''Messe in A'' is a

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

A major A major is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The A major scale is: Changes needed for the ...

by the English composer

Christopher Tambling Christopher Tambling (13 May 1964 – 3 October 2015) was a British composer, organist and choirmaster. From 1997 to 2015 he was Director of Music at Downside School and organist and Choirmaster of the Schola Cantorum at Downside Abbey, leading ...

. The first version was published in 2010, scored for two high voices, the second of them optional, accompanied by organ with optional strings. It was written with

boys' choir A boys' choir is a one made up of boys who have yet to begin (or are just in the early stages of) puberty and so retain their high-pitched childhood voice. Members are known as trebles ("boy sopranos") or meanes ("boy altos"), depending on their ...

s in mind, but is also suitable for girls' choirs and women's choirs. A version for four-part choir, organ and optional orchestra was published in 2016.

History

Tambling, a church musician and music pedagogue, was described as "a great believer in making church music accessible". His sacred music became especially popular in Germany. He was music director of the

Downside School Downside School (formally The College of St Gregory the Great, Downside but simply referred to as Downside) is an 11–18 mixed, Roman Catholic, independent, day and boarding school in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Somerset, England. It was establish ...

near Bath and organist and leader of the Schola Cantorum of

Downside Abbey Downside Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in England and the senior community of the English Benedictine Congregation. Until 2019, the community had close links with Downside School, for the education of children aged 11 to 18. Both the abbey ...

, a choir of about 100 of boys and girls from the school. Tambling was commissioned to write a mass setting for the boys' choirs of the

Diocese of Würzburg In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

, requesting a melodic work, easy to perform and of a joyful disposition ("freudige Grundhaltung"). In the ''Messe in A'' he set the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

text of the

mass ordinary The ordinary, in Catholic liturgies, refers to the part of the Mass or of the canonical hours that is reasonably constant without regard to the date on which the service is performed. It is contrasted with the '' proper'', which is that part of ...

, without the Credo, which makes it a formally a short mass or

missa brevis ; plural: Missae breves) usually refers to a mass (music), Mass composition that is short because part of the text of the Mass ordinary that is usually set to music in a full Mass (liturgy), Mass is left out, or because its execution time is rel ...

. The mass was first published in 2010 by Dr. J. Butz with a dedication to the Pueri Cantores in the Würzburg diocese. The mass was so well received, that the composer was requested to also compose a version for four-part choir

SATB In music, SATB is a scoring of compositions for choirs or consorts of instruments consisting of four voice types: soprano, alto, tenor and bass. Choral music Four-part harmony using soprano, alto, tenor and bass is a common scoring in classic ...

, organ and optional strings. He composed that version, which was published by Butz in 2016, after his death. The mass is frequently performed, also by Protestant church choirs. The mass has been chosen for services for Easter and anniversaries, among others. The early version is in the repertoire of youth choirs such as the Domsingschule of the

Frankfurt Cathedral Frankfurt Cathedral (), officially Imperial Dome of Saint Bartholomew (), is a Roman Catholic Gothic church located in the heart of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It is dedicated to Saint Bartholomew. It is the largest religious building in the c ...

, Lutherana in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

, the Mädchenkantorei of the

Paderborn Cathedral Paderborn Cathedral () is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paderborn. It is located in the city centre of Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The cathedral is dedicated to Mary (mother of Jesus), Saint Mary, Saint Kilian and ...

and the Mädchenchor of the

Speyer Cathedral Speyer Cathedral, officially ''the Imperial Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption and St Stephen'', in Latin: Domus sanctae Mariae Spirae (German: ''Dom zu Unserer lieben Frau in Speyer'') in Speyer, Germany, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Bish ...

. It was recommended by the association for church music in

South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...

as a good entry in mass literature.

Music

The mass is structured in four

movements Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger c ...

, omitting a Credo, and combining Sanctus and Benedictus: * Kyrie (''Andante con moto'') * Gloria (''Alla marcia'') * Sanctus und Benedictus (''Giocoso'') * Agnus Dei (''Andante espressivo'') In the early version, the vocal parts are one or two high voices, soprano and optional soprano II, while in the later version they are four voices

. In both versions, the voices are accompanied by organ, with strings

ad libitum In music and other performing arts, the phrase (; or 'as you desire'), often shortened to "ad lib" (as an adjective or adverb) or "ad-lib" (as a verb or noun), refers to various forms of improvisation. The roughly synonymous phrase ('in acc ...

. The composer is credited with knowing exactly what young singers are capable to sing and like to sing: "beautiful melodic lines, and both rousing and soulful passages" ("wunderschöne melodische Linien oder mal mitreißende, mal gefühlvolle Passagen"). Based on the tradition of English choral music, Tambling wrote expressive music characterised by "sophisticated harmonies and refined rhythms" ("ausgefeilte Harmonik und raffinierte Rhythmik").

References

{{italic title Tambling 2010 compositions Compositions in A major