 |
A new choral work for
the 21st century
|
"spiritual,
challenging, beautiful and breath-taking"
|
You are listening to a
computer playback version of Hymn, the third section of Creation
Mass
|
Creation Mass is
based on the traditional form of the Latin Mass - Gloria, Kyrie, Credo,
Sanctus, Agnus Dei - to which Patrick Huddie has added six additional
sections: In the Beginning, Hymn, I Am, Lamentations, Hope and
Blessings. Neil Ardley has set the words for junior and adult choirs,
soprano and baritone soloists, narrator, two pianos and five percussion. His
music is both contemporary and tuneful, contemplative and lively. The work
lasts 55 minutes.
|
The story of creation told
in Creation Mass in based on modern scientific understanding, but
interpreted through a poet's eyes . The work celebrates the creation of the
Universe in a colossal expansion (the Big Bang) some 12 billion years ago, and
the later emergence of the Sun and Earth from the debris of an exploding star
or supernova.
|
| The Earth is central to
Creation Mass, being seen as our only home, immensely precious and
beautiful but subject to the damage that we are capable of inflicting upon it
just as we inflict cruelty upon each other. Yet the work finds grounds for
hope, and seeks for a true way towards peace with the help of Agnus Dei and
wise or holy ones from various traditions. We will need all the help we can get
to survive this millennium. |