''Missodia Sionia'' (" Sionian Chant of the Mass") is a collection of

sacred music Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as ritual. Relig ...

Michael Praetorius Michael Praetorius (probably 28 September 1571 – 15 February 1621) was a German composer, organist, and music theorist. He was one of the most versatile composers of his age, being particularly significant in the development of musical forms ba ...

, published in

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; nds, Wulfenbüddel) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest c ...

in 1611. It holds music for church services on

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 ...

texts, set for two to eight

part Part, parts or PART may refer to: People *Armi Pärt (born 1991), Estonian handballer * Arvo Pärt (born 1935), Estonian classical composer *Brian Part (born 1962), American child actor *Dealtry Charles Part (1882–1961), sheriff (1926–1927) a ...

s, including a complete

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 ...

for eight voices.

History

Praetorius published 20 volumes of his collected music during his lifetime, one of them, ''Terpsichore'' containing secular French danses, the others devoted to sacred music on both German and Latin texts. The

Protestant Reformers Protestant Reformers were those theologians whose careers, works and actions brought about the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. In the context of the Reformation, Martin Luther was the first reformer (sharing his views publicly in 15 ...

had not discarded the use of

liturgy in church services. ''Missodia Sionia'' is the eleventh volume, printed in

in 1611. The content is described on the cover: "Missodia Sionia / Continens / Cantiones sacras, ad Officium / quod vocant Summum, ante meridianum)" (Zionic chants for the mass / containing / sacred songs, for the service / called the Highest / before noon), specifying Kyrie, Gloria, Et in terra, and many others, for two to eight voices. The title page also mentions that use of

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe durin ...

has been observed (''Chorali cumprimis observata''). George J. Buelow, a scholar of Baroque music, renders it: "In two to eight parts, polyphonic settings of the Mass Ordinary, Collects, Prefaces, various Amen and Gloria intonations, and songs for Compline". The parts of the

are set for the different occasions of the liturgical year, and in various degree of difficulty, from two-part settings to eight parts. The first 15 pieces are set for four parts: 10 settings of Kyrie and 5 settings of Gloria. The second group of 21 pieces is scored for four to six parts: 14 settings of Kyrie and seven of Gloria. Another group (pieces 50 to 77) contains different settings of the chants around communion (Praefatio, Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei), and a complete mass for eight parts. Pieces 80 to 93 are 14 different settings of Amen in different

mode Mode ( la, modus meaning "manner, tune, measure, due measure, rhythm, melody") may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' MO''D''E (magazine)'', a defunct U.S. women's fashion magazine * ''Mode'' magazine, a fictional fashion magazine which is ...

s and pieces 94 to 104 are ten settings of Gloria in different modes and an introit. The monograph of the collection is held by the

Bayerische Staatsbibliothek The Bavarian State Library (german: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, abbreviated BSB, called ''Bibliotheca Regia Monacensis'' before 1919) in Munich is the central " Landesbibliothek", i. e. the state library of the Free State of Bavaria, the bigg ...

in Munich. The collection was published again by Georg Kallmeyer Verlag in 1934. Excerpts from the collection were recorded in 2011 as an ''Easter Mass'' (''Ostermesse'') by the ensemble Weser Renaissance, conducted by

Manfred Cordes Manfred Cordes (born 1953) is a German conductor of early music, musicologist and teacher. He is professor at the Hochschule für Künste Bremen and was its rector from 2007 to 2012. Publications * ''Die lateinischen Motetten des Iacobus Regnar ...

, reconstructing with parts from the collection how a service may have sounded.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Missodia Sionia Choral compositions Masses (music)