Missa ad maiorem Dei gloriam

Wolfram Buchenberg’s Missa ad maiorem Dei gloriam in Latin for big band, chorus, and baritone is a good half hour in duration. In the Kyrie the composer takes as his theme people’s deep-seated fear and its overcoming through faith: the Gloria and Sanctus/Benedictus express overwhelming joy, and the “Dona nobis” in the Agnus Dei dies away in a mood of weightless floating. This absolutely thrilling setting of the mass, influenced by Latin jazz, suitable for concert or equally for liturgical performance, requires a large, well-rehearsed chorus and big band.