Mass Excerpts

Desmond Maley is the music librarian at the J.W. Tate Library,
Huntington College, Laurentian University, and the editor of Newsletter
of the Canadian Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and
Documentation Centres.

The quality of this volume, which comprises musical settings of the
mass, is uneven, ranging from the memorable to the predictable. Carleton
University music professor Clifford Ford has assembled 20 works covering
the period from 1849 to 1945, including three complete settings as well
as excerpts and fragments from many others.

Among the more memorable selections, Healey Willan displays his mastery
of the art form in such pieces as “Missa Brevis Nos. 1 and 4,”
“Mass of St. Teresa,” and “Missa SS Philippi and Jacobi”;
Joseph-Julien Perrault entrances with his folklike “Messe de Nцel
‘Deo infanti,’” (a 19th-century Christmas favorite); and Guillaume
Couture makes a strong impression with his “Requiem Mass,” as does
Lionel Daunais with his “Messe en Do.” Clarence Lucas’s previously
unpublished “Requiem Mass” is an appealing addition to the
literature.

Alexis Contant’s “Messe brиve en do,” “Troisiиme Messe,”
and “Messe brиve in sol mineur” show his gift for melody, but the
vocal part-writing is unimaginative in contrast to the sophisticated
organ accompaniments. (Ford speculates that some Roman Catholic
composers, including Contant, may have simplified their styles in
response to a papal decree.) Gabriel Cusson’s “Messe pour trois voix
de femmes et orgue,” written in Paris in 1928, features a 20th-century
palette of colors, but lacks rhythmic variety. Charles A.E. Harriss’s
“Coronation Mass for Edward VII” captures all of the sound and fury
of the English oratorio tradition, but fails to retain its substance.

Ford’s introduction is solid and thoughtful, and the book’s
critical notes and bibliography are helpful. Some of the scores were
produced through computerized music engraving; but there is too much
wasted space in the margins, and the notes are rather small.
Fortunately, all of the music, including the reproductions of the
original scores, is readable for performance purposes.