Gil Harel: The Musical Setting of the Mass - from the Middle Ages to Dave Brubeck

Please join us as Dr. Gil Harel presents a 5-part series covering the musical settings for the Mass from Palestrina in the Renaissance to Dave Brubeck and beyond. Every composer worth his or her salt has met the challenge of setting the Mass to music. And some of our most important composers have left us some of the greatest masterpieces in music history. We'll start in the Middle Ages and Renaissance with the likes of Palestrina and des Prez, move on to Bach and his B Minor Mass, thence to Beethoven and Mozart. Two modern masters - Leonard Bernstein and Arvo Part - will bring us into the 20th Century. And we'll conclude with a deep examination of Dave Brubeck's To Hope.

March 19th: "Early Music and the Rise of the Mass: Settings of the Mass Ordinary in the Medieval and Renaissance Periods" 

There is perhaps no genre of choral music more significant than settings of the Mass Ordinary. Indeed, composers have been setting this Eucharistic liturgical text since the late medieval period. During this program, Professor Gil Harel will discuss the story of how choral mass settings became a fixture in western European choral music. In doing so, he will cast a spotlight on works such as Machaut's Messe de Nostre Dame (thought to have been composed sometime around the 1360s), and from there trace the evolution of the genre to Renaissance works by composers including Josquin des Prez and Palestrina. 

April 16th: "Bach's B Minor Mass" 

There is no dearth of remarkable Mass settings in the baroque period, but perhaps the best known one is Bach's B Minor Mass. This piques our curiosity, as the Latin Missa Tota was almost exclusively written by Catholic composers. Why then would a Pietist Lutheran set texts associated with the Catholic liturgy? During this program, Professor Gil Harel will discuss the intersection of music, theology, and politics in mid-18th century Saxony. In doing so, we will immerse ourselves in one of the most enduring (and challenging) works in the choral canon. The B Minor Mass reflects the work of a fully mature composer who, amid the rising tide of anti-baroque aesthetic sentiment in the 1740s, "pulled out all the stops" to add a significant achievement to his already-formidable catalog and legacy. 

May 14th: "Mozart, Beethoven, and Liturgical Music" 

Products of the German "Aufklaerung" (Enlightenment), both Mozart and Beethoven composed Mass Settings that remain standouts in the choral repertoire today. Mozart composed his Great Mass in C minor as a star vehicle for showcasing the abilities of his soprano wife, Constanze, on the occasion of her visit to his hometown of Salzburg in 1783. Though clearly a setting of liturgical text, the piece is often closer to opera in style than it is to church music. 

Beethoven grew up in Bonn and was 18 when the French Revolution began. Not a traditionally religious man, he nevertheless set the Mass twice. In the second effort, he created one of the most challenging stamina checks in the choral repertoire: the Missa Solemnis, which premiered in 1824. Join Professor Gil Harel as he discusses two completely different settings by two of the most famous composers in the western canon. 

June 4th: "Leonard Bernstein and Arvo Pärt - Modern Approaches to the Mass" 

Leonard Bernstein was one of the most prolific and versatile musicians of the 20th century. Known for works spanning genres from symphony to musical theater, he was also a devotee of jazz as well as a composer of notable liturgical works. Alongside memorable works such as the Chichester Psalms (1965), one liturgical piece stands out for its scope (approximately 2 hours in standard performance) and expressivity: his Mass of 1971. Unique in many ways, Bernstein's Mass features texts in Latin, but also in Hebrew. While it has been performed in a concert format, the composer initially conceived the work for a more theatrical presentation. 

Estonian composer Arvo Pärt is perhaps one of the most significant composers of contemporary choral music. Among his many liturgical works, the Berliner Messe (Berlin Mass) constitutes his lone Mass setting. Featuring expressive dissonances and creative vocal writing techniques, this work is remarkably accessible in a way that is perhaps rare for "modern" music. 

Join Professor Gil Harel as we go inside the score of these two important additions to the prodigious Mass repertoire. 

June 25th: "Dave Brubeck's To Hope! - How a Jazz Legend Came to Set the Mass to Music" 

By 1980, Dave Brubeck had cemented his legacy as a jazz composer of generational significance. For the many fans of his work, he was perhaps an unlikely figure to have composed a setting of the traditional Mass Ordinary. At the time of his "conversion" to Catholicism (Brubeck famously opined "I didn't convert to Catholicism, because I wasn't anything to convert from"), he was one of the most famous and prolifically accomplished musicians in America. His Mass setting (To Hope! A Celebration) is stylistically heterogenous, showcasing nuanced vocal writing alongside blistering episodes of soloist-driven jazz. Written for jazz soloists, chorus, piano accompaniment (as well as optional instruments including handbells and celeste), To Hope has been performed in many different venues and formats, including as both a concert piece as well as part of a church service. Join Professor Gil Harel in this capstone program as he analyzes an unforgettably "Brubeck" slice of the Mass repertoire. 

Gil Harel (PhD, Brandeis University) is a musicologist and music theorist whose interests include styles ranging from the western classical repertoire to jazz. Previously, he served on the faculty at CUNY Baruch College (where he was awarded the prestigious “Presidential Excellence Award for Distinguished Teaching”). Currently, he is Full Professor of Music at CT State Naugatuck Valley, where he has been presented with the AFT "Merit Award for Exemplary Service to the College" for 6 consecutive years. In 2020, he was honored with the coveted Connecticut Board of Regents (BOR) Teaching Award. At NVCC, Dr. Harel conducts the college chorale, a cappella ensemble, teaches music history and theory, and serves as musical director of theater productions.

Registration strongly recommended. Register online or call 203-762-6334. You will automatically be registered for all five sessions.