Mass of Our Lady, Help of Christians Choir - Sheet Music

SKU: C5.3126-2

Richard Connolly's Mass of Our Lady, Help of Christians has become one of our most popular Mass settings, both here in the U.S. and in Australia. The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference solicited musical settings of the 2010 English translation of the Ordinary of the Mass. Dr. Connolly's Mass was one of six they recommended, from over 50 submissions. Since then this Mass was selected for inclusion in the Catholic Worship Book II, an Australian national hymnal published in 2015. Two separate products are available, one scored for cantor (or unison schola), congregation, and organ, and the second scored for SATB choir, congregation, and organ. In both versions, the modal flavor and subtle use of ancient languages (both Greek and Latin) make this extremely appealing to traditional parishes. Musicians and congregations will appreciate the unison or SATB textures, the singable melodies and the effective, yet simple, organ accompaniment. These movements are set: 1. Kyrie, in Greek / 2. Gloria, with a Latin refrain (optionally sung) / 3. Sanctus, in English / 4. Mystery of Faith - A, in English / 5. Amen / 6. Agnus Dei, in English. In its most basic form, the Mass of Our Lady, Help of Christians can be sung with just cantor and congregation. The cantor part can also be sung by children's choir, by a schola of men or women, or by a unison mixed choir. The full SATB setting rounds out the options, alternating unison and SATB voicing as appropriate throughout the various parts of the Mass. A further example of its flexibility is the well-written Gloria movement. The congregation is given a Latin refrain ("Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis"), thus avoiding the less-than-elegant English opening: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will." The Gloria may be sung in responsorial format (as written), or can easily be sung by choir or congregation in a through-composed format by eliminating the recurrances of the refrain. One has the best of both worlds: the Gloria can be introduced easily to the congregation in its responsorial form. After having heard the cantor/choir singing the remainder for a while, the congregation can then be invited to sing the complete text.