Bernstein's Mass

LEONARDBERNSTEIN’S

MARIN ALSOP, MUSIC DIRECTOR BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA OCTOBER 16, 17 AND 18, 2008

Be r n s t e i n ’s Mas s Commemo r a t i v e Prog r am 3

As I see it, two main engines drovemy father forward in his creative life:the dualities in his personality and

his perpetual confrontations with figures ofauthority. Of all Leonard Bernstein’s works,none demonstrates a grander synthesis of allthese creative cross-currents than Mass. As aresult,Mass is his most deeply personal work.

Bernstein really was a bundle of contradic-tions. On the one hand, he was the mostextroverted guy you could ever meet.Howhe loved people! All kinds of people.Heloved playing the piano at parties until the weehours; all-night talk sessions with students;noisy dinners with family and friends. Thiswas the Lenny who became a conductor anda teacher, the communicator extraordinaire,on the podium and on television.

On the other hand,Bernstein was a

composer: an introverted, lonely dreamer whostayed up all night working, chain-smokingcigarettes and staring down his demons.

Within Bernstein the composer, therewere yet more contradictions.He wrote forthe concert hall, but he also wrote for theBroadway stage.

Eventually,my father found ways tocross-pollinate the two kinds of music heloved best, creating a perfect bridge betweenthe concert stage and the Broadway pit.Bernstein’s orchestral music is joyous, full oftunes and bursting with catchy rhythms—while his Broadway scores are as elegantlyconstructed as a Beethoven symphony.Masscombines all of these elements and more intoa single, passionate expression of my father’sown multifarious personality.

One of the original sources of tension in

my father’s life—and therefore a main sourceof energy—was his relationship with hiscreator: both the spiritual and the biologicalone.Bernstein was raised by his Russianimmigrant parents in a fairly traditionalEastern European Jewish environment.Hewent to synagogue regularly, had his bar-mitzvah and grew up in the dense atmosphereof his father Sam’s devotion to theTalmud.Sam Bernstein ran a successful hair and beautysupply business in Boston, and was proud tobe able to pass such an excellent businessopportunity along to his eldest son.

But Bernstein didn’t want to run theSamuel Bernstein Hair Company! He wantedto be a musician.Yet for Sam,who grew upin the shtetls of Poland and Russia, a musicianwas little more than a beggar who bummedfrom village to village, from wedding to

By Jamie Bernstein

Leonard Bernstein’s daughter discusses herfather’s personality, his musical philosophiesand the genesis of Mass.

An

Artist’sManifesto

Mass:

continued on pg. 4

PHOTO

COURTE

SYOFTH

ELE

ONARDBER

NST

EINOFFICE

Mass: An Artist’s Manifesto

Leonard Bernstein’s daughterdiscusses her father’s personality,musical philosophies and thegenesis of Mass.

Bernstein’s Journey for Answers

As the celebration marking whatwould be Leonard Bernstein’s90th birthday kicks into gear,BSO Music Director Marin Alsopremembers her former mentorand the personal connectionsthat give meaning to his music.

ARTISTS’ BIOGRAPHIES

PROGRAM NOTES

PROGRAM TEXT AND TRANSLATION

3

6

8

14

contents

11

PHOTO

SCOURTE

SYOFTH

ELE

ONARDBER

NST

EINOFFICE

PHOTO

BYPA

ULDEHUEC

K

Where did this profound sense of break-down come from? As the daughter of thecomposer ofMass, I have always had the clearsense that my father’s pessimism was cementedon the day that President John F.Kennedywas assassinated.

My parents adored the Kennedys.Theycounted themselves among the First Family’sfriends. I had never seen my parents cry beforeNov. 22, 1963.On the contrary, our housewas always full of laughter.

So on that Friday after school,whenmy father’s face distorted with anguishand my mother crumpled on her bed andsobbed, I felt my world lurch sickeninglyon its foundations.

TributeAt the time of that assassination,my father wasfinishing the orchestrations for his SymphonyNo. 3,“Kaddish.”He immediately decided todedicate the piece to the slain president, hisbeloved friend.How grimly appropriate it wasthat the Hebrew text in that symphony is theKaddish prayer, the Jewish prayer of mourningfor the dead.

But my father’s tribute to PresidentKennedy did not end there. Six years later,when ground was broken for The John F.Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts inWashington,D.C., Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

called her friend Lenny and asked him, not towriteMass, but to be the Chairman of theCenter! My father was overwhelmed by thehonor.Yet being an administrator wasprobably the last thing he would ever want todo—not to mention the last thing he’d begood at. But how could he turn Jackie down?So he said yes.And then he was in agony.

As I recall, it was my mother who cameto the rescue. She was the one who madethe difficult phone call to Mrs.Onassis,gently suggesting that perhaps, given Lenny’sother obligations,wouldn’t it be moreappropriate if he were to, say,write a piece forthe inauguration rather than run the place?

And that is howMass came to be born.By the time ofMass’s completion in

1971, the nation had become a very differentplace.TheVietnamWar was in full cry; youngpeople had become polarized into a move-ment that threatened to split the nation alongits seams; and we had the very antithesis ofJohn F.Kennedy for a president in RichardM.Nixon. For Kennedy-philes like myparents, it must have felt like the mostvertiginous fall from grace.Mass had a polarizing effect on its

audiences; they either loved it or hated it.The Catholic Church was appalled by manyaspects of the piece. Some cities bowed underthe pressure of their local Catholic churches,and cancelled productions ofMass. Somemusic critics objected to the mixing of genres:how could Leonard Bernstein dare to com-bine a symphony orchestra with a rock band?And to many rock musicians at the time, therock music seemed artificial and,well, square.

But now that more than 30 years havepassed sinceMass appeared on the scene, theseissues have all but subsided.The sounds of1970’s rock music are now fascinating artifactsrather than dated facsimiles, since the piece haslong since shed the need to sound current.And by now,we’re all quite accustomed to themixing of musical genres.We hear rock bandswith orchestras all the time.But Bernstein,

ever the wall-breaker, first broke down thatwall for us, too.

As for the Catholic Church, Pope JohnPaul II in the year 2000 actually requested aperformance ofMass—at theVatican.Oh, ifonly my father had lived long enough to seethat happen!Mass may seem at first glance to be locked

in its era, but the issues it addresses havelost none of their immediacy.Catholicism isin fresh crisis in America, and the painfulambiguities of a new war have polarized thepopulace anew. Intolerance has not goneaway, and the credibility of our governmentcontinues to fall far short of the mark.Masscontinues to speak to us as urgently as ever.

Maybe the most essential of all thecontradictions in my father’s personality washis struggle with his own clashing emotionsof optimism and pessimism.

Yet in spite of his occasional gloomabout the way things were going,my fathernever gave up hope for a better world.Thatis whyMass ends with a rebirth—despitethe shattered pieces of the sacramentslittering the stage.

bar-mitzvah, barely keeping food in his bellyand shoes on his feet.The story goes that Samrefused to pay for his son’s piano lessons.Afterthe famous last-minute conducting debut inCarnegie Hall on November 14, 1943,whichrendered Bernstein famous overnight, somereporters challenged Sam about his reluctanceto encourage his son’s musical career, towhich Sam famously replied,“Well, howwas I supposed to know he’d turn intoLeonard Bernstein?”

So from his earliest conflicts with his father,Bernstein was already establishing a templatefor a lifetime of wrestling with his creator, ofconfronting authority.Over and over again, heturned to his father’s beloved Hebrew biblicaltexts for both inspiration and disputation.These texts appear in so many pieces over myfather’s lifetime that taken together with themusic, they document a lifelong, heateddialogue with God.Mass is a particularlyimpassioned chapter of the argument.

Wrestling with TonalityOne of my father’s favorite ways to expressconflict was to pit tonality against atonality.Wetend to forget nowadays what an urgent crisiscomposers faced in the mid-20th century.

A composer who wished to be taken seriouslyby the academic musical community backthen—absolutely, positively—had to forfeittonality in favor of the 12-tone vocabulary—that is, no key and no melody. There was nomiddle ground; either you wrote 12-tonemusic or you weren’t a “serious” composer.My father longed to be included in theacademic musical pantheon, but he couldnot quite bring himself to stop writing atune. It cost him his very reputation to stickto tonality.

During the 1960s,when my siblings andI were growing up, it was the Beatles, theSupremes, the Kinks and the Rolling Stonesthat provided the soundtrack to our car trips.My father loved our music.We spent hourstalking about blues progressions, chordchanges,modes and song structure. (Many ofthese discussions led to future scripts of myfather’s televisedYoung People’s Concerts.)

To my father, rock music was the ultimate,uninhibited expression of tonality at the time.So when he wroteMass in the early 1970s,he used rock ‘n‘ roll versus 12-tone music ashis metaphor for confronting authority. Thesloppily dressed “street chorus” sings in thevernacular of rock ‘n‘ roll,while the rigidlyberobed formal chorus chants the churchdogma in jagged 12-tone fragments. In thefinale,my father resolves his musical argumentby having the entire company sing one of themost beautiful melodies he ever wrote—the chorale “Almighty Father.” It’s as if thefinale were saying to the 12-tone academiccartel: “this is what I do, and if you don’tlike it, tough.”

In those days,my father’s personal struggles

with authority found their perfect outwardreflection in the anti-war movement. Alifetime of involvement in left-wing issues—everything from the Spanish CivilWar to theCommunist witch hunts to the Civil RightsMovement—all came to a head inMass,where my father drew parallels between therigidity of the Roman Catholic dogma andthe American government’s inability to disen-gage from waging a senseless war in SoutheastAsia.The “street chorus,” composed ofconfused, disaffected young people searchingfor meaning in their lives, invests theirCelebrant with more and more trappings asthey appoint him the healer of all their ills.Then,when he doesn’t come through withthe goods, they turn on him in their rage,and everything falls apart.Mass depicts ahydra-headed breakdown: a breakdown ofthe spirit hungering for religious faith; abreakdown of a populace searching for a trust-worthy government; a breakdown of a leaderclinging to the shreds of his own power; thebreakdown of an artist searching for innermeaning and outer acceptance. It’s a vision ofutter catastrophe, a vision so thorough andterrifying that,when successfully staged, it canbarely be salvaged by the optimistic finale.

Maybe the most essential of all the contradictions in myfather’s personality was his struggle with his own clashing

emotions of optimism and pessimism.

Be r n s t e i n ’s Mas s Commemo r a t i v e Prog r am 54 BALT IMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Mass premiere, the Kennedy Center, Sept. 8, 1971Mass premiere, the Kennedy Center, Sept. 8, 1971

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE LEONARD BERNSTEIN OFFICE

PHOTO

SBYFLET

CHER

DRAKE

PHOTO

BYST

EVESH

ERMAN

Nov. 22, 1963; Dallas, Texas; President John F. Kennedy andFirst Lady Jackie Kennedy waiting in the motorcade the day ofKennedy’s assassination.

PHOTO

BYJFKCOLLEC

TION/ZUMAPR

ESS.

(©)COPY

RIGHT19

63BYJO

HNF.KEN

NED

YLIBRARY

Bernstein with his children, Jamie and Alex, in 1964.

Jamie Bernstein in 2008.

L eonard Bernstein, for me,was thegreatest risk-taker in 20th-centuryclassical music.He thrived on conflict,

and this is nowhere more evident than inhis most controversial composition,Mass.I’m proud to conduct this defining workof Bernstein’s career with the BaltimoreSymphony, celebrating the life and legacy ofmy friend and mentor in what would havebeen his 90th birthday year. Seeing himconduct when I was only 9 years old at aNewYork PhilharmonicYoung People’sConcert convinced me that conducting wasthe only thing in the world that I wanted todo.That alone would have been enough ofa gift; but when I was 31, he took me underhis wing and imparted to me the heart andsoul of the craft.Mass contains the essence of Bernstein

as a complex man and artist. Sure, the musicis intoxicating, but beneath the showinesson the surface is a profound statementabout human faith. Bernstein was a nimblecomposer,moving comfortably between high

art and popular vernaculars and not confinedby stylistic boundaries.He did this long beforecrossover became trendy. The work embracesa range of genres from musical theater andopera to rock ballads and blues,with a librettothat mixes Hebrew and Latin texts.

Bernstein was commissioned to write awork memorializing the late John F.Kennedy,America’s first and only Catholic president,for the opening of the Kennedy Center forthe Performing Arts in 1971.He chose thestructure of the Roman Catholic Mass,complete with a Celebrant playing the centralrole. Provocative and innovative to some,appalling to others,Mass is first and foremosta celebration of human faith, but it also ques-tions the relevance of ceremonial rituals andimmutable “truths” in an increasingly faithlessmodern world.Audiences leapt to their feet atthe premiere, reacting to a work that felt soanti-establishment and real.

Today, 37 years after its world premiere,Mass seems even more vital and relevant.Political volatility, an unpopular war seemingly

without end and our ongoing struggle asindividuals to find faith and spirituality incontemporary society—this was the backdropfor Bernstein’s portrayal of a modern-daycrisis of faith.And while the music and thetext may have less shock value to our contem-porary ears, the message ofMass hasenduring significance.

Bernstein always told me that acomposer spends his entire life writing thesame piece, trying to answer the same unan-swerable questions.Mass was his journey insearch of an answer for all of society, thenand now.

This piece first appeared in Symphony magazineand is reprinted by permission.

6 BALT IMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

MARIN ALSOP leads the Baltimore SymphonyOrchestra in Bernstein’s Mass on October 16-18at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Baltimore,Md.; October 24 at Carnegie Hall, New YorkCity; October 25 at United Palace Theater,New York City; and October 26 at TheJohn F. Kennedy Center for the PerformingArts, Washington, D.C. The Carnegie Hall andUnited Palace Theater performances arepart of Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds,a festival co-produced by Carnegie Hall andthe New York Philharmonic, runningSeptember 24-December 13.

PHOTO BY KYM THOMSON

As the celebration marking what would be LeonardBernstein’s 90th birthday kicks into gear, BSOMusic DirectorMarin Alsop remembers her former mentor and thepersonal connections that give meaning to his music.

Bernstein’sforAnswersJourney

PHOTO BY S. LAUTERWASSER, COURTESY UNITEL

PHOTO

BYS.

LAUTE

RWASSER

,COURTE

SYUNITEL

PHOTO

BYS.

LAUTE

RWASSER

,COURTE

SYUNITEL

PHOTO BY WALTER SCOTT

PHOTO

BYWALTER

SCOTT

PHOTO BY WALTER SCOTT


PHOTO

COURTE

SYOFTH

ELE

ONARDBER

NST

EINOFFICE

PHOTO

COURTE

SYOFTH

ELE

ONARDBER

NST

EINOFFICE



Jubilant SykesThis critically acclaimedartist, lauded in The WallStreet Journal as one of“the next major stars,”brings a new dimensionto the traditional careerof the classically trainedbaritone by drawing on

gospel and jazz influences. Jubilant Sykes has wonthe attention and respect of the world’s finestconductors, symphonies and opera companies.

Mr. Sykes’ repertoire spans from Copland’sOldAmerican Songs to Mendelssohn’s Elijah toBeethoven’s Symphony No. 9 to Brahms’A German Requiem to Mozart’s Requiem.Hehas performed concert versions of Bizet’sCarmen (Escamillo) with the Kansas CitySymphony Orchestra, and Cavalli’s Calisto withthe St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.Mr. Sykes was afeatured soloist for the premiere of Torke’s FourSeasons with the NewYork Philharmonic, andfor the premiere of Libby Larsens’Coming ForthInto Day for baritone and orchestra (set to atext by Jehen El Sadat,widow of Egyptianleader Anwar Sadat).

KevinNewburyKevin Newbury is atheatre and operadirector based in NewYork City. In 2007,nytheatre.com namedMr. Newbury one of the“15 Most Influential

People in Downtown NYCTheatre.” Mr.Newbury is a resident director at NewYorkUniversity’s MFA DramaticWriting Program,a member of the Lincoln CenterTheatreDirector’s Lab and a former member of theDirectors-in-Residence Program at EnsembleStudioTheatre.

Mr. Newbury’s upcoming projects includeThe Black Monk (BeckettTheatre),RobertoDevereux,Anna Bolena and Maria Stuarda (Min-nesota Opera),La Cenerentola (GlimmerglassOpera),Eugene Onegin (OperaTheatre of St.Louis),LeVoyage Dans La Lune (Wexford OperaFestival) and An Inspector from Rome (Wolf TrapOpera andTheatre of St. Louis).

LeslieStifelmanLeslie Stifelman is theexecutive producer andPeabody Award winnerfor the HBO televisionseries The Music In Mecelebrating children andmusic. She is also the

music director and conductor of theTony and

Grammy-award winning hit show Chicago:TheMusical, associate conductor for Broadway’sWonderfulTown,music director and supervisorfor Here Lies Jenny and music director and con-ductor for An Orchestral Evening with BebeNeuwirth. She has served as a guest conductorfor The Philadelphia Orchestra, PittsburghSymphony,Milwaukee Symphony and SeattleSymphony.Ms. Stifelman is also the CEO forSymfunnyToons™, a company dedicated tocreating concerts, television and interactiveproducts for children to learn about music.Ms. Stifelman is currently producing a newwebsite and concert series for children andfamilies called FindingThe Groove™.

Eric ConwayDr.Eric Conway is thedirector of the MorganState University Choiras well as chairpersonof the fine arts depart-ment. He has served asassociate conductor andprincipal accompanist

for the Morgan State University Choir for thepast 20 years under the leadership of the lateNathan Carter.

He has performed as soloist with theBaltimore Symphony Orchestra, BaltimoreChamber Orchestra, Baltimore ConcertArtists, Johns Hopkins Symphony Orchestra,Georgetown University Orchestra and theMillbrook Orchestra in Shepardstown,WestVirginia. In January 2006, he performed Bach’sBrandenburg Concerto No. 5 with the BSO towide acclaim and toured with the orchestra toEast Asia in 1994 and 1997.Dr.Conway’s choralaccomplishments include working closely withsome of the greatest conductors of the 20thCentury, including Robert Shaw, Sir NevilleMarriner and Donald Neuen.

The Morgan StateUniversity ChoirThe Morgan State University (MSU)Choir is one of the nation’s most prestigiousuniversity choral ensembles.While classical,gospel and contemporary popular musiccomprise the choir’s repertoire, the choir isnoted for its emphasis on preserving theheritage of the spiritual, especially in thehistoric practices of performance.

The MSU Choir has performed foraudiences throughout the United States and allover the world, including Virgin Islands,CanaryIslands,Canada,Africa, Asia and Europe.Theyhave appeared at the Kennedy Center, LincolnCenter and Carnegie Hall and have performedwith the NewYork Philharmonic,The Philadel-phia Orchestra, the Buffalo, Baltimore,Knoxvilleand National symphony orchestras. In August

2007, the Choir completed a tour of Ghanaand performed at the invitation of the U.S.Ambassador to Ghana to celebrate its 50th yearof independence.

In May 2004,Reader’s Digest named the MSUChoir “The Best College Choir in the U.S.” inits list of “America’s 100 Best.”

Doreen FalbyDoreen Falby,Director of the PeabodyChildren’s Chorus,began studying solfègeand singing in chorusesas a child in her nativeScotland. She bringsher knowledge of the

British choral tradition to her work with theChorus, as well as experience from her posts asassistant director of the Glasgow Grand OperaCompany, as assistant director of the SyracuseChildren’s Chorus and as founder and directorof the Maryland Children’s Singers. Ms. Falbyholds degrees in vocal music education andpiano performance from the Royal ScottishAcademy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. Shecompleted post-graduate studies at St.Andrew’sCollege, Scotland, and is a Licentiate of theRoyal Academy of Music in London. A RotaryInternational Fellowship and a Syracuse Univer-sity Fellowship provided her the opportunityto earn two Master of Music degrees fromSyracuse University, in piano performance andvocal music education. Ms. Falby coordinatesthe Peabody Preparatory’s campus in HowardCounty, and has been director of the PeabodyChildren’s Chorus since 1992. Ms. Falby and theChorus last appeared with the BSO earlier thisyear in Carl Orff ’s Carmina Burana.

Peabody Children’s ChorusThe Peabody Children’s Chorus, founded in1989, is dedicated to providing age-appropriatevocal training for young people.The Chorusbrings children together to rehearse andperform art and folk music of multiple cultures,languages, historical periods and styles. In sixensembles rehearsing at two campuses, youngpeople gain invaluable experience makingmusic in ensemble settings. Ear-training andmusic-reading skills are also emphasized.

Approximately 300 children between theages of 6 and 18 participate each year in threelevels of training. Members of theTrainingChoir (ages 6-10), the Choristers (ages 10-14),and the Chamber Singers (ages 12-18) rehearsehigh-quality treble music of advancing challengeand sophistication, and perform in publicconcert at least twice a year.

The Peabody Children’s Chorus performsfrequently with other arts organizations such asthe Baltimore Choral Arts Society, the Baltimore

Marin AlsopMusic DirectorHailed as one ofthe world’s leadingconductors for herartistic vision and com-mitment to accessibilityin classical music,MarinAlsop made history with

her appointment as the 12th music director ofthe Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.With herinaugural concerts in September 2007, shebecame the first woman to head a majorAmerican orchestra. She also holds the title

of Conductor Emeritus at the BournemouthSymphony in the United Kingdom,whereshe served as the principal conductor from2002-2008 and is music director of the CabrilloFestival of Contemporary Music in California.

In 2005,Ms.Alsop was named a MacArthurFellow, the first conductor ever to receive thisprestigious award. In 2007, she was honored witha EuropeanWomen of Achievement Award, andin 2008, she was inducted as a fellow into theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences.

A regular guest conductor with the NewYork Philharmonic,The Philadelphia Orchestra,London Symphony Orchestra and Los Angeles

Philharmonic,Ms.Alsop appears frequently as aguest conductor with the most distinguishedorchestras around the world. In addition to herperformance activities, she is also an activerecording artist with award-winning cycles ofBrahms and Barber orchestral works. She iscurrently recording the Dvorák symphonieswith the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

Marin Alsop attendedYale University andreceived her master’s degree fromThe JuilliardSchool. In 1989, her conducting career waslaunched when she won the Leopold StokowskiInternational Conducting Competition inNewYork.

8 BALT IMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Be r n s t e i n ’s Mas s Commemo r a t i v e Prog r am 9

Cour

tesyo

fMSU

Morgan State University Choir,Dr. Eric Conway

Director

Peabody Children’s Chorus,Doreen FalbyDirector

Morgan State UniversityMarching Band

Melvin N. Miles, Director

The concert will end at approximately 10:00 p.m.

There will be no intermission.

Baltimore Symphony OrchestraJoseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall

MARIN ALSOP MUSIC DIRECTORHARVEY M. AND LYN P. MEYERHOFF CHAIR

Marin AlsopConductor

Jubilant SykesCelebrant

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2008 8 P.M. • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2008 8 P.M.SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2008 8 P.M.

Kevin NewburyStage Director

Leslie StifelmanMusic Supervisor

Bernstein’s MASS

Leonard BernsteinMass: ATheatre Piece for Singers, Players and Dancers

Text from the Liturgy of the Roman MassAdditionalTexts by Stephen Schwartz and Leonard Bernstein

Andr

eaMo

hin

Seán Curran,Musical Staging • Eric Fisher,Assistant Stage Director • Alan Adelman, Lighting DesignerNevin Steinberg, Sound Designer • ACME Sound Partners, Sound Design • Jessica Jahn, Costume Consultant

Street ChorusSarah Uriarte Berry • Matt Boehler • Susan Derry • Celisse Henderson • Leah Horowitz • Morgan James

Amy Justman • Telly Leung • Mike McGowan • Dan Micciche • Max Perlman • Janet SaiaCaesar Samayoa • Timothy Shew • J.D.Webster • LaurieWilliamson • KevinVortmann

Casting by Pat McCorkle, CSA

Please see insert for additional cast biographies.

Kym

Thom

pson

The BSO would like to thank Sandra Levi Gerstung; Elaine and Solomon H. Snyder & The Johns Hopkins University

Department of Neuroscience; and Deborah and Philip D. English for their generous support of this program.

Terra

nceM

cCar

thy

Carnegie Hall, Broadway and on national tours.His film credits include Madame Butterfly,LegallyBlonde, It HadTo BeYou and Smokey Joe’s Café.His television credits include Live From LincolnCenter (10 seasons),DEF Comedy Jam,TheBET Honors,The Gershwin Prize for AmericanSongwriters,TheTonyAwards,TheVideo MusicAwards,The Miss Universe Pageants,The ChrisRock Show,Showtime at the Apollo,Chappelle’sShow,Comedy Central Presents andThe News Hourwith Jim Lehrer. He created designs for more than50 shows of PBS’s Great Performances and sevenprograms for American Playhouse.

Nevin SteinbergAcme Sound Partners was formed in 2000 byTom Clark, Mark Menard and Nevin Steinberg.The sound design team’s Broadway creditsinclude InThe Heights (Tony Award nomination),The Country Girl,Legally Blonde,High Fidelity, AChorus Line (2006),Dr. Seuss’s How the GrinchStole Christmas,The Drowsy Chaperone,HotFeet,The Light in the Piazza,Monty Python’sSpamalot,Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,Dracula theMusical,Twentieth Century,Fiddler on the Roof,Never Gonna Dance,The Boy From Oz,AvenueQ, Gypsy (2003) and La Bohème (DramaDesk Award). ACME Sound Partners have alsoserved as sound designers for numerous off-Broadway and regional productions as well astheatrical concerts and events with renownedorchestras at world-famous venues.

Mr. Steinberg has served as productionsound engineer on TheWild Party, Footlooseand Side Show.

Jessica JahnJessica Jahn graduated from Rutgers Universitywith degrees in dance and psychology. Herrecent projects include Die Mommie Die! at NewWorld Stages in NewYork (Lucille Lortel Awardfor Costume Design), In the Red and BrownWaterat the AllianceTheatre,The Mystery of IrmaVep atStudio Arena and Esoterica at the Daryl RothTheatre in NewYork. Her upcoming projectsinclude Roberto Deveraux,Maria Stuarda,AnnaBolena with Minnesota Opera and Cenerentolawith Glimmerglass Opera.

NOTES ON THE PROGRAM

Mass: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Playersand DancersLeonard BernsteinBorn in Lawrence, Massachusetts,August 25, 1918; died in New York City,November 14, 1990In November 1963, Leonard Bernstein was busyorchestrating the final movement of hisThirdSymphony, “Kaddish,”when he learned of theassassination of President John F.Kennedy inDallas.Admiring his politics, his vigorous person-ality and his openness to high culture, Bernstein

and his wife, Felicia, had become personal friendsof the President ( just one year Bernstein’s senior)and Mrs.Kennedy. Stunned by the tragedy, hedecided to dedicate “Kaddish”with its themeof mourning “to the beloved memory ofJohn F.Kennedy.”

Five years later, with the building of theKennedy Center for the Performing Arts inWashington, D.C., well underway, JacquelineKennedy Onassis approached Bernstein with acommission for a major new work for theCenter’s opening performances in 1971. After adifficult gestation, it would become the longest,most ambitious and ultimately most controversialpiece this protean composer/conductor evercreated.Mass was Bernstein’s most intimate,self-revealing work, yet paradoxically, it wouldrequire more than 200 musicians and dancers toperform. In honor of Kennedy’s Catholic faith, itwas a setting of the traditional Roman Mass, andyet it was filled with anti-establishment songs setto contemporary rock and blues beats that calledthe tenets of Catholicism—and by extension allreligions—into question. It was a work for aclassical concert hall with all the theatricaltrappings and glitz of Broadway,where Bernsteinhad enjoyed so many triumphs. Its mélange ofmusical languages defined eclecticism: rhythm-and-blues nestled up to serial tone rows, Latinodances mingled with Lutheran chorales, candidAmerican folk ballads shook hands withBeethoven and Stravinsky. For some listenersat itsWashington premiere on Sept. 8, 1971,it was a deeply moving spiritual experience;for others, it was an outrageous sacrilege.Thecritics, too,were bitterly divided.TheWashingtonPost’s Paul Hume called it “the greatest musicBernstein has ever written.”But The NewYorkTimes’ redoubtable Harold C. Schonbergdismissed it as “cheap and vulgar,” adding,“It isa show-biz Mass, the work of a musician whodesperately wants to be with it.”

Bernstein’s Attraction to the Catholic Mass“What’s a Jewish boy like you doing writinga mass?”Maurice Peress—who took overconductingMass’s premiere after it became clearthat Bernstein was stretched too thin completingthe work to assume that responsibility—onceasked the composer. Bernstein’s youngest child,Nina Bernstein, has written that her father—grandson of a rabbi and son of aTalmudicscholar—“had always been intrigued and awedby the Roman Catholic Mass, finding it (inLatin) moving,mysterious and eminentlytheatrical.”Bernstein himself explained:“I’vealways wanted to compose a service of one sortor another, and I toyed with ecumenical servicesthat would combine elements from variousreligions and sects, of ancient or tribal beliefs, butit never all came together in my mind untilJacqueline Onassis asked me to write a piecededicated to her late husband.… I suppose part

of the reason that the Catholic Mass became thespinal structure—unconsciously, perhaps—musthave had something to do with the Kennedysand because John F.Kennedy was America’s firstCatholic president. But I’ve always had a deepinterest in Catholicism in all its aspects, itssimilarities and dissimilarities to Judaism.… Massis also an extremely dramatic event in itself—iteven suggests a theater work.”Perhaps, too,Bernstein was mindful of the fact that his greatidol Gustav Mahler had converted from Judaismto Catholicism as an adult.

InMass, however, the solid beliefs ofCatholicism are constantly being assaulted bysongs set in contemporary popular styles andusing irreverent words mostly written byBernstein himself.Nina Bernstein likens them to“the particularly Jewish practice of occasionallyaddressing God in confrontational terms.”But beyond that, the confrontational, anti-establishment tone ofMass is rooted in thehighly charged era in which it was written: thelate 1960s and early 1970s.TheVietnamWarwas at its height, and so too were the anti-warprotests.Thousands were marching in demon-strations on the Pentagon and in cities acrossAmerica. Students were shot by the nationalguard at Kent State University, and collegecampuses went on strike from California toMassachusetts.The hippie generation was inascendancy with drugs,“free love” and rockmusic embraced as the new way to live.Thesummer of 1969 had seen thousands gather atWoodstock to celebrate the joys of the counter-culture.The Baby Boomer generation opposedalmost everything that had been handeddown to it, be it organized religion orAmerican democracy.

Though now in his 50s, Bernstein tooenjoyed a fashionable flirtation with the flowerchildren.He had attended at least one JimiHendrix concert and in his book The InfiniteVariety of Music extolled rock: “Pop music seemsto be the only area where there is to be foundunabashed vitality, the fun of invention, thefeeling of fresh air. Everything else suddenlyseems old-fashioned.” In 1970, he and his wifeheld a fundraising party for the BlackPanthers, prompting authorTomWolfe to dubthem“radical chic.”He intendedMass to be, atleast partly, an anti-war statement and an indict-ment of the Nixon administration. Indeed,members of Nixon’s inner circle already knewabout this, and it was for this reason that thePresident did not attend the performance.Thefact that Bernstein had also met with jailedanti-draft activist Father Philip Berrigan todiscuss liturgical matters pertaining toMassdidn’t help matters.

During periods at the MacDowell Colonysnatched from his international conductingschedule,Mass fitfully took shape, but by June1971, just three months from the opening of

Opera Company, the Baltimore SymphonyOrchestra, Concert Artists of Baltimore, thePeabody Conservatory’s OperaTheater and thePeabody Symphony Orchestra.The Chorus hasperformed in master classes with Mark Cudek,Vern Falby,Tom Hall, Bobby McFerrin, JohnShirley-Quick andWebbWiggins, and hastoured in England and France.

Morgan StateUniversity Marching BandThe Morgan State University (MSU)Marching Band, also known as “TheMagnificent Marching Machine,” consists ofnearly 150 students.The band has performedat many national, regional and local events,including MSU football games, NationalFootball League games, Presidential Inaugura-tions and theWorld Series.The MSU MarchingBand has appeared on regional and localtelevision stations and has performed in manystates throughout the United States andBermuda.The ensemble also appeared in themovie Head of State and onTom Joyner’stelevision show.

Seán CurranSeán Curran made his mark on the danceworld as a leading dancer with the BillT.Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. Hereceived a NewYork Dance and PerformanceBessie Award for his performance in SecretPastures.A graduate and guest faculty memberof NewYork University’sTisch School of theArts, Mr. Curran was an original member ofthe NewYork City cast of the off-Broadwaypercussion extravaganza Stomp, performing inthe show for four years.

Current and recent projects forMr. Curran include productions of Tamingof the Shrew,Much Ado About Nothing and AMidsummer Night’s Dream forThe ShakespeareTheater; the 20th anniversary production ofNixon in China at OperaTheater of St. Louis;choreography for the NewYork City Operaproductions of L’Etoile,Alcina,Turandot,Harounand the Sea of Stories,Capriccio and Acis andGaletea; Shakespeare in the Park’s AsYou Like It;theTeatro San Carlo di Napoli production ofCandide,Cymbeline and The Rivals at LincolnCenterTheater. He also choreographedRomeo and Juliette forThe Metropolitan Operawhich was shown in theaters nationwidelast December.

Alan AdelmanAlan Adelman has served as a lighting designeron stage, film and television, earning threeEmmy Awards and 15 additional nominations.

He has recently worked with the MiamiCity Ballet, the San Francisco Ballet and theJuilliard Opera with his work appearing at

10 BALT IMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Be r n s t e i n ’s Mas s Commemo r a t i v e Prog r am 11

BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

First ViolinsJonathan Carney

Concertmaster,

Ruth Blaustein

Rosenberg Chair

Madeline Adkins

Associate

Concertmaster,

Wilhelmina Hahn

Waidner Chair

Igor Yuzefovich

Assistant

Concertmaster

Yasuoki Tanaka

James Boehm

Kenneth Goldstein

Wonju Kim

Gregory Kuperstein

Mari Matsumoto

John Merrill

Gregory Mulligan

Rebecca Nichols

Ellen Orner

E. Craig Richmond

Ellen Pendleton Troyer

Andrew Wasyluszko

Second ViolinsQing Li

Principal, E. Kirkbride

and Ann H. Miller Chair

Ivan Stefanovic

Acting Associate

Principal

Wayne C. Taylor

Leonid Berkovich

Leonid Briskin

George Orner

Julie Parcells

Edward Patey

Christina Scroggins

James Umber

Charles Underwood

Melissa Zaraya

ViolasRichard Field

Principal, Peggy

Meyerhoff Pearlstone

Chair

Noah Chaves

Associate Principal

Christian Colberg

Acting Assistant

Principal

Peter Minkler

Karin Brown

Sharon Pineo Myer

Genia Slutsky

Delmar Stewart

Jeffrey Stewart

Mary Woehr

CellosIlya Finkelshteyn

Principal, Joseph and

Rebecca Meyerhoff

Chair

Chang Woo Lee

Associate Principal

Dariusz Skoraczewski

Assistant Principal

Bo Li

Susan Evans

Seth Low

Esther Mellon

Kristin Ostling

Paula Skolnick-

Childress

BassesRobert Barney

Principal, Willard and

Lillian Hackerman

Chair

Hampton Childress

Associate Principal

Owen Cummings

Arnold Gregorian

Mark Huang

Jonathan Jensen

David Sheets

Eric Stahl

FlutesEmily Skala

Principal, Dr. Clyde

Alvin Clapp Chair

Beverly Crawford*

Acting Assistant

Principal

Marcia Kämper

PiccoloLaurie Sokoloff

OboesKatherine Needleman

Principal, Robert H.

and Ryda H. Levi Chair

Michael Lisicky

English HornJane Marvine

Kenneth S. Battye and

Legg Mason Chair

ClarinetsSteven Barta

Principal, Anne

Adalman Goodwin

Chair

Christopher Wolfe

Assistant Principal

William Jenken

Edward Palanker

Bass ClarinetEdward Palanker

E-flat ClarinetChristopher Wolfe

BassoonsPhillip A. M. Kolker

Principal

Julie Green

Assistant Principal

Fei Xie

ContrabassoonDavid P. Coombs

HornsPhilip Munds

Principal, USF&G

Foundation Chair

Gabrielle Finck

Associate Principal

Beth Graham

Assistant Principal

David Bakkegard

Mary C. Bisson

Bruce Moore

TrumpetsAndrew Balio

Principal, Harvey M.

and Lyn P. Meyerhoff

Chair

Rene Hernandez

Assistant Principal

Phil Snedecor

Edward Hoffman

TrombonesChristopher Dudley

Principal, Alex. Brown

& Sons Chair

James Olin

Co-Principal

John Vance

Bass TromboneRandall S. Campora

TubaDavid T. Fedderly

Principal

TimpaniDennis Kain

Principal

Christopher Williams

Assistant Principal

PercussionChristopher Williams

Principal, Lucille

Schwilck Chair

John Locke

Brian Prechtl

PianoSidney M. and Miriam

Friedberg Chair

Jonathan Jensen

Mary Woehr

Director ofOrchestra PersonnelMarilyn Rife

Assistant PersonnelManagerChristopher Monte

LibrariansMary Carroll Plaine

Principal, Constance A.

and Ramon F. Getzov

Chair

Raymond Kreuger

Associate

Stage PersonnelEnnis Seibert

Stage Manager

Frank Serruto

Stagehand

Todd Price

Electrician

Larry Smith

Sound

*Guest Musician

Marin Alsop Music Director, Harvey M. and Lyn P. Meyerhoff Chair

Jack Everly Principal Pops Conductor

Yuri Temirkanov Music Director Emeritus

Joseph Young BSO-Peabody Conducting Fellow

the Kennedy Center, it was still far from ready.Beyond the immense scope of the piece,Bernstein had set himself the task of writing thewords for all the numbers interpolated into theMass liturgy. Finding her brother “terriblydepressed and searching desperately for acollaborator to work on the lyrics for the songs,”Shirley Bernstein, a theatrical agent, took himto see Godspell, the hit Broadway musicalbased on the Gospel of St.Matthew; StephenSchwartz, the show’s composer and lyricist,wasone of her clients. Schwartz and Bernstein hitit off immediately, and the younger man waspressed into service to collaborate onMass’smusic as well as its lyrics.

With Schwartz’s help,Bernstein’s creativeblock was broken, and he moved down to theWatergate Hotel—soon to be famous foranother reason—to finish the score. ArrangersHershy Kay and JohnTunnick prepared theorchestrations of the pop music numbers. Fivecopyists kept rushing pages of the score to therehearsing performers.The conclusion of thepiece was not actually completed until a fewdays before the premiere.

Bernstein’s other collaborators on theproduction were the cream of Broadway.Roger L. Stevens, then head of the KennedyCenter,was the producer, and Gordon Davidsondirected the elaborate staging.The Alvin AileyDanceTheatre and its celebrated soloist JudithJamison performed the dance sequences.Therenowned Oliver Smith did the sets,withcostumes by FrankThompson.

Mass as “Theatre Piece”Bernstein gaveMass the subtitle “Theatre Piecefor Singers, Players and Dancers,” and it is indeeda thoroughly theatrical conception, drawing onall the composer’s Broadway experience, as wellas his encyclopedic knowledge of the classicalrepertoire.He called it “an entirely new concept.It has all the qualities of a dramatic work,catastrophe and climax … all those terms outof Aristotle.”However,Mass is actually heavilyindebted to Britten’s 1962War Requiem,whichinterpolatedWilfred Owen’s anti-war poetryinto the Requiem Mass for the Dead, as well as tothe contemporary rock musicals Godspell andJesus Christ Superstar. Its cast of more than 200performers (the Baltimore Symphony will usenearly 250) includes a symphony orchestra, anadult choir, a children’s choir, a marching band, arock ensemble, an ensemble of singers called the“street chorus” and the central role of theCelebrant, sung by a high baritone.

Indeed, the whole drama of the workpivots around the Celebrant, a figure manycommentators see as an alter ego for thecomposer himself. Bernstein described themeaning of this role in a note written a yearafterMass’s premiere:“The ritual is conductedby a young man of mysterious simplicity (called


PEABODY CHILDREN’S CHORUS

Rachel Ace

Simran Afsah

Sophia Anastasi

Annie Bishai

Emily Bishai

Graham Bishai

Sarah Bluher

James Cavallon

Mindy Cheng

Samantha Chyatte

Kasey Cwynar-Foye

Torie Davis

Caitlin DeLatte

Mary Dumler

Cameron Falby

Sarah Frazier

Rebecca Fritz

Joseph Gaylin

Caitlin Grant

Jillian Krall

Olivia Lansdale

Lauren Mullin

John Lee

Kara Leonard

Corbin Locke

Robert Lohr

Joshua Lucker

Rachel Martin

Adele McAllister

Vibav Mouli

Jay Nachenberg

Scott Paulis

Trevor Pitts

Shreya Rangarajan

CJ Roebuck

David Ruth

Miranda Savage

Kirsten Seibert

Kaitlin Seibert

Laura Tenbus

Keith Tobin

Leila Wardcantori


the Celebrant) who throughout the drama isinvested by his acolytes with increasingly ornaterobes and symbols,which connote both anincrease in the superficial formalism of hisobligation and of the burden that he bears.There is a parallel increase in the resistance ofhis Congregants—in the sharpness and bitternessof their reactions—and in the deterioration ofhis own faith.At the climax of Communion,all ceremony breaks down, and the Mass isshattered. It then remains for each individual onstage to find a new seed of faith within himselfthrough painful Mediation, enabling eachindividual to pass on the embrace of peace (Pax)to his neighbor.”

The climax of the breakdown of theCelebrant’s authority involves his shattering ofthe sacred elements of Communion and hisdesecration of the altar. It was this scene thatappalled some religious leaders at the time,including the Archbishop of Cincinnati whocalled it “a blatant sacrilege against all we holdsacred” and forbade Catholics to attend itsCincinnati performances in 1972.Yet othermembers of the clergy found it a more accept-ably spiritual act.After seeing Mass, theEpiscopal Bishop of NewYork, Paul Moore,wrote Bernstein:“I could deeply identify withthe inordinate demands people make upon thechurch and the priest and with the deeprevulsion one sometimes feels toward the role.Using the priest’s collapse … as a symbol of thesacrifice of the Mass,which in a sense broughtabout the possibility of the resurrection scene inthe end,was a brilliant stroke on your part.”

Listening to MassSince it is impractical to discuss all ofMass’s 32numbers here,we will focus on some of themore important sections.The work opens withthe “Kyrie” of the Mass, sung by a quintet ofsingers who have been pre-recorded—musicthat is elaborately contrapuntal and basicallynon-tonal.When it has reached a peak ofcomplexity and cacophony, it is abruptly silencedby the live sound of the acoustic guitar.His “ASimple Song” isMass’s most famous number;often excerpted, it is a beautiful, fluid ballad inAmerican folk-song style,whose musical meansare as simple and straightforward as its words.Atthis moment in the drama, the Celebrant is aninnocent, unencumbered being,whose faith inGod is joyous and trusting.This before-the-fallmood is continued by the bell-ringing, Swingle-Singers jazz of the choral “Alleluiah.”

The happily raucous street band, repletewith kazoos, accompanies the street chorusonto the stage.This is followed by percussiveand pungently colorful dance music in MiddleEastern style for the procession of the sacredobjects used to celebrate the Mass.The“Prayer for the Congregation” is the chorus’“Almighty Father,” in sturdy Lutheran

chorale style,which we will hear again at theend of the work.This opening portion of theMass closes with “Epiphany,” a pre-recordedsolo for oboe in the style of a Japaneseshakuhachi melody, and it too will featureprominently inMass’s conclusion.

“Confiteor,” the Confession of Sins,opens with violently dissonant 12-tone music forchorus in the fashionable non-tonal style thatBernstein opposed throughout his career.Thisleads into a new world—the world of rock andblues—for “I Don’t Know” and “Easy,” thefirst of the confrontational songs sung by thestreet chorus expressing the doubts experiencedby contemporary humankind.

The Meditation No. 1 for Orchestra isone ofMass’s most important musical segments.Its language is deeply indebted to Shostakovich’sanguished slow movements, even to the stingof xylophone. It is music that seems to yearndesperately for faith, for answers.Twice, theviolins lead a beautifully consoling descendingtheme Bernstein marks “peacefully;” thistheme will also play a prominent role at thework’s conclusion.

After the “Gloria” of the Mass and thelovely song for soprano soloist,“ThankYou,”comes Meditation No. 2,which is much moreabstract and modern in tone and conceptionthan the first. It uses a non-tonal sequence ofnotes from the choral finale of Beethoven’sNinth Symphony as the basis for four briefvariations and a coda. Fleetingly,we also heara snatch of the “Ode to Joy.”A haunting cellosolo closes this interlude.

The Epistle,“TheWord of the Lord,”intersperses brief excerpts from the epistles ofSt. Paul with aVietnam-era protest song, sung bythe Celebrant in Pete Seeger folk style.Membersof the street chorus also read excerpts of lettersby those imprisoned for opposing the draft.Thisis followed by the Gospel Sermon, “God Said,”a song that provides a bit of comic relief as wellas savage criticism of how contemporary humanshave twisted and despoiled God’s creation fortheir own needs and desires.Aided and abettedby the street chorus, the preacher here seems ayounger brother of Gershwin’s irreverent“Sportin’ Life.”

The words of the “Credo” are presentedin a chillingly impersonal, rote manner: thepre-recorded chorus chants them in angular,non-tonal phrases over barbaric percussion in astyle recalling Stravinsky’s hierarchical retelling ofGreek legend in his Oedipus Rex.Unconvincedvoices from the present keep interrupting toquestion the articles of faith (“Non Credo,”“World without End,”“I Believe in God”).The congregation is beginning to grow restive,but the Celebrant silences them.

It is the children’s choir that temporarilyrestores the mood of innocent trust and faithwith the joyful dance of the “Sanctus,” one of

Mass’s finest sections.Gradually, the Celebrantjoins in an ecstatically soaring song andbreaks into the Hebrew words for the “Sanctus”and “Benedictus:” “Kadosh Adonai.”HereBernstein links the words of the Mass to hisown religious tradition.

This joyous unity, however, does not last,and the “Agnus Dei” propels the work to itscrisis.To a driving beat, the chorus seizes on thewords “Dona nobis pacem” and turns theminto an angry anti-war protest.The Celebrantstruggles against the rebellion of his flock, hisvoice becoming weaker and more desperate.Thechorus’ hitherto classical music is transmutedinto an aggressive rhythm-and-blues style as thepeople lapse more and more into anarchy.

The Celebrant silences the frenzy withhis own cries of “Pacem,” then smashes theCommunion sacraments to the ground. In“Things Get Broken,” he suffers a completeemotional meltdown: a crisis of faith. In thisoperatic mad scene, he calls into question all theaspects of the sacred rite he has been performing.Fragments of many of the earlier musicalnumbers mingle in a crazed recapitulation.Theclosing and most poignant section wistfullyrecalls the music of the First OrchestralMeditation.Having relinquished his sacredoffice, the Celebrant leaves the scene.

How to find a way out of this terribleimpasse? A single flute breaks the agonizingsilence with a reprise of the oboe’s “Epiphany”solo.Then the boy-soprano acolyte takes up theCelebrant’s “A Simple Song” and transformsit into a new, sweetly flowing melody,“Lauda,Laude,” over the rippling accompaniment of theharp and the flute.A man from the street chorusjoins him in duet, and the song of praise spreadsgradually in canon throughout the entire cast asthey embrace.They have now taken on therole of priest and celebrant for themselves.As the children’s choir shares the Peace withthe audience, the choir reprises the chorale“Almighty Father.” In Bernstein’s words,“Thechain of embrace grows and threads throughthe entire stage, ultimately with the audienceand hopefully into the world outside.”

Instrumentation: 2 flutes (seconddoubling piccolo), 2 oboes (seconddoubling English horn), 3 clarinets(second doubling piccolo clarinet andthird doubling bass clarinet), 2 bassoons(second doubling contrabassoon), 4 horns,4 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani,percussion, harp, 2 keyboard players,3 saxophones, 2 guitar players, banjo,1 bass guitar, strings, solo baritone voice,adult chorus,“street chorus,” children’schorus and marching band.Janet E.Bedell, copyright 2008

Doreen Falby, DirectorBradley Permenter, Assistant DirectorSharon Spicher, Chorus Manager

MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITYMARCHING BAND

Piccolo

Cynthia Jones

Shannon Murray

Clarinet

Felicia Facyson

Jerel Ellegood

Dariq Cobb

Jerimiah Waddy

Alto Sax

Brian Nelson

Raechelle Martin

Tenor SaxophoneZacharie Ambroise

Gabriel Andino

Trumpet

Christopher Gee

David Whitmon

Charlene Boone

Robert McIver

Antonio Hardy

Janelle Stewart

Mellophone

Bridget Barnes

Charles Armstrong

Trombone

Andre Grant

Matthew Thompson

CurtisSample-Hawkins

Catherine Marner

Luis DeLeon

Markus Clark

Baritone

Paul Howard

Kyle Daniels

Geneva Pope

Tuba

Matthew Simms

Emmanuel Robertson

Wayne Branch

Clint Bordley

Percussion

DiJuan Fishley

Ronald Hurt

James Berry

Justin Wilson

Duane Hinton

Justin Kerr

Thomas Booker

Jody Jones

Ray Redditt

Dexter Cofield

Muhammad Rashad

Lemond Jenkins

Kevin Dixon

Melvin N. Miles, Director

MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY CHIOR

Thomas Allen, Jr.

Anthony Avery

Ricardo Blagrove

Jehreva Brown

Chester Burke

Jessika Burton

Antonio Chase

Patrick Dailey

Gregory Daugherty

Tiara Dixon

Leah Finklea

Dayna Gibson Quincy

RaquelGregory-Jennings

Albert Hardy IV

Brandon Harris

Terrance Hart

Jessica Hayes

Terrone Hill

Ambrosia Hooper

Naima Howard

Timothy Jenkins

Jessika Johnson

Joseph Johnson

Shakyla Johnson

Joseph Jones

Kristal King

Adrian Lewis

Kevin Lewis

Melissa McDaniel

Ronald McFadden

Imhotep McLean

Tylar Montgomery

Essence Morgan

Tristan Morris

Jessica Nelson

Maya Paggett

Ashley Perry

Dwayne Pinkney

Candace Potts

Shana Powell

Aleah Prentice

Brittany Quashie

Sean Roberts

Kimiesha Robinson

Raphael Scott

Dominique Spriggs

Angel Strong-Archer

Amelia Taylor

Benjamin Taylor

Frederick Taylor

Derrick Thompson

Theodore Thorpe

Danton Whitley

Brittany Williams

Dr. Eric Conway, Director


Second Rock SingerI don’t know where to startThere’s so much I could showIf I opened my heartBut how far, Lord, but how far can I go?I don’t know.

Second Blues SingerIf you asked me to join you in somereal good viceNow that might be niceOnce or twiceBut don’t look for sacraments or sacrificeThey’re not worth the price.

It’s easy to have yourself a fine affairYour body’s always ready, but yoursoul’s not thereDon’t count on trustCome love, come lust,It’s so easy when you just don’t care.

Third Rock SingerWhat I need I don’t haveWhat I have I don’t ownWhat I own I don’t wantWhat I want Lord, I don’t know.

Third Blues SingerIf you ask me to sing you verse that’s versatileI’ll be glad to beguile youFor a whileBut don’t look for content beneath the styleSit back and smile.

It’s easy for you to dig my jim-jam jive,And, baby, please observe how neatly I survive.And what could giveMore positivePlain proof that living is easy whenyou’re half alive.

All Three Rock SingersLord, I could go confess...

All Three Blues SingersEasy...

All Three Rock SingersGood and loud, nice and slow...

All Three Blues SingersEasy...

ChoirBeatam Mariam semper Virginem(Ideo precor)Beatum Michaelem Archangleum, beatumJoannem Baptistam,Sanctos Apostolos Petrum et Paulum,Omnes sanctos, et vos, fratres,Orate pro meAd Dominum Deum nostrum.

All Six SoloistsWhat I say I don’t feelWhat I feel I don’t showWhat I show isn’t realWhat is real, Lord–I don’t know,No, no, no–I don’t know.

First Rock SingerCome on, Lord, if you’re so greatShow me how, where to goShow me now–I can’t waitMaybe it’s too late,Lord,I don’t know...

First Blues SingerConfiteor....

CelebrantGod forgive you.

AllGod forgive us all.

CelebrantThe Lord be with you.

AllAnd with your spirit.

CelebrantLet us pray.

V. MEDITATION NO. 1 (orchestra)

VI. GLORIACelebrantGloria tibi, Gloria tibi,Gloria!Glory to You, Glory to YouGlory!

Boys’ ChoirGloria tibi, Gloria tibi,Gloria!Glory to You, Glory to YouGlory!

Celebrant and Boys’ ChoirGloria Patri,Gloria Filio,Et Spiritui Sancto.Laudamus te,Adoramus te,Glorificamus te,Benedicimus te.Glory to the Father,Glory to the Son,And the Holy Spirit.We praise You,We adore You,We glorify You,We bless You.

Gloria PatriGloria Filio

Et Spiritui Sancto.Gloria!Glory to the Father,Glory to the Son,And the Holy Spirit.Glory.

CelebrantGlory to God in the Highest and Peace onEarth to Men of GoodWill!

2. Gloria in excelsisChoirGloria in excelsis Deo,et in terra pax hominibusbonae voluntatis.Laudamus te,Adoramus te,Benedicimus te.Glorificamus te.Gratias agimus tibi proptermagnam gloriam tuam:Domine Deus, Rex caelestis.Deus Pater omnipotens.Domine Fili unigenite,Jesu Christe;Domine Deus, Agnus Dei,Filius Patris;Qui tollis peccatamundi,miserere nobis;suscipe deprecationem nostram;Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris,miserere nobis.Quoniam tu solis Sanctus,Tu solus Dominus,Tu solus Altissimus:Jesu Christe,Cum Sancto Spiritu: in gloriaDei Patris, Amen.Glory to God in the highest


I. DEVOTIONSBEFORE THE MASS1.Antiphon: Kyrie eleison

SopranoKyrie eleison!Lord, have mercy!

BassKyrie eleison!Lord, have mercy!

Soprano andAltoChriste eleison!Christ, have mercy!

Tenor and BaritoneChriste eleison!Christ, have mercy!

2. Hymn and Psalm:“A Simple Song”CelebrantSing God a simple songLauda, Laude...Make it up as you go alongLaude, Laude...Sing like you like to singGod loves all simple thingsFor God is the simplest of all.

I will sing the Lord a new songTo praise Him, to bless Him, to bless the Lord.I will sing His praises while I liveAll of days.Blessed is the man who loves the Lord,Blessed is the man who praises Him.Lauda, Lauda, Laude...And walks in His ways.

I will life up my eyesTo the hills from whence comes my help.I will lift up my voice to the LordSinging Lauda, Laude.

For the Lord is my shade,Is the shade upon my right handAnd the sun shall not smite me by dayNor the moon by night...Blessed is the man who loves the Lord—

Lauda, Lauda, Laude —And walks in His ways.

Lauda, Lauda, LaudeLauda, Lauda di da di day...All of my days.

3. Responsory:AlleluiaSix Solo VoicesDu bing, du bang, du bong, etc.Alleluia!Alleluia! etc.

II. FIRST INTROIT (Rondo)

1. Prefatory PrayersStreet ChorusKyrie eleison!Christe eleison!Lord have mercy!Christ have mercy!Gloria Patri et Filio,

Et Spiritui Sancto!Glory be to the Father, and tothe Son, and to the Holy Spirit!

Sicut erat in principioEt nunc et semper,Et in saecula saeculorum. AmenAs it was in the beginning,Is now and ever shall be,World without end.Amen.

BassesIntroibo ad altare Dei.I will go up to the alter of God.

TuttiAd Deum qui laetificatjuventutem meam.To God, who gives joy to my youth.

WomenAsperges me, Domine,Hyssopo, et mundabor.Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop,O Lord, and I shall be cleansed.

Two SopranosEmitte lucem tuam,Et veritatem tuam.Send forth Thy light,and Thy truth.

AltosOstende nobis, DomineShow us, Lord.

AltosOstende nobisMisericordiam tuam.Show usThy mercy.

SopranoVidi aquam egredientemDe templo latere dextroEt omnes ad quos pervenitAqua ista salvi facti sunt,Et dicent:I saw the water issuing fromthe right side of the templeAnd all those to whom it comesAre saved by that very waterAnd say:

TuttiAlleluia, alleleluiaia! etc.Alleluia, alleleluiaia! etc.

Boys’ ChoirKyrie eleison!Lord, have mercy!

ChorusChriste eleison!Christ, have mercy!

BoyHere I go up to the altar of God.In I go, up I goTo God who made me youngTo God who made me happyTo God who makes me happy to be young.

Street Chorus and Boys’ ChoirAlleluia!

2. Thrice-Triple Canon:Dominus vobiscumCelebrantDominus vobiscum.The Lord be with you.

Boys’ ChoirEt cum spiritu tuo.And with thy spirit.

All (as a round)Dominus vobiscum.Et cum spiritu tuo.The Lord be with you.And with thy spirit.

III. SECOND INTROIT1. In nomine PatrisCelebrantIn the name of the Father, and ofthe Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

TapeIn nomine Patris, et Filii, etSpiritus Sancti, Amen.

CelebrantLet us rise and pray.

CelebrantLet us rise and pray.

CelebrantAlmighty Father, bless this house.And blessand protect all who are assembled in it.

2. Prayer for the Congregation(Chorale: “Almighty Father”)ChoirAlmighty Father, incline Thine ear:Bless us and all those who have gathered hereThine angel send usWho shall defend us allAnd fill with graceAll who dwell in this place.Amen.

3. Epiphany

IV. CONFESSIONCelebrantI confess to Almighty God, to blessed Maryever Virgin,to blessed Michael the archangel, to blessedJohn the Baptist, to the holy apostles, Peterand Paul...

1. ConfiteorConfiteor Deo omnipotenti,Beatae Mariae, semper Virgini,Beato Michaeli archangelo,Beato Joanni Baptistae,Sanctis Apostolis Petroet Paulo,Omnibus sanctis,Et vobis, fratres:Quia peccavi nimis cogitatione,verbo et opere:Mea culpa, mea culpa,mea maxima culpa.Ideo precor beatam Mariam

semper Virginem,Beatum Michaelem Archangelum,beatum Joannem Baptistam,Sanctos Apostolos Petrumet Paulum,Omnes sanctos, et vos, fratres,Orare pro meAd Dominum Deum nostrum.I confess Almighty God,To blessed Mary ever Virgin,To blessed Michael the archangel,To blessed John the Baptist,To the holy apostles Peterand Paul,To all the saints,And to you, brothers:That I have sinned exceedingly inThought, word and deed:Through my fault, throughmy own most grievous fault.Therefore I beseech the BlessedMary ever Virgin,Blessed Michael the archangel,Blessed John the Baptist,The holy apostles Peterand Paul,All the saints, and you, brothers,To pray for meTo the Lord our God.

2. Trope: “I Don’t Know”Male Street ChorusConfiteor, Confiteor...

First Rock SingerLord, I could go confessGood and loud, nice and slowGet this load off my chestYes, but why, Lord–I don’t know.

I don’t know why every timeI find a new love I wound up destroying it.I don’t know why I’mSo crazy-minded, I keep on kindof enjoying it—Why I drift off to sleepWith pledges of deep resolve again,Then along comes the dayAnd suddenly they dissolve again—I don’t know...

What I say I don’t feelWhat I feel I don’t showWhat I show isn’t realWhat is real, Lord–I don’t know,No, no, no–I don’t know.

3. Trope: “Easy”First Blues SingerWell, I went to the holy man and I confessed...Look, I can beat my breastWith the best.And I’ll say almost anything thatgets me blessedUpon request...

It’s easy to shake the blame for any crimeBy trotting out that ‘mea culpa’ pantomime:‘Yes, yes, I’m sad, I sinned, I’m bad.’Then go out and do it one more time.

LEONARD BERNSTEINMASS

“A Theatre Piece For Singers, Players and Dancers”Text from the Liturgy of the Roman Mass

Additional Texts by Stephen Schwartz and Leonard Bernstein

Visit BSOmusic.org or call 410.783.8000.Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall

Less Pomp. More Romp.

Presenting sponsor Media sponsors

When you take the formality out of classical music, you end up with something unparalleled: the music. That’s the idea behind our new series, Off the Cuff. We’ll tell fascinating stories about the composers and their work. We’ll play the seventh measure of the fourth movement because the oboe part is cool.

Explore the music and more as the BSO performs musical masterpieces in their entirety prefaced with enlightening and entertaining insights from Maestra Marin Alsop, all in a 60-90 minute program with no intermission. Make it a special evening with enough time to enjoy dinner in the neighborhood afterwards.

More relaxed, more engaging and completely off the cuff.

new series!

Lnenew series!

LLLess PPomp. reoM mpoe RRo .pp.

Makintermission.dnagninethgilne

ismuehterolpxE

Work.wtheir and behind idea the sThat’tetakou yWhen

enough with ening vespecial ait ekeaMmorfsthgisnigniniatretnerforepOSBehtsaeromdnac

emeasurenth vsethe yplae’ll WWe’ll the fOfseries,wneour ehind

mclassical of out ormality fhe

the in dinner yenjoto time ugh 09-06anilla,poslAniraMartsehtniseceipretsamlacismusmr

because ement vmoth ourfthe of estories fascinating tell e’ll WWe’ll f.Cuf

something with up end ou y,usic

ds.afterwarneighborhood onhtiwmargorpetnuim0htiwdecaffaerpyteritnerie

cool.is tparoboe the ause composersthe about ories

.usicmthe unparalleled:ng

VisitJoseph Meyerh

t BSOmusic.org

Presenting sponsor Media sponsors

e engaging and mored,,elaxe rMor

hoff Symphony Hallor call 410.78

Media sponsors

completely off the cuff.gaging and

l3.8000.

he cuff.


Unless it leads to results;And so we crowd the worldFull of consenting adults.

AllAnd it was good!

ChorusAnd it was good! (etc.)

Fifth SoloGod said it’s good to be meekAnd so we are once a week;It may not mean a lotBut oh, it’s terribly chic.

AllAnd it was good!


PreacherGod made us the bossGod gave us the crossWe turned it into a swordTo spread theWord of the LordWe use His holy decreesTo do whatever we please.

ChorusYeah!

PreacherAnd it was good!

ChorusYeah!

AllAnd it was good,Yeah!And it was goddam good!

PreacherGod said: Let there be light.And there was light.

ChorusGod said: Let there be night.And there was night.

PreacherGod said: Let there be day.And there was day…

Chorus…day to follow the night.

PreacherAnd it was good, brother!

ChorusAnd it was good, brother!

PreacherAnd it was good brother!

AllAnd it was…

X. CREDOCelebrantI believe in one God, the Father Almighty,maker of heaven and earth, and of all thingsvisible and invisible.And in one Lord…(etc.)

1. Credo in unum DeumChorus and percussion on Quadraphonic tapeCredo in unum Deum,Patrem omnipotentem,Factorem caeli et terrae,Visibilium omnium etinvisibilum.Et in unum Dominum JesumChristum, Filium Dei unigenitum.Et ex Patre natum ante omnia saecula.Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine,Deum verum de Deo vero.Genitum, non factum,

consubstantialem Patri:Per quem omniafacta sunt.Qui propter nos homines etpropter nostram salutemdescendit de caelis.Et incarnatus est de SpirituSanctoEx Maria Virgine: et homofactus est.I believe in one God,the Father Almighty,Maker of heaven and earth,And of all things visibleand invisible.And in one Lord Jesus Christ, theonly-begotten Son of God.Born of the Father before allages.God of God, light of light,true God of true God;Begotten, not made, of oneessence with the Father:Through whom all things were made.Who for us men, and for oursalvation, came down fromheaven.And was incarnate by the HolySpiritOf the Virgin Mary: and wasmade man.

2. Trope: Non CredoFirst SoloEt homo factus estAnd was made man…

And you became a manYou, God, chose to become a manTo pay the earth a small social callI tell you, sir, you never wereA man at allWhy?You had the choicewhen to liveWhenTo dieAnd thenBecome a god again.

GroupAnd was made man…

SoloAnd then a plaster god like youHas the gall to tell me what to doTo become a manTo show my respect on my kneesGo genuflect, but don’t expect guaranteesOhJust play it dumbPlay it blindBut whenI goThenWill I become a god again?

GroupPossibly yes, probably no…

SoloYes, probably no.

Give me a choiceI never had a choiceOr I would have been a simple treeA barnacle in a silent seaAnything but what I must beA manA manA man!


SoloYou knew what you had to doYou knew why you had to dieYou chose to die, and then revive againYou chose, you roseAlive againBut II don’t know whyI should liveIf only to dieWell, I’m not gonna buy it!


SoloI’ll never say credo.How can anybody say credo?I want to say cr…

TapeCrucifixus etiam pro nobissub Pontio Pilato,Passus, et sepultus est.Et resurrexit tertia die,secundum Scripturas.Et ascendit in caelum:Sedet ad dexteram Patris.Et iterum venturus estcum gloriajudicare vivos et mortuos.He was also crucified for our sakeunder Pontius Pilate,suffered, and was buried.And the third day He rose againaccording to the Scriptures.And He ascended into heaven:And is seated at the right hand ofthe Father.And He will come againwith gloryto judge the living and the dead.

3. Trope: “Hurry”Second SoloYou said you’d come againWhen?When things got really roughSo you made us all sufferWhile they got a bit rougherTougher and tougherWell, things are tough enough.

So when’s your next appearance on the scene?I’m readyHurryWent to church for clearance and I’m cleanAnd steadyHurryWhile I’m waiting I can get my bags packedFlags flownShoes blackedWings sewnOn…

Oh don’t you worry —I could even learn to play the harpYou know itShow itHurryHurry and come again.

Tape (interrupting)Sedet ad dexteramPatris.Et iterum venturus est cum gloriajudicare vivos et mortuos:Cujus regni non erit finis—He is seated at the right hand ofthe Father.He will come again with gloryto judge the living and the dead:Whose reign will be without end—

4. Trope: “WorldWithout End”Street ChorusNon erit finis…World without end…

Third SoloWhispers of living, echoes of warningPhantoms of laughter on the edges of morningWorld without end spins endlessly onOnly the men who lived here are goneGone on a permanent vacationGone to await the next creation.

World without end at the end of the worldLord, don’t you know it’s the end of the world?Lord, don’t you care if it all ends today?Sometimes I’d swear that you plannedit this way…

Dark are the cities, dead is the oceanSilent and sickly are the remnants of motionWorld without end turns mindlessly roundNever a sentry, never a soundNo one to prophesy disasterNo one to help it happen fasterNo one to expedite the fallOn one to soil the breezeNo one to oil the seasNo one to anythingNo one to anythingNo one to anything at all…

TapeEt in spiritum Sanctum, Dominumet vivificantem:Qui ex Patre Filio queprocedit.Qui cum Patre, et Filio simuladoratur, et conglorificatur:Qui locutus est per Prophetas.Et unam sanctam catholicam etapostolicam Ecclesiam.Confiteor unum baptisma inremissionem peccatorum.Et exspecto resurrectionemmortuorum,Et vitam venturi saeculi.Amen.I believe also in the Holy Spirit,Lord and life-giver:Who proceeds from the Fatherand the Son.Who together with the Father,and the Son is adored, and glorified:Who spoke through the prophets.And I believe in one holy, catholicand apostolic Church.I acknowledge one baptism forthe remission of sins.And I await the resurrection ofthe dead,And the life in the world to come.Amen.

First SoloYou chose…You rose…A man!…A man!…You chose!…You rose!

Second SoloHurry and come again…Bags packed, wings sewn, Hurry!…Hurry!…

Third SoloWorld without end, end of the world!End of the world! Lord, don’t you care?Lord, don’t you care?

5. Trope: “I Believe in God”Fourth SoloAmen! Amen! Amen! (etc.)

SoloI believe in God,But does God believe in me?


And on earth peace to men ofgood will.We praise Thee,We adore Thee,We bless Thee,We glorify Thee.We give Thee thanks for Thygreat Glory:Lord God, heavenly King,God the Almighty Father.Lord Jesus Christ, only-begottenSon;Lord God, Lamb of God, Son ofthe Father:Who takest away the sins of theworld,have mercy upon us;Receive our prayer;Thou who sittest at the right handof the Father, have mercy upon us.For Thou alone art the Holy One,Thou alone art Lord,Thou, Jesus Christ, alone art theMost High,With the Holy Spirit, in the gloryof God the Father.Amen.

3. Trope: “Half of the People”Street Chorus and BandAmen!Half of the people are stonedAnd the other half are waiting for thenext election.Half the people are drownedand the other half are swimming inthe wrong direction.

They call it Glorious LivingThey call it Glorious LivingAnd baby where does that leave you,You and your kind–

Choir...miserere nobis, suscipedeprecationem nostram...

Street Chorus and Band—you and your youth and your mind?Nowhere, Nowhere, Nowhere.

Half of the people are stonedAnd the other half are waiting for the nextelection—

4. Trope: “Thank You.”Soprano SoloThere once were days so brightAnd nights when every cricket call seemed rightAnd I sang GloriaThen I sang Gratias DeoI knew a glorious feelingof thank you and...Thank you...

The bend of a willowA friend and a pillowA lover whose eyesCould mirror my cries of Gloria...

And now, it’s strangeSomehow, though nothing muchhas really changedI miss the GloriaI don’t sing Gratias DeoI can’t say quite when it happenedBut gone is the...…thank you...

Street ChorusHalf the people are drowned, and the other halfAre swimming in the wrong direction.

CelebrantLet us pray.

VII. MEDITATION NO. 2

VIII. EPISTLE:“The Word of the Lord”CelebrantBrothers: This is the gospel I preach; and in itsservice I have suffered hardships like a criminal;yea, even unto imprisonment; but there is noimprisoning theWord of God...

AYoung ManDearly Beloved: Do not be surprised if theworld hates you.We who love our brothershave crossed over to life, but they who do notlove, abide in death. Everyone who hates hisbrother is a murderer.

Another Young ManDear Mom and Dad... Do not feel badly orworry about me. Nothing will make me change.Try to understand: I am now a man.

CelebrantYou can lock up the bold menGo and lock up your bold menAnd hold men in tow,You can stifle all adventureFor a century or so.Smother hope before it’s risenWatch it wizen like a gourd,But you cannot imprisonTheWord of the Lord.

Celebrant and ChorusNo, you cannot imprisonTheWord of the Lord.

CelebrantFor theWordFor theWord was at the birth of the beginningIt made the heavens and the earth and setthem spinning,And for several million yearsIt’s withstood all our forums and fine ideas.It’s been roughIt’s been rough but it appears to be winning!

There are people who doubt itThere are people who doubt it andshout it out loud,Oh, they bellow and they bluster ‘til theymuster up a crowd.They can fashion a rebuttal that’s as subtleas a sword,But they’re never gonna scuttle theWordof the Lord.

Celebrant and ChorusNo, they’re never gonna scuttle theWord ofthe Lord!

An Older ManDear Brothers:…I think that God has made usapostles the most abject of mankind.Wehunger and thirst, we are naked, we areroughly handled, and we have no fixedabode…They curse us and we bless. They per-secute us and we suffer it…They treat us asthe scum of the earth, the dregs of humanity,to this very day.

AYoung GirlDear Folks: Jim looked very well on my firstvisit.With his head clean-shaven, he lookedabout 19 years old. He says the prison food isvery good. For the first few days he’s notallowed any books except his Bible.When Ihugged him he smelled so good, a smell ofclean plain soap; like a child when you put himto bed.

CelebrantAll you big men of merit,all you big men of meritwho ferret out flaws,

you rely on our compliancewith your science and your laws.

Find a freedom to demolishwhile you polish some award,but you cannot abolish theWord of the Lord.

Celebrant and ChorusNo, you cannot abolishtheWord of the Lord.

CelebrantFor theWord,for theWord created mud and got it goingIt filled our empty brains with blood andset it flowingAnd for thousands of regimesIt’s endured all our follies and fancy schemes.It’s been tough,It’s been tough, and yet it seems to be growing!

O you people of power,O you people of power, your hour is now.You may plan to rule forever, but you neverdo somehow.

So we wait in silent treason until reasonis restoredand we wait for the season of theWord of the Lord.We await the season of theWord of the Lord.We wait…we wait for theWord of the Lord…

IX. GOSPEL-SERMON:“God Said”PreacherGod said: Let there be light.And there was light.

ChorusGod said: Let there be night.And there was night.

PreacherGod said: Let there be day.And there was day…

Chorus…day to follow the night.

PreacherAnd it was good, brother.

AllAnd it was good, brother.


AllAnd it was goddam good.

PreacherGod said: Let there be stormsStorms to bring life…

Chorus…life in all of its forms,Forms such as herds…

Preacher…herds and gaggles and swarmsSwarms that have names…

Chorus…names and numbers and norms.


AllAnd it was good, brother.


AllAnd it was goddam good!

PreacherGod said: Let there be gnatsLet there be sprats…

Chorus…sprats to gobble the gnatsSo that the sprats…

Preacher…sprats may nourish the rats,Making them fat…

Chorus…fat, fine food for the cats.

PreacherAnd they grew fat, brother.

AllAnd the grew fat, brother.

PreacherAll but the gnats, brother.

AllThey all grew fearful fat.

PreacherAnd God saw it was good.

ChorusGod made it be good.

PreacherCreated it good.

ChorusCreated the gnats…

Preacher…gnats to nourish the sprats…

Chorus…sprats to nurture the rats

PreacherAnd all for us big fat cats.

AllUs cats!

ChorusAnd it was good, and it was good,And it was good, and it was good.

First SoloGod said it’s good to be poor,Good men must not be secure;So if we steal from you,It’s just to help you stay pure.

AllAnd it was good!


Second SoloGod said take charge of my zooI made these creatures for you;So he won’t mind if weWipe out a species or two.

AllAnd it was good!


Third SoloGod said to spread His commandsTo folks in faraway lands;They may not want us there,But man it’s out of our hands.

AllAnd it was good!


Fourth SoloGod said that sex should repulse

CelebrantNon sum dignus, Domine.I am not worthy, Lord.

Choir (Women)Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi

Choir (Men)Miserere nobis!

CelebrantI am not worthy, Lord.

Choir (Women)Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi!

Choir (Men)Dona nobis pacem!

CelebrantCorpus!…Body!

CelebrantCalix!Chalice!

ChoirPacem! Pacem!Dona nobis pacem!

CelebrantPANEM!BREAD!

ChoirDona pacem! Pacem!Dona nobis pacem!

Choir (the music turning imperceptiblyinto Blues-stanzas)Dona nobis, nobis pacem,Pacem dona, dona nobis,Nobis pacem, pacem donaDona nobis, nobis pacem,Pacem dona, dona nobis…

Nobis pacem, pacem dona,Dona nobis, nobis pacem,Pacem dona, dona nobis,Nobis pacem, pacem dona,Dona nobis, nobis pacem.

Tenor SoloWe’re not down on our knees,We’re not praying,We’re not asking you please,We’re just saying:Give us peace now and peace to hold on toAnd God give us some reason to want toDona nobis, Dona nobis,

MenYou worked six days and rested on Sunday.We can tear the whole mess down in one day.Give us peace now and we don’t mean later.Don’t forget you were once our creator!Dona nobis, Dona nobis,

MenWe’ve got quarrels and qualms andsuch questions,Give us answers, not psalms and suggestions.Give us peace that we don’t keep on breaking,Give us something or we’ll just start taking!Dona nobis, Dona nobis.

AllWe’re fed up with your heavenly silence,And we only get action with violence,So if we can’t have the world we desire,Lord, we’ll have to set this one on fire!Dona nobis, Dona nobis.

XVI. FRACTION:“Things Get Broken”CelebrantPA…CEM!

PA…CEM!!PA…CEM!!!

CelebrantLook…Isn't that – odd…Red wine – isn’t red – at all…It’s sort of – brown…brown and blue…I never noticed that.What are you staring at?Haven’t you ever seen an accident before?

Look…Isn't that – odd…Glass shines – brighter –When it’s – broken…I never noticed that.

How easily things get broken.How easily things get broken.Glass – and brown wine –Thick – like blood…Rich – like honey and blood…

Hey – don’t you find that funny?I mean, it’s supposed to be blood…I mean, it is blood…His…It was…How easily things get broken…

What are you staring at?Haven’t you ever seen an accident before?

Come on, come on, admit it,Confess it was fun—Wasn’t it?You know it was excitingTo see what I’ve done.

Come on, you know you loved it.You’re dying for more.Wasn’t it smashingTo see it all come crashingRight down to the floor!

Right!You were right, little brothers,You were right all along.Little brothers and sisters,It was I who was wrong—So earnest, so solemn,As stiff as a column,

“Lauda, Lauda, Laude.”Little brothers and sisters,You were right all along!It’s got to be exciting,It’s got to be strong.

Come on! Come on and join me,Come join in the fun:

Shatter and splatterPitcher and platterWhat do we care?We won’t be there!What does it matter?What does it……matter…

Our Father, who art in Heaven,Haven’t you ever seen an accident before?

Listen…Isn’t that – odd…We can – be – so still…so still and – numb…How easily things get quiet.

Quiet… God is very ill…We must… all be very still…His voice… has grown so small,Almost… not there at all…Don’t you cry…Lullaby…Sleep…Sleep…

Shh…Shh…Pray, pray… you sons of men

Don’t let… him die again

Stay, oh stay…Domine…Stay…

Why are you waiting?Just go on without meStop waitingWhat is there about meThat you’ve been respectingAnd what have you all beenExpecting to see?

Take a look, there is nothingBut me under this,There is nothing you’ll miss!Put it on, and you’ll seeAny one of you can beAny one of me!

What?Are you still waiting?Still waiting for me,Me alone,To sing you into heaven?Well, you’re on your own.

Come on, say it,What has happened toAll of your vocal powers?Sing it, pray it.Where’s that mumbo and jumboI’ve heard for hours?

Praying and pouting,Braying and shouting litanies,Chanting epistles,Bouncing your missalsOn your knees…

Go on whining,Pining, moaning, intoning,Groaning obscenities!Why have you stopped praying?Stopped your Kyrieing?Where is your crying and complaining?Where is your lying and profaning?Where is your agony?Where is your malady?Where is your parodyOf God—said—Let there be and there wasGod said:Let there Beatam Mariam semper Virginem,Beatam miss the Gloria,

I don’t sing GratiasAgimus tibi propter magnamGloriam tu—am—en…Amen. Amen.

I’m in a hurry—And come again.When?You said you’d come…

Come love, come lust,It’s so easy if you justDon’t care–

Lord, don’t you care…

…if it all ends today…

…profundis clamaviClamavi ad te,Domine, ad Dominum,Ad Dom…

…A-donai—don’t know—I don’t no—bis…Miserere nobis…

Mi-se…mi…Mi alone is only me…But mi with so…Me with s…mi…

Oh, I suddenly feel every step I’ve ever taken,And my legs are leadAnd I suddenly see every hand I’ve ever shaken,And my arms are deadI feel every psalm that I’ve ever sungTurn to wormwood on my tongue.And I wonder,Oh, I wonder,Was I ever really young?

It’s odd how all my body trembles,Like all this massOf glass on the floor.How fine it would be to rest my head,And lay me down,Down in the wine,Which never was really red.But sort of—brown…And let not—another word—Be spoken…

(He raises himself up onto one arm, slowly standsand begins to descend the pit steps. He pauses atthe bottom, leans against the staircase.)

…Oh…

…How easily things get broken.

XVII. PAX: COMMUNION(“Secret Songs”)Boy SopranoSing God a secret songLauda, Laude…Lauda, Lauda, Laude.Lauda, Lauda, Laudate.Praise, praise …Laude Deum,Laudate Eum.Praise God,Praise Him.

Bass SoloLauda, Laude,Lauda, Laude,Laude Deum,Laude Eum…

Bass Solo and Boy SopranoLauda, Lauda, Laudate…

First Couple (Soprano and Tenor) in canonLauda, Laude…

Lauda, Lauda, Lauda, Laude.Lauda, Lauda, Laudate Deum.Lauda, Lauda, Laudate Eum.Laude Deum, Laudate Eum.

AllPax tecum!Peace be with you!

Boy Soprano and CelebrantLauda, etc.

All Voices, Including Stage InstrumentalistsAlmighty Father, incline thine ear:Bless us and all those who havegathered here—thine angel send us –Who shall defend us all;And fill with graceAll who dwell in this place.Amen.

Voice On TapeThe Mass is ended; go in Peace.

© 1971, 1981 by Amberson Holdings LLC andStephen Schwartz. Leonard Bernstein Music PublishingCompany LLC, Publisher. Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. SoleAgent for Print and Rental.


I’ll believe in any godIf any god there be.That’s a pact. Shake on that. No taking back.

I believe in one God,But then I believe in three.I’ll believe in twenty godsIf they’ll believe in me.That’s a pact. Shake on that. No taking back.

Who created my life?Made it come to be?Who accepts this awfulResponsibility?

Is there someone out there?If there is, then who?

Are you listening to this songI’m singing just for you?

I believe my singing.Do you believe it too?I believe each note I singBut is it getting through?

I believe in F sharp.I believe in G.But does it mean a thing to youOr should I change my key?

How do you like A-flat?Do you believe in C?—

ChoirCrucifixus etiam pro nobis—

SoloDo you believe in anythingThat has to do with me?

Street ChorusI believe in God,But does God believe in me?I’ll believe in thirty godsIf they’ll believe in me.That’s a pact. Shake on that. No taking back.

SoloI’ll believe in sugar and spice,I’ll believe in everything nice;I’ll believe in you and you and youAnd who…Who’ll believe in me?

CelebrantLet us pray.LET US PRAY!

XI. MEDITATION NO. 3(De Profundis, part 1)ChoirDe profundis clamavi ad te,Domine;Domine, audi vocem meam!Fiant aures tuae intentaeAd vocem obsecrationis meae.Si delictorum memoriamservaveris,Domine, Domine, quis sustinebit?Sed penes te est peccatorumvenia,Ut cum reverentia serviaturtibi.Spero in Dominum;Sperat anima mea in verbum eius.Spero! Sperat!From the depths I cried to you,O Lord;Lord, hear my voice!Let your ears attendThe voice of my supplication.If you, O Lord, remember onlyour iniquities,Lord, Lord, who can survive it?But in your hands is the forgiveness

of sins,That you may be served inreverence.I trust in the Lord;My soul trusts in His word.

CelebrantMemento, Domine – Remember, O Lord, Thyservants and handmaids…[ad lib. names ofcast members]…and all here present, whosefaith is known to Thee, and for whom we offerup this sacrifice.We beseech Thee in thefellowship of communion, graciously to acceptit and to grant peace to our days.

XII. OFFERTORY(De Profundis, part 2)Boys’ ChoirExspectat anima mea DominumMagis quam custodesauroramExspectet Israel Dominum,Quia penes DominumMisericordia et copiosa peneseum redemptio:Et ipse redimet Israel exomnibus iniquitatibus eius.Gloria Patri.My soul waits for the LordMore than they who wait for themorning–Let Israel wait for the Lord,For with the Lord is compassionAnd with Him is plentifulredemption:And He will redeem Israel from allits iniquities.Glory to the Father.

XIII. THE LORD’S PRAYER

1. Our Father…CelebrantOur Father, who art in heavenHallowed by Thy name.Thy kingdom comeThy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.Give us this day our daily breadAnd forgive us our trespassesAs we forgive those who trespass against us.And lead us not into temptationBut deliver us from evil.Amen.

2. Trope: “I Go On”When the thunder rumblesNow the Age of Gold is deadAnd the dreams we’ve clung to dyingto stay youngHave left us parched and old instead…When my courage crumblesWhen I feel confused and frailWhen my spirit falters on decaying altarsAnd my illusions fail,

I go on right then.I go on again.I go on to sayI will celebrate another day…I go on…

If tomorrow tumblesAnd everything I love is goneI will face regretAll my days, and yetI will still go on… on…Lauda, Lauda, LaudeLauda, Laude di da di day…

XIV. SANCTUSCelebrantHoly!

Holy!Holy is the Lord God of Hosts! Heaven andearth are full of Thy glory!

Boys’ ChoirSanctus, Sanctus, SanctusDominus Deus Sabaoth.Holy, Holy, HolyLord God of Hosts.

Pleni sunt coeli et terraGloria tua.Heaven and earth are full ofThy glory.

Osanna, Osanna, Osanna!Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna!

Boys’ ChoirBenedictus qui venit innomine Domini.Blessed is he who comes in thename of the Lord.

Osanna, Osanna, Osanna inexcelsis!Osanna in excelsis!Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna inthe highest!Hosanna in the Highest!

CelebrantMi… Mi…Mi alone is only mi.But mi with solMe with soulMi solMeans a song is beginningIs beginning to growTake wing, and rise up singingFrom me and my soul.Kadosh! Kadosh! Kadosh!Holy! Holy! Holy!

ChoirKadosh, Kadosh, KadoshAdonai ts’va-otM’Lo chol ha-aretz k’vodoHoly! Holy! Holy!Lord God of Hosts.All the heavens and earth are fullof His glory.

(With Street Chorus)Singing: Holy, Holy, HolyLord God of Hosts.All the heavens and earthAre full of His glory.

ChoirKadosh, Kadosh, KadoshAdonai ts’va-otM’Lo chol ha-aretz k’vodoHoly, Holy, HolyLord God of Hosts.All the heavens and earth are fullof His glory.

Baruch ha’baB’shem AdonaiB’shem Adonai!Blessed is he who comesIn the name of the LordIn the name of the Lord!

All VoicesSanctus!Sanctus!Holy!Holy!

XV. AGNUS DEIMale SoloistsAgnus Dei,Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccatamundi,

Agnus Dei;Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccatamundiMiserere, miserere nobis!Miserere, miserere nobis!Lamb of God,Lamb of God, who takestaway the sins of the worldLamb of God;Lamb of God, who takestaway the sins of the worldHave mercy, have mercy on us!Have mercy, have mercy on us!

Male and Female SoloistsAgnus Dei,Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,Agnus Dei;Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundiMiserere, Miserere nobis!Miserere, Miserere nobis!

All Soloists and Street ChorusAgnus Dei,Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi;Dona nobis pacem!Dona nobis pacem!Pacem! Pacem!Give us peace!Give us peace!Peace! Peace!(The Celebrant grasps the Monstranceand elevates it.)

CelebrantHoc est enim corpus meum!This is my Body!

Chorus (Men)Dona…nobis…pacem…This is my Body!

Chorus (Men)Dona…nobis…pacem…

CelebrantHic est enim Calix Sanguinis Mei!This is the Chalice of My Blood!

ChorusDona… nobis… pacem…

CelebrantHostiam puram!Pure offering!

Chorus (Women)Dona nobis pacem—

CelebrantHostiam sanctam…Holy offering…

Chorus (Women)Dona nobis pacem—Immaculate offering…

Chorus (Women)Pacem –

Full ChorusPacem! Pacem!

Street Chorus plus ChoirAgnus Dei,Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundiDona nobis pacem!Dona nobis pacem!Pacem! Pacem!

CelebrantLET US PRAY!

Choir (Women)Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi.

Choir (Men)Miserere nobis.


Bernstein's Mass

Documents

Transcript of Bernstein's Mass