Wedding Mass

The composition and inspiration for the Wedding Mass grew out of a number of circumstances, the primary one being the wedding of my sister, Kathryn Powell Grimes, to her husband Alan Grimes in May of 2001. The Kyrie theme was taken from the interlude of a song that I wrote about my sister and a rainy day that we shared at the beach in Groton Long Point, CT when we were very young. I used that theme as the processional for Katie and Alan's wedding, scored for piano and solo cello. It provided a fitting contrast to the Agnus Dei theme, which was the first theme that I wrote when I began planning the mass. The music for the Gloria and the Credo developed after the Kyrie and Agnus Dei were complete. Sometime during this process, I lost the original score to the Agnus Dei and was forced to reconstruct the piece from memory. The original score was never found. This turned out to be serendipitous, because after the events of September 11, 2001 I turned to the Agnus Dei again, this time with more sobering thoughts on my mind. The result is music that leaves the celebration of the early movements for a time in order to contemplate crisis, but which eventually returns with joy and gladness in a final catharsis. The Sanctus came last of the principle mass movements, and was inspired by the otherworldly text of Isaiah 6, which is one of the principle historical precedents for the hymn sung by "all the company of heaven." The middle movement "When Love is Found," uses the beautiful text by Brian Wren, and can function as the offertory during the mass. It was written to be sung at my own wedding to Jennifer Paul on July 2, 2005 in Mt. Pleasant, SC by a choir of our closest friends. The thematic allusion to the Agnus Dei is deliberate, particularly the parallels drawn between the Eucharist, the breaking of bread, the Lamb of God who is our bread, and the sacrificial love that is the goal of a life shared in Christ. The Mass in C Major, "Wedding Mass," was premiered in its chamber version on April 24, 2005 at St. John's United Methodist Church in Memphis, TN by the Rhodes College Singers using the chamber orchestration. The performance was conducted by the composer. The organist was David Ramsey, the pianist was Brian Ray, the soprano soloist was Mona Kreitner, and the orchestra was comprised of members of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. The symphonic version of the Wedding Mass received its world premiere at Carnegie Hall on June 14, 2008 by the Lee College Chorale and the Baytown Community Chorus(Baytown, TX), St. Matthews United Methodist Church Chancel Choir (Houston, TX), Main Street United Methodist Church (Columbia, SC), the North Mississippi United Methodist Church Choir, (Batesville, MS), and the St. Mary's Episcopal Church Chancel Choir, (Cypress TX). The performance was conducted by the composer. The organist was Dennis Siltman, the pianist was Nedra Bradley, the soprano soloist was Suzannah Moorman.