The completion of Mass in E Minor was made possible by a commission from Dr. William Culverhouse and the Southern Tier Singers’ Collective in Binghamton, New York. The harmonic language of Kyrie (1997) is the foundation for all other movements of this, my first major multi-movement work. Gloria (2022) was the final movement composed and is an expression of joy and gratitude for having come full circle as a composer. The melodies, harmonies, and other musical parameters for Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei all materialized around the same time, when I added the Latin mass text to Kyrie. The journey from E minor to G major in the Gloria, A major in the Credo, and D major in the Sanctus, and Agnus Dei represents a move forward; away from a place of fear and uncertainty, to a place of comfort, warmth, and hopefulness.
