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Minute Mass is an (admittedly ridiculous) homage on two counts: first, to the Missae breves of Haydn and his contemporaries, whose Glorias and Credos often employed overlapping text (that is, different, simultaneous text in each voice of the choir) in order to get through the Mass quickly (possibly—though I can’t recall where I heard this theory, and I can’t corroborate it—due to the unbearable cold inside the church during harsh Austrian winters). And second, to the Minute Waltz of Chopin, whose catchy title (never endorsed by the composer) led to unprecedented notoriety. For what it’s worth, my “minute” piece hews closer to the 60-second constraint than does Chopin’s. Minute Mass was written in 2017, and premiered in 2018 in Bloomington, Indiana by vocalists from the Jacobs School of Music with organist Brendan Conner and conductor Hana J. Cai.

Recording: vocalists of the Jacobs School of Music; Brendan Conner, organ; Hana J. Cai, conductor (Bloomington, Indiana, 2018)