets, three saxophones, two bassoons
and contrabassoon, four horns, four trumpets, three
trombones, tuba, two trap sets, bongos, temple block,
finger cymbals, glockenspiel, two tambourines, street
percussion (claves, bottles, gourds, three steel drums,
tin cans, tambourines), two electric guitars, bass
guitar, and two electric keyboards. The pit orchestra
includes harp, two Allen organs, timpani, celesta,
vibraphone, glockenspiel, marimba, xylophone,
chimes, snare drum, tenor drum, bass drum, bongos,
four tuned drums, suspended cymbals, cymbals,
triangle, temple block, tambourine, tam-tam,
woodblock, anvil, two cowbells, strings, and pre-
recorded tape.
A decades-old vision of a National Cultural
Center of the United States, one to rival simi-
lar centers in the great European capitals, came
closer to reality when President Dwight D. Ei-
senhower signed the National Cultural Center
Act into law in 1958. The Smithsonian Institution
established a bureau headed by a Board of Trust-
ees and an Advisory Committee on the Arts to
construct a center in the District of Columbia
along the Potomac River, financed by a combi-
nation of public and privately raised funds, and
to oversee its operations. The stated purposes of
this center included the presentation of classical
and contemporary music, dance, drama, poetry,
lectures, programs for children and the elderly,
and other civic activities. American architect
Edward Durell Stone was selected in June 1959
to provide the design.
President John F. Kennedy, a longtime, fervent
supporter of the arts, continued the develop-
ment of the center. In 1961, he selected real es-
tate developer and Broadway musical producer
Roger L. Stevens to serve as founding chairman
of the board. President Kennedy and the First
Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, held several am-
bitious events to raise $30 million in private
funds, beginning with the November 29, 1962,
black-tie event at the District of Columbia Na-
tional Guard Armory—“An American Pageant
of the Arts.” The evening’s Master of Ceremo-
nies, Leonard Bernstein, headlined an all-star
cast of artists including the National Symphony
Orchestra, pianist Van Cliburn, and 7-year-old
cellist Yo-Yo Ma accompanied by his 11-year-
old sister, Yeou-Cheng Ma. Following Presi-
dent Kennedy’s assassination on November 22,
1963, his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, signed
a bill renaming the facility the John F. Kennedy
Center for the Performing Arts. President John-
son broke ground, using the same ceremonial
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