SATB choir a cappella,
bagpipe - Intermediate
SKU: MN.CH-1220
Composed by Dale
Jergenson.
Multi-Movement/Large
Choral Work. Catholic
Year C Ordinary31. 21st
Century. Choral score.
Duration c. 15 minutes.
Laurendale Associates
#CH-1220. Published by
Laurendale Associates
(MN.CH-1220).
It was during a
short, weekend vacation
cruise to Ensenada. B.C.
(from Los Angeles) with
the St. Cyril Choir that
the idea for an Amazing
Grace Mass came about.
The more I thought about
it, the more I liked the
idea of writing for
chorus and bagpipes.
The early draft
used two bagpipes, but
when we had a piper come
to a rehearsal so that we
could see how it would
work, it became readily
apparent that one piper
would be more than
enough. It was, in fact,
just right. The final
form of the piece was
achieved by a process of
progressive
simplification, i.e., the
bagpipe part had to be
simplified in order for
it to be coherent and not
just noise. The chorus,
needed simplification in
order to compete with the
sheer volume of the
bagpipe during
performance. Thus, the
piper basically plays the
tune Amazing Grace
throughout each movement
of the Mass, while the
chorus sometimes sings
the same tune, and
sometimes sings
uncomplicated lines
against the piper
melody.
The text
is the full Proper of the
Roman Catholic Mass in
Latin.
BAGPIPE
