Mass Settings
Recently, I was asked the question, “Why is it that
when I go to different churches, I hear the same
prayers, but the music to them sounds different to
me?” A little confused by the question, I asked which
prayers the man was referring to. He replied, “The
Holy Holy and the Lamb of God.”
The sung prayers of the Mass: The Lord Have Mercy,
Glory to God, Holy, Mystery of Faith, Great Amen and
Lamb of God, are all set to musical settings called “Mass
Settings.” Composers take the words to those prayers
and compose their own musical arrangements which
involve the choral parts, the congregational parts, parts
for organ, piano, guitar as well as other instruments and
the cantor’s part. Then they name the Mass setting and
publish it.
When the Roman Missal was promulgated last year, all
the Mass settings had to be re-written and re-learned. At
St. Joseph, we learned a new setting called “The Mass
of Christ the Savior,” written by composer Dan Schutte.
But we still sing some of the familiar settings such as the
Danish Mass and the Community Mass, which are the
settings we are using for Lent. The “Holy” which is from
“The Community Mass” had to be re-written to include
the new text from the new Roman Missal. The melody
may be familiar, but the first part, “Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of Hosts…” is more drawn out and prolonged and is
taking some time to get used to. Different churches use
different settings. It’s still the same prayers, but with
different rhythms, accompaniments, melody and choral
parts. Hopefully, after a few more years, these new
settings will become easier to our singing congregation.
~Ginny Ambrose
