Mass
The five fixed sections of the liturgy set as one polyphonic whole
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A Mass sets the five fixed sections of the Catholic liturgy — Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei — as a single polyphonic work. The Renaissance "cyclic Mass" makes all five share one motive, like five floors built from the same brick.
It differs from the motet in fixed text and fixed occasion: the Mass is the body of the liturgy, while a motet may choose its text freely. A Mass is not a "sacred concert": it is first ritual music whose structure serves liturgical time; Bach's B minor Mass is the exception that pushes ritual music toward the concert hall.
Read deeper → Musical Form
Sources
- 弥撒曲的五个常规段落与循环弥撒的结构，参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Mass"；本文为原创表述
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