The Mass Ordinary and the Requiem

The Ordinary of the Mass is the set of texts that stay the same at every service. Its five movements, in order, are:

• Kyrie ("Lord, have mercy") · Gloria ("Glory to God") · Credo ("I believe") · Sanctus (with the Benedictus) · Agnus Dei ("Lamb of God").

The Requiem Mass is the Mass for the dead. It keeps the Kyrie, Sanctus and Agnus Dei, omits the joyful Gloria and Credo, and adds movements such as the Introit ("Requiem aeternam") and the Dies irae.

Listen for the text: knowing which movement you are hearing (by its opening Latin words) is the first step in appraising any setting.

Question 1 — the Requiem's shape

Renaissance polyphony

The earliest style you study is the Renaissance polyphonic Mass — a summit of choral art. Listen for:

• Imitative polyphony — voices enter one after another with the same melodic idea. Each fresh entry is a point of imitation.
• A cappella singing (unaccompanied, or lightly supported by organ) in modal harmony rather than modern major/minor.
• Smooth, flowing lines, carefully controlled dissonance and gentle suspensions.
• The sacred Latin text set with reverence, sometimes with word painting on key phrases.

Contrapuntal richness: because several independent lines overlap, individual words can be hard to catch — a very different priority from the clear declamation of later homophonic settings.

Question 2 — name the technique

Setting the Latin text

How composers fit notes to the Latin words is central to appraising a Mass:

• Syllabic — one note per syllable. Ideal for text-heavy movements like the Credo, where the words must be heard.
• Melismatic — many notes on one syllable (a melisma), used to decorate and dwell on important words, such as the closing "Amen" or "eleison".
• Word painting — the music reflects the meaning: hushed, low writing for "sleep" or "rest" in a Requiem; bright, rising lines for "Hosanna" or "Gloria".

Text vs richness: a composer chooses syllabic homophony when clarity matters and melismatic polyphony when they want to savour a word.

Question 3 — describe the word setting

Cadences in sacred music

Cadences punctuate the phrases of a Mass. Know the four standard ones, plus two sacred favourites:

• Perfect — V–I, firm and conclusive. Plagal — IV–I, the gentle "Amen".
• Imperfect — ends on V, open. Interrupted — V–vi, a surprise.
• Phrygian cadence — a distinctive Renaissance/Baroque half-cadence with a falling bass step to chord V, often ending a slow movement.
• Tierce de Picardie — a piece in a minor mode ending on a bright major chord.

Period clue: a modal movement closing with a tierce de Picardie strongly suggests the Renaissance or early Baroque.

Question 4 — identify the colour

From orchestra to jazz

After the Renaissance, composers set the Mass and Requiem in the language of their own day:

• Classical — the orchestra joins the chorus; dramatic contrasts of homophony and fugue, functional tonal harmony and operatic intensity (Mozart's Requiem).
• Romantic — rich, warm harmony and gentle, consoling textures, sometimes with soloists (Fauré's Requiem).
• Twentieth-century / jazz — a Mass can borrow jazz idioms: syncopation, blue notes, swung rhythms and a rhythm section of piano, bass and drums (Chilcott's jazz Mass).

Same words, new sound: the Latin Kyrie and Agnus Dei are constants, but the harmony, rhythm and forces mark out the period unmistakably.

Match each term to its meaning

Tap a term on the left, then its matching meaning on the right.

Fugue and homophony

Later settings contrast dramatic textures to shape the drama of the words:

• Fugue — a strict imitative texture in which a theme (the subject) is announced in one voice, then answered and developed in the others; often used for grand, learned movements like a final "Amen" or "Kyrie".
• Homophony — all voices in chords together, for clarity and weight, as in a solemn choral proclamation.
• Antiphony — dialogue between choir and soloists, or between choir and orchestra.

Next up: sort each feature into the style it belongs to.

Sort each feature into its style

Tap a feature, then tap the style it belongs to.

Listening like an examiner

To appraise an unfamiliar Mass or Requiem movement, work through:

• Movement — which text is it (Kyrie, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, Dies irae)? Is it Mass or Requiem?
• Texture — imitative polyphony/points of imitation, homophony, fugue or antiphony?
• Word setting — syllabic for clarity, melismatic for decoration; any word painting?
• Style/period — modal and a cappella (Renaissance), orchestral and dramatic (Classical), warm and lyrical (Romantic), or syncopated and bluesy (jazz)?

Always justify. "Renaissance, because of the modal a cappella writing, overlapping points of imitation and the tierce de Picardie at the close."

Question 5 — appraise the extract

The big ideas to know

You have covered the structure, texture, word setting, harmony and changing style of the Mass and Requiem. Press Finish to see your score.