Leonard Bernstein - Mass (1971) [Score-Video]

MASS: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers Composed in 1971 by Leonard Bernstein with additional lyrics by Stephen Schwartz Recording: Mass (Jubilant Sykes, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop Premiered on September 8, 1971 as part of the opening of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Conducted by Maurice Peress, choreographed by Alvin Ailey, costume designs by Frank Thompson. Originally, Bernstein had intended to compose a traditional Mass, but instead decided on a more “innovative“ form. The work is based on the Tridentine Mass of the Catholic Church. The liturgical passages are sung mostly in Latin, though the “Sanctus“ includes portions in Hebrew. Mass also includes additional texts in English written by Bernstein, Broadway composer Stephen Schwartz, and Paul Simon (who wrote the first quatrain of the trope “Half of the People“). The work is intended to be staged theatrically, but it has also been