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you”), which launches an ecstatic Thrice-Triple

Canon response, “Et cum spiritu tuo” (“And

with Thy spirit”).

III.

Second Introit

The Celebrant pronounces

the Trinitarian blessing (“In the name of the Fa-

ther, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit”), which

the Men and Boy Acolytes repeat to the accom-

paniment of a Middle Eastern folk band while

processing with the Choir into the chancel and

sanctuary. The Celebrant begins a prayer that

blossoms into the chorale-like Prayer for the

Congregation (“Almighty Father, incline Thine

ear”). A pre-recorded oboe performs an atonal

solo Epiphany.

IV.

Confession

As the oboe rhapsodizes, the Cel-

ebrant begins Confession. The gathered faithful

add their confessions, at first accompanied by

the Pit Orchestra, and then, during the blessing

of the relics, by electric guitars and finger-snap-

ping. The Rock Band begins a heavy blues beat

in Trope: “I Don’t Know,” as the First Rock Sing-

er challenges the genuineness of confession.

Cynicism grows as three Blues Singers and two

Rock Singers contemptuously describe their

feigned contrition in Trope: “Easy.” The Cele-

brant slowly dons his liturgical vestments and

pronounces forgiveness on all.

Meditation No. 1

The orchestra prolongs the

tension between questioning and peaceful ac-

ceptance of faith.

VI.

Gloria

A jubilant 5/8 rhythm underlies the

praise-filled “Gloria tibi,” sung by the Celebrant

with the Children’s Choir in echo. The Choir

continues with a more aggressive offering of

praise in the Greater Doxology (“Gloria in ex-

celsis”). The Street Chorus raises the level of

cynicism with its Trope: “Half of the People.” A

solo Soprano longs for the days when she sang

“Glory” and “Thank You,” but they are gone. The

Celebrant calls the people to prayer.

VII.

Meditation No. 2

A set of orchestral varia-

tions on a “sequence by Beethoven”—fragments

of the “Ode to Joy” from the Symphony No. 9—

follows. Two Altar Children enter with a large

Bible and thurible, which the Celebrant uses to

cense the holy book.

VIII.

Epistle

: “The Word of the Lord.”

As the

Celebrant begins the Gospel reading about the

power of the Word of God to endure hardship,

voices from the street recite passages from let-

ters of hatred, independence, persecution, and

imprisonment.

IX.

Gospel-Sermon

: “God Said.”

A Preacher

leaps onto a bench and begins a sermon for his

Street Chorus congregation, twisting the Bibli-

cal Creation story from something good into a

satirical account of religious imperialism, sexual

repression, and meaningless ritual.

Credo

The statement of faith begins with

the Celebrant’s free, expressive intonation but

continues with the Chorus’s mechanistic peck-

ing away of syllables to a pre-recorded tape and

percussion accompaniment. Members of the

Street Chorus and Rock Band challenge faith

in a series of mocking Tropes: “Non Credo” (“I

don’t know why / I should live / If only to die”),

“Hurry” (“You said you’d come again / When? /

When things got really rough / So you made us

suffer”), “World without End” (“Lord, don’t you

know it’s the end of the world?”), and “I Believe

in God” (“I believe in God, / But does God be-

lieve in me?”). Unfazed, the Celebrant again

summons the people to prayer.

XI.

Meditation No. 3

(De profundis, part 1).

The

Chorus cries out in despair, its “meditation”

turned to anguish and chaos. An ominous can-

on for brass segments the choral clamoring.

XII.

Offertory

(De profundis, part 2).

The Cel-

ebrant, Children’s Choir, and Acolytes press on

with the ritual, carrying lighted votive candles,

sacramental vessels, and Sanctus bell. The Cel-

ebrant exits, and the worshippers approach the

holy vessels and “dance around with fetishistic

passion.”

XIII.

The Lord’s Prayer

Alone, the Celebrant sits

at a piano, plucking out a tune with his finger

while singing the “Our Father.” The Celebrant

continues with a Trope of perseverance (“I Go

On”) and praise (“Lauda, Lauda, Laudē”) as the

Altar Children wash and dry his hands.

XIV.

Sanctus

After ringing the Sanctus Bell,

the Celebrant prepares communion while the

Children’s Choir sings the “Holy, Holy, Holy.” A

joyous dance follows, and then the Celebrant re-

ceives a guitar to accompany a joyous song. The

Chorus returns with gift offerings, completely

encircling and obscuring the Celebrant. As they

move away, an altar is revealed. The Celebrant

approaches and takes the monstrance contain-

ing the consecrated host.

XV.

Agnus Dei

Soloists from the Street Cho-

rus interrupt with demands for the immediate

granting of peace. The Celebrant grows increas-

ingly flustered and insecure. Feelings of un-

worthiness increase as he approaches the altar,

where he raises the monstrance and chalice with

the consecrated wine, whispering a silent prayer.

The Choir, Street Chorus, and instrumental-

ists wander the stage as demands for “pacem”

(“peace”) increase. The continued “heavenly si-

lence” sparks a revolt: “So if we can’t have the

world we desire, / Lord, we’ll have to set this one

on fire!”

XVI.

Fraction

: “Things Get Broken.”

The Cele-

brant screams “peace,” but finds none around or

within himself. In frustration and desperation,

he hurls the sacraments to the ground, breaking

the chalice and monstrance. His spirit and psy-

che shattered, the Celebrant marvels at the red

wine and broken glass. The delusions continue

as he grabs the altar cloths and waves them in

the air, dances on the altar “like a madman pos-

sessed simultaneously by fury, pain, and high

glee,” and tears off his vestments and casts them

into the crowd. Fragments of previously heard

sacred and secular texts jumble in his mind. The

Celebrant departs a broken man.

XVII.

Pax

: Communion (“Secret Songs”).

Fol-

lowing a sustained silence, the solo flute reprises

the haunting “Epiphany” theme. A Child Sopra-

no sings the melody of “A Simple Song,” now

bearing the text “Sing God a secret song

Lauda

Laudē

.” A Bass Solo begins a long, casual canon

of praise. As the embracing singers extend into

long lines, the Celebrant returns in his simple

street clothes. Members of the Children’s Choir

share the “touch of peace” with the audience.

The ceremony concludes with the standard

words of dismissal and commission: “The Mass

is ended; go in Peace.”

MARIN ALSOP,

conductor

Marin Alsop’s biography appears on page 108.

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