Welcome back to Between the Barlines! I hope you’re enjoying exploring what we classify as the medieval times in music. We have several more episodes of the season left, so stay tuned! Last episode, we took some time to speak about church modes, what they are, and why they’re useful. Today, we are going to take some time to learn about the parts of the mass, some of which are variable and others that are invariable. We won’t spend too much time on exploring particular chants today that occur in the parts of the mass, but expect to hear some suggestions on masses to listen to as well as hear some chants sung in our next episode by a very special figure in chant composition.

	There are two parts of the mass that depend on music: the ordinary and proper. The ordinary stays the same every mass, while the proper changes based on the liturgical year and/or a feast day. The Mass ordinary has 5 main parts: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei. Memorizing the order of the mass can be made easier by remembering this acronym: 

Kites
Go
Climbing (in the)
Sky
Above

	Yes, that’s more than just 5 words, but if you remember that the words “in the” don’t count and are just a necessary prepositional phrase, you’re golden! The Ordinary of the Mass technically has 6 parts, but most textbooks and sources only refer to these 5. For your reference, the 6th part of the Mass Ordinary is the Ite, missa est, which means “go, the mass has ended.” These stationary parts of the mass were once all just chants, but over the years, they have turned into full, modern choral arrangements. Some composers have even created masses that are based off of one melody, but that chat is for another day further down our timeline!! I will mention more about the difference of chants that can occur throughout the mass after we speak about the Mass Proper.

The Mass Proper is the variable part of the mass. The inserts into the mass can change depending on the time in the liturgical calendar and special feast days. Variable inserts include an introit in the introductory section, the gradual, alleluia and sequence in the liturgy of the word, and the offertory, secret, and communion in the liturgy of the eucharist. A specific variable insert for the Mass proper is a funeral mass, or a requiem. I will talk about some specific chants that have been created for usage in the mass proper in the next episode, but before I do that, we need to talk about different types of chants that we can see in all of the aforementioned parts of the mass! 

There are three different types of single-line chant that we can sing: syllabic, neumatic, and melismatic. Syllabic is just like it sounds; each syllable of text has a pitch. Melismatic chant is where one syllable of text, usually an important syllable, has many different notes. Neumatic chant straddles the line between those two; it has two or three pitches on a single syllable of text, and does not go on for an extended period of time. Different types of chant like this can also be split further into ways that they are sung. We have only explored solo singing of chants, but these chants can also be responsorially or antiphonally sung. Responsorial and antiphonal chants are basically interchangeable, and this type of chant typically occurs in psalms, where a cantor sings and a larger group responds. 

In addition to knowing the difference between the mass ordinary and the mass proper, we must also take into account the list of observed services throughout the day in the church called the Divine Hours. I’d like to bring up a service in the divine hours that has a lot of meaning to me; when I was at the Eastman School of Music for my master’s and my doctoral degrees, I spent every Sunday October through May singing the final divine hours service on a Sunday evening called compline. A special chant is sung during Compline and is seasonal depending on the liturgical year. This is called a Marian antiphon; there are 4 specific Marian antiphons sung throughout the liturgical year: Alma Redemptoris Mater, Salve Regina, Ave Regina Caelorum, and Regina Caeli. These chants honor the virgin mary. 

	Knowing the parts of the mass helps us conceptualize the importance of chant in the early development of music. In a few episodes from now when we deviate from the church, we will also discover some other types of song that use chant as a baseline for their composition. Until then, I thought I would share some of my favorite settings of the mass. My favorite recordings of the Mass Ordinary include Josef Rheinberger’s Mass in E-flat for double choir and Byrd’s Mass for Five Voices. Expanding to the mass proper, some of my favorite requiems are the two by Duruflé and Brahms. I will be sure to share my favorite recordings of each of these in the episode notes! Being a part of a choir and singing these works definitely makes it a little easier to remember the order of the mass just from repetition of the parts alone, but hopefully the acronym I stated earlier can help you remember this on a test! 

	Next episode, we will talk about a huge figure from the 12th century that contributed to many chants that are utilized in the mass proper. Her name is Hildegard von Bingen. I look forward to you joining me for the next episode of Between the Barlines!