Mass for Friends History

Mass for Friends was originally titled Mass for Public Catharsis with poetry by k.o. kanne. It was scored for soprano and tenor soloists, women's chorus, string quartet, and piano and was premiered by the Sanford Dole Ensemble and members of the schwungvoll chamber ensemble. Panels from the Names Project were displayed and a new panel was made as part of the performance of the piece (Panel No. 05496). The performance was supported in many ways by Seventh Avenue Presbyterian Church, Old First Presbyterian, Calvary Presbyterian, Golden Gate Lutheran Church, and Dignity as well as by private citizens.

Since then, the Mass for Friends has been revised in a variety of ways. The text is now strictly biblical, taking texts from Songs of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, Psalms, Isaiah, Hezekiah, Proverbs, I Samuel, Thessalonians, and the Book of John. The original order of movements has changed. It has a flexible instrumentation: a version still exists for the original instrumentation, but it can also be performed with soprano and tenor soloists, and piano trio, in its smallest form. A recording with this abbreviated instrumentation will appear on Ms. Mercer's CD. The music is written in a contemporary classical style using serial techniques with excerpts of Latin chant and Ockeghem's Requiem Mass inserted throughout.

When I first started to write the Mass, protease inhibitors were not available. The work was therefore a requiem mass for those both k.o kanne and I knew who had died of the disease. Today, more people are living with the disease, thanks to the new drugs, but survivors face other difficult issues: outliving a spouse and friends, the physical side effects of the new drugs, the realization that one has a future after all and what to do with it, among many others. The Mass for Friends is a requiem mass for those who have died but also a call for compassion for those who are surviving with heavy personal losses. The merits of friendship are described in sung or spoken Collect, Epistle, Gospel, and Preface. Short Latin texts are included, and the biblical texts are taken from the Revised Standard, King James, and NIV translations. The titles of the 7-movement work correspond to the parts of the requiem mass. However, the piece does not present any particular denominational view but rather finds biblical basis for suffering and persecution, love and friendship as proof of our shared humanity.