« Missa Brevis »

Duration : 10/12 minutes
(Kyrie : 4' - Sanctus : 4'20 - Agnus Dei : 3'40)

This « Missa Brevis », composed in 1995-1996 for a chorus of mixt voices and organ, was inspired by certain aspects of works dating back to the Renaissance. It is characterized by a research of beauty in the vocal treatment of the melodic lines, which have to combine each other with flexibility and clarity.
Generally it is a three-part polyphony : Soprani, Alti, Baritones.
The treatment of the words, either syllabic or melismatic, aims at making the meaning of the text as perceptible as possible.
The vocal phrases can be either doubled at the same pitch level by the organ or not (ad libitum).
The music does not refer to diatonism or chromatism. From beginning to end it exploits the same scale, artificially conceived, with an axis of symmetry and a rather large ambitus (more than one octave).
It can be said that the music is based on one single harmonic field treated in various ways according to the sections, which gives the piece its unity.
For that reason it will be made the most of any element capable of creating contrasts or renewing interest like : change of meter, change of register, juxtaposition of flexible episodes with strong-pulsed sequences etc.
A special care is given to articulation, phrasing, stressing, attacks of notes etc.
On the whole it is rather difficult but some amateur choruses made it successfully.

Unpublished

Back