Friedensmesse / Mass for Peace

The terrible war that has been raging in Ukraine for more than a year has shown us how fragile this most important treasure, to which we had become accustomed over the past decades, is.

Since the beginning of time, the request for this good has been one of the major concerns of the Church.

It is this good that this Mass asks for:

Peace.

If, when we look at the peacelessness of states, we can only trust in the power of prayer,

it is all the more important to live this peace where it is in our power.

For, like the discord between peoples, that of everyday life poisons our lives.

This is the reason why the intercalated petitions with the prayer

"Make me an instrument of Your peace".

The "Peace Mass" presented here is a great meditation on the theme of "peace".

In the spirit of postmodernism, it unites various styles, which at first

which may seem somewhat inhomogeneous at first contact.

This mass is written for use in worship, but its scale makes it suitable for concert performance as well.

It is written in such a way that it can be sung well by somewhat experienced amateur choirs.

It is therefore in the author's mind to adapt it to current requirements.

Since it is somewhat long at 35 (+ 10) minutes for use in church services,

it will be advisable in many cases to play only a selection of the movements.

The Gloria in particular is very high for amateur choirs. It can be taken a major second lower, for example. Appropriate sheet music can be obtained on request.

It may also be helpful to accompany the a capella movements with the organ.

Included is a 10-minute motet.

It is a meditation on the word "peace".

This appears arranged by sections in the languages of the respective language group (e.g. Slavic languages) or area (e.g. Asia). This results in sections in which a particular vowel (e.g. a ) is prominent in a particular voice group.

Since there are far more than 6000 languages worldwide, the selection of the languages included in such a project cannot be other than arbitrary.

A correct pronunciation should of course be aimed for, but in most cases it will hardly be possible to guarantee it throughout.

This motet is not a direct part of the Mass. I have included it because it forms an appropriate supplement.