parody mass on Henry Purcell's Hear my prayer; first performed by Tonus Peregrinus and broadcast in 1997; duration: c.30'00"

[extract from The Gramophone/Explorations:]

"...In my own music I have tried to remember the immutability and perfection of the object of my faith, however weak and flawed my belief in God may be, while experimenting with the joys and trials of combining many melodic currents into a single musical stream. So, for instance, in my setting of the Mass, finished this year in time for a recording session with Netherlands Radio KRO, I have used the tried and tested materials and techniques of other composers..."

Rather like a fractal diagram each part of this Mass setting magnifies a smaller and smaller section of the original than the one before: decoration assumes structural importance and then - just when all seems to be utterly and fantastically different - the familiar shape of the original re-emerges.

"...The Missa Exspectationis is a parody mass based on Henry Purcell's two-minute stroke of genius, Hear my prayer; as well as extracting as much harmonic and emotional juice as possible from my model, I also made a conscious effort to apply for myself, and perhaps develop, the much-derided tintinnabuli principles of Arvo Part..."

The Kyrie uses just the opening phrase of Purcell's Hear my Prayer which is heard - forwards, backwards and upside-down - at three different pitches and at three different speeds.

Lord, have mercy upon us. Christ, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us.

The Gloria follows straight on - it demonstrates the strictest application of a technique derived from Arvo Pärt, and is entirely based on the second phrase of Hear my Prayer with its alternating minor and major 3rds.

Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace, good-will towards men. We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we worship Thee, we glorify Thee, we give thanks to Thee for Thy great glory, O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty. O Lord, the Only-begotten Son, Jesu Christ, O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us: Thou that takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer: Thou that sittest at the right hand of God the Father, have mercy upon us. For Thou only art holy; Thou only art the Lord; Thou only, O Christ, with the Holy Ghost, art most high in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

The Credo is chanted very simply on a cycle of some 17 chords (which are vertical slices of favourite harmonies from Hear my Prayer). In the first section, declaring belief in God the Father, this cycle is unfolded mainly in single notes, one per syllable. During the statements concerning God the Son, these single notes are stretched out and overlapped, creating thicker and thicker chords until the moment of the Incarnation; at "Crucifixus" the Purcellian harmony is suddenly revealed and then gradually becomes thinner and thinner. In the final section, which refers first to God the Holy Spirit, what's left of the chord cycle is stretched out - one chord per phrase - and a new chromatic texture begins to develop until it takes over completely. The Amen is a strict canon in seven parts at the interval of a 2nd, of which only four voices ever sound at once, over a pedal F: the final chord is that of Hear my Prayer.

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, And of all things visible and invisible: And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son of God, Begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of very God, Begotten, not made, Being of one substance with the Father, By whom all things were made: Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, AND WAS MADE MAN, And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried. And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures, And ascended into heaven: And sitteth on the right hand of the Father. And He shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead: Whose Kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, The Lord, and Giver of life, Who proceedeth from the Father [and the Son], Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, Who spake by the prophets. And I believe One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church; I acknowledge One Baptism for the remission of sins; And I look for the Resurrection of the dead, And the life of the world to come. Amen.

The Sanctus begins with a three-fold invocation reminiscent of the Kyrie, although much more complex and condensed. The sections that follow - including the Benedictus - develop the technique of the Gloria still further but with increasing embellishments. This results in the texture of the second Hosanna which is both the most extended and the furthest in tonality from the original C minor.

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Sabaoth; heaven and earth are full of the majesty of Thy glory. Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

The Agnus Dei returns to C minor: the first section (like the Kyrie) just uses the first phrase as it appears in the original piece (i.e., like a manuscript that is full of holes) but with increasing numbers of extra imitative parts; the second section (as in the Gloria) uses instead the second phrase - which begins to sound very familiar - and also combines the same phrase in augmentation, passing through the voices one by one. From the end of the second section the music is purely Purcell until the final pages of the third section where various spurious emendations lead to the highly-extended final two bars: an enormous English cadence which resolves onto a canon at different speeds representing the eternal peace offered us by the Lamb of God.

Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world; Have mercy upon us. Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world; Have mercy upon us. Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world; Grant us Thy peace.

"...This time for me is a time of waiting, of expectancy, and like other musicians perspiring to create while unanchored in the information deluge, I hope that I have been able - with both my mind and my spirit - to sing something new of what is from everlasting."