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Gloria (mp3)
Sample Material

'I would prefer not to be in the audience for a performance of this, but only because I'd want to be taking part instead.' Music Teacher

A Little Jazz Mass

Bass part

Kyrie eleison

Forces or Category: SSA or SATB, piano, bass (opt), drums (opt)

for SSA or SATB, piano, and optional bass and drumkit ad lib.
A highly original and effective concert setting of the Latin Missa brevis in ...

'I would prefer not to be in the audience for a performance of this, but only because I'd want to be taking part instead.' Music Teacher

A Little Jazz Mass

Bass part

Description

for SSA or SATB, piano, and optional bass and drumkit ad lib.
A highly original and effective concert setting of the Latin Missa brevis in which the various movements embrace a variety of jazz styles. The characterful piano accompaniment can be played as written or serve as a guide, and bass and drums can join in ad lib. The bass part is notated with chord symbols and may be played as written or used as a guide from which the player may improvise freely.

Programme Notes:

Chilcott has always loved jazz. At the beginning of his composing career, he worked as an arranger for the BBC Radio Orchestra and, while a member of the King's Singers, performed with artists such as George Shearing, Richard Rodney Bennett, John Dankworth, Art Farmer and the WDR Big Band. These experiences and influences have had a major impact on the music he composes.
Chilcott's jazz influences truly come to the fore in A Little Jazz Mass: The Kyrie has real groove, the Gloria swings, the Sanctus sits right back, the Benedictus hums along, and the Agnus Dei draws inspiration from the Blues. The voices are underpinned by a characterful piano accompaniment which can be played as written or serve as a guide, and bass and drums can join ad lib, giving the flavour of an authentic improvised jazz trio.
This highly effective setting of the Latin Missa brevis - which is available in arrangements for both upper voice and mixed voice choirs - is one of Chilcott's most celebrated and popular choral works to date, and has received countless performances (both on the concert platform and as part of the sung liturgy in church services) across the world, perhaps most notably at St Paul's Cathedral, London.
A Little Jazz Mass was written for the massed choirs of the 2004 Crescent City Choral Festival, and received its premiere in St Louis Cathedral, New Orleans in June of that year.
© Oxford University Press

'I would prefer not to be in the audience for a performance of this, but only because I'd want to be taking part instead.' Music Teacher

A Little Jazz Mass

Bass part

Bob Chilcott

A Little Jazz Mass

Bass part

Bob Chilcott

Composer Information

Bob Chilcott (b.1955)

Bob Chilcott has become one of the world's most widely performed composers and arrangers of choral music. His compositional output reflects his wide taste in music styles and his commitment to writing music that is both singable and communicative. He has been involved in choral music most of his life he was a chorister and then a choral scholar in the choir of King's College, Cambridge, and was a member of the British vocal group The King's Singers for whom he made a number of popular arrangements of well-known songs from all genres. As well as being a full-time composer he is also a highly acclaimed choral conductor. He has been privileged to conduct many choirs all over the world. He is Principal Guest Conductor of The BBC Singers and in 2019 he was appointed Principal Conductor of Birmingham University Singers. His music has been widely recorded by many choirs and groups including The King's Singers, Tenebrae, and The BBC Singers.

Bob Chilcott's website