Suite from MASS by Leonard Bernstein (arr. Michael Sweeny), featuring the Block Island Sound Brass Quintet. Recorded live by the Rhode Island Wind Ensemble on May 19, 2024. Videography by Jack Zornado [ Ссылка ].
Suite from Mass
Among the participants in the diverse and celebrated history of American music, there are few figures who are as commanding a force as Leonard Bernstein. Given his varied background, it should be no surprise that his 1971 Mass is a grand pastiche of styles and influences spanning centuries of Western classical music. The work was commissioned by Jacqueline Kennedy for the opening of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Clocking in at nearly two hours in length, the work is a spectacle incorporating orchestra, multiple choruses, actors, dancers, rock combo, and marching band.
Suite from Mass, arranged by Michael Sweeney for the Canadian Brass and the Eastman Wind Ensemble, takes particularly memorable selections and sets them for featured brass quintet and full ensemble. The brass quintet most frequently takes on the role of the solo singers from the stage production. The arrangements themselves are remarkably true to the original work, though ordered differently. For instance, in the suite, A Simple Song is the middle movement and acts as the gentle centerpiece between the more virtuosic expressions of the exterior sections, as opposed to its early presentation within the full version. Part One, in contrast, sets some of the more aggressive moments of the original. While the Alleluia is jubilant, the Sanctus and Agnus Dei (which come from near the end of MASS at the moment when the congregation’s furor is at its highest) blare with sizzling cacophony. The finale sets the Offertory and Almighty Father with the beautiful sonorities of the hymn cadencing with an "Amen” sung by the ensemble. Though the medium has shifted, Sweeney’s conscientious work lets Bernstein’s voice sing through unabashedly, as always passionate and profound.
~ Jacob Wallace
