The , Op. 102, is a

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 ...

mass of short duration composed by

Knut Nystedt Knut Nystedt (3 September 1915 – 8 December 2014) was a Norwegian orchestral and choral composer. Early life Nystedt was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway, and grew up in a Christian home where hymns and classical music were an important ...

in 1984. He scored it for a

mixed choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

. It was also published by

Carus-Verlag Carus-Verlag is a German music publisher founded in 1972 and based in Stuttgart. Carus was founded by choral conductor Günter Graulich and his wife Waltraud with an emphasis on choral repertoire. The catalogue currently includes more than 26,00 ...

in 2003.

Background

The Norwegian composer

grew up in a Christian family, where hymns and classical music were part of everyday life. Among roughly 300 choral compositions, which account for three quarters of his works, he wrote several pieces of sacred music, including ''De Profundis'', Op. 54, a 1966 setting of

Psalm 130 Psalm 130 is the 130th psalm of the Book of Psalms, one of the penitential psalms and one of 15 psalms that begin with the words "A song of ascents" (Shir Hama'alot). The first verse is a call to God in deep sorrow, from "out of the depths" or "o ...

, and '' Immortal Bach'' for five choirs, based on Bach's " Komm, süßer Tod". He composed the Missa brevis in 1984. It was first published by Roberton Publications (later named Norsk Musikkforlag) in 1985, and again by

in 2003.

Structure and music

Nystedt set the complete Latin mass text but in a concise way, therefore calling it Missa brevis (short mass). He wrote the mass for mixed choir

a capella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

. He structured the text in the usual five

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 ...

, which he simply provided with

metronome A metronome, from ancient Greek μέτρον (''métron'', "measure") and νομός (nomós, "custom", "melody") is a device that produces an audible click or other sound at a regular interval that can be set by the user, typically in beats pe ...

figures instead of verbal tempo markings: * Kyrie * Gloria * Credo * Sanctus – Benedictus * Agnus Dei All parts are

divided Division is one of the four basic operations of arithmetic, the ways that numbers are combined to make new numbers. The other operations are addition, subtraction, and multiplication. At an elementary level the division of two natural numb ...

at times. The Kyrie begins with dissonant tension. In the Gloria, Nystedt follows the text in complex rhythm. The Credo contrasts the different aspects of the text. The Sanctus begins with chord clusters. Agnus Dei is contemplative and ends in a simple "dona nobis pacem". The duration is given as 15 minutes.

Performances and recordings

The mass has become popular for church services and concerts. Parts of it were included in a list of compulsory pieces for a 2018 choir competition. In 2012, it was recorded by the Kuopio Academic Chamber Choir, conducted by Heikki Liimola, as part of the collection ''Uusi laulu laulakaa'' (Sing a New Song) of music by mostly Scandinavian composers such as Erkki Tuppurainen and

Einojuhani Rautavaara Einojuhani Rautavaara (; 9 October 1928 – 27 July 2016) was a Finnish composer of classical music. Among the most notable Finnish composers since Jean Sibelius (1865–1957), Rautavaara wrote a List of compositions by Einojuhani Rautavaara, gre ...

. It was recorded in 2017 by the Deutscher Jugendkammerchor chamber choir as the final part of the collection ''Nachtschichten'' (Night shifts), which also includes works by Brahms and Reger, Ravel's '' Trois Chansons'' and Arvo Pärt's '' The Deer's Cry''.

References

External links

Works for choir
knutnystedt.com
Knut Nystedt / Missa brevis, for chorus, Op. 102

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{authority control Nystedt 1984 compositions