Notes about this work:
The composition of Mass for a New Millennium was the focus of my sabbatical at Pacific Lutheran University during the 1999-2000 academic year. The Credo of this mass is a pre-existing work that I wrote for the Lakes High School Concert Choir (Lakewood, Washington) that was first performed in its entirety in 1996. That movement was originally scored for piano and oboe accompaniment, but Richard Sparks, who was at that time my choral colleague at PLU, asked me to re-score it for organ so that he might record it with the Choir of the West on a CD that was to showcase choral works accompanied by the new organ in our concert hall at PLU. I also added parts for harp and percussion at that time, and the recording took place in 1998. As my sabbatical approached I was thinking about ideas for my project for the year, and came upon the idea of writing a concert mass with the same instrumentation that would be built around the Credo. The result is my largest work, and through the process of its composition I think I learned much about my compositional style, ability, and limitations.
The mass is accompanied by organ, harp, oboe, timpani, xylophone and glockenspiel. There are solos for soprano, mezzo-soprano and tenor voices. The text is set in ten movements, and the work is designed so that it can be performed in either its entirety or in three separate blocks: Kyrie/Gloria (four movements); Credo (three movements); and Sanctus/Benedictus/Agnus Dei. The Credo has been published for a number of years by Walton Music. However, I publish the entire mass and the other movements separately on my own. Walton allows me to include the Credo with the entire work. Information on how to contract to perform the mass can be found by clicking here.