The Mass for Eight Parts was commissioned by Matthew Berry, the conductor of Commotio, in memory of Dr. Anabela Bravo, a member of Commotio and a Psychology Department member at the University of Buckingham.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Francis Pott, the composer, aimed to create choral music that could stand alongside the works of 16th-century masters like Tallis and Byrd, despite living in a postmodern age.
Composition History
The piece Lament found its focus in the death of Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid, who died in Afghanistan in 2009 while attempting to defuse an improvised explosive device, and who had lived near the composer's home.
Performer Biography
Commotio, one of the UK's foremost chamber choirs, was formed in 1999 to perform lesser-known material from the 20th and 21st centuries, and promotes works by younger composers.
Compositional Technique
The Agnus Dei of the Mass for Eight Parts includes a quotation from the motet Sitivit anima mea by Manuel Cardoso, a great sacred composer from Portugal, reflecting Anabela Bravo's nationality and her work as a musicologist.
Compositional Technique
The Agnus Dei also features an imitative pattern derived from the opening of Commotio, an organ work by Danish symphonist Carl Nielsen, whose harmonic methods influenced the Mass.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Francis Pott believes that much contemporary choral writing suffers from 'grisly musical McDonald-isation,' being bland, anonymous, and undemanding.
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