Christmas: Mass during the Night

24–25 December 2009

Preparation
Carol	Once in Royal David's City
Reading
Choir	No wind at the window (Irish Traditional arr. Bell)
Carol	While shepherds watched
Reading
Choir	Cantique de Jean Racine (Fauré)
Carol	O little town of Bethlehem
Choir	In splendoribus sanctorum (James MacMillan)
Mass
Entrance	O come all ye faithful
Penitential Rite	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Gloria	Christmas Gloria (Paul Gibson)
Psalm 95	Today a Saviour has been born (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury Alleluia (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	What shall we give (Catalan arr. Stephen Dean)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Behold the Lamb (Iona)
Communion	Night of Silence (Daniel Kantor) Silent Night
Final	Hark the Herald Angels sing ( )

We celebrate at Midnight - with carols before at 11.30pm. I think we are in the minority celebrating at this time in the local area and this is one is one reason why we are always full. Often of people who are not recognisable regular Sunday attenders. Another factor is that the chapel looks fine with candle flickering along the galleries and on the sanctuary.

We had a good small group of singers this year and a couple of violins. In years past I have done Midnight Mass as just cantor and organ - that is quite tiring.

The carols beforehand is intended as a particularly structured service - just a sequence of carols with a couple of pieces for choir and readings. The observant will see that 2 of the pieces had already been sung at the Advent Carol Service. It is the second year that we have sung James MacMillan's In splendoribus Sanctorum. It is one of his Strathclyde Motets. The rest of the series is written for Strathclyde University Chamber Choir and are for an 8 part choir. This one is for his parish choir and is 2-3 parts with the basses straying rarely from a pedal F. It is a setting of the Communion chant for the Mass - with chant melody sung, for most of the piece, in organum (parallel 5ths) by women and tenors. Each phrase is interrupted by a trumpet (or organ) fanfare which overlaps with the singers. I am still unsure about the piece. It's simplicity of construction maybe 'Brittenish' genius. One thing is certain is that we sang it better last year. This was, I think, mostly a question of logistics. Last year we sang from the gallery with the organ fanfaring; this year from the front with the piano. Part of my uncertainty is logistical. For the piece to work I think the voices need to be disembodied - not seen - and also, the fanfares I think need to come from a different part of the space so that the acoustic (and the congregation) blend the piece together. I also wonder how the piece works at its intended point - accompanying Communion within Midnight Mass - that I can't imagine. The idea of singers being disembodied voices has also been a cause of reflection. I am uncomfortable with the idea — though I can imagine its appeal to some. It is the opposite extreme to the over personalised liturgical minister and I think as misguided.

The choice of music for the Mass seems to be settling into tradition with changes seeming to be made every few years. For those unfamiliar the Paul Gibson Christmas Gloria is ine of the more successful attempts to marry the Gloria in Excelsis refrain of 'Angels we have heard' with the Gloria text. It success, to me, is that it uses the proper text of the Gloria adapting the music accordingly and that the appearance of the first refrain after the cantor sings the first verse of text seems surprise and delight the congregation.

At this Mass and the following morning the Eucharistic Prayer is sung using Marty Haugen's Mass of Creation setting - adapting the Preface tone to one of the Christmas prefaces. Singing the prayer adds to the solemnity of the occasion — it allows the Eucharistic Prayer to takes its places as the centre and summit amid all the carols etc.