''Messe in A'' is a

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

A major A major (or the key of A) 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 key of A major is the only k ...

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 choir primarily made up of choirboys who have yet to begin puberty or are in the early to middle stages of puberty and so retain their more highly pitched childhood voice type. Members of a boys' choir are technically known as '' ...

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 is a co-educational Catholic independent boarding and day school in the English public school tradition for pupils aged 11 to 18. It is located between Bath, Frome, Wells and Bruton, and is attached to Downside Abbey. Originall ...

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 eleven to eighteen. Both t ...

, 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 associate ...

, 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 branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

text of the

mass ordinary The ordinary, in Roman Catholic and other Western Christian 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 to the '' ...

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

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

. 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 SATB is an initialism that describes the scoring of compositions for choirs, and also choirs (or consorts) of instruments. The initials are for the voice types: S for soprano, A for alto, T for tenor and B for bass. Choral music Four-part harm ...

, 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 (german: link=no, Frankfurter Dom), officially Imperial Cathedral of Saint Bartholomew (german: link=no, Kaiserdom Sankt Bartholomäus) is a Roman Catholic Gothic church located in the heart of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It ...

, Lutherana in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

, the Mädchenkantorei of the

Paderborn Cathedral Paderborn Cathedral (german: Paderborner Dom) 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 Saint Mary, Saint Kilian and ...

and the Mädchenchor of the

Speyer Cathedral , native_name_lang = German , image = Speyer_dom_11.jpg , imagesize = 280px , imagelink = , imagealt = , landscape = , caption = , pushpin ma ...

. It was recommended by the association for church music in

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

as a good entry in mass literature.

Music

The mass is structured in four

movements Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

, 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 (; from Latin for 'at one's pleasure' 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 r ...

. 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