Event

Gospel Mass

Robert Ray's Gospel Mass, composed in 1978, was premiered at the University of Illinois and performed by the University's Black Chorus. This work was written while Ray was a liturgy team leader for the National Office of Black Catholics. The Gospel Mass was created out of a need from these workshops.

The Gospel Mass is Dr. Ray's interpretation of two thousand years of liturgical tradition with the more contemporary music of the African-American Church. For centuries, composers have taken the text of the Ordinary of the Mass and given them musical settings. Each setting creates within the listener a different feeling about the worship experience.

The composer states: "It is my desire to combine centuries of old traditions of Mass settings with sounds of the contemporary Black Church. The move from Latin to English created new opportunities for composers to express their feelings about the texts of the Ordinary of the Mass. I wanted everyone to experience the sense of joy and celebration that is generally felt in true African-American worship".