Easter Sunday 2025
Processional Hymn: Jesus Christ is Ris’n Today, 843
Recessional hymn: At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing, 848
Kyriale: Mass in B-flat major, K275, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Offertory Antiphon: Terra Tremuit, William Byrd (c. 1540–1623)
Motet after Offertory: Resurrexi, Msgr. Marco Frisina (b. 1954)
Communion Antiphon: Pascha Nostrum, William Byrd
Hymn at Communion: Ave Verum Corpus, Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921)
The Missa in B-flat major by W. A. Mozart was likely composed in 1777 first sung in the Salzburg Cathedral that year. As is common for Masses of this time, Mozart uses soloists in contrast to full choir to give variety to the composition and bring attention to the text of the prayer. One example heard in the Gloria: the full choir sings the Holy Name then the soloists echo that at a quieter dynamic and the full choir returns at a strong dynamic for “cum Sancto Spiritu”. The Agnus Dei is atypical for because it is uncharacteristically long. It shifts character for the “dona nobis pacem” with a fast a vibrant extended treatment while again alternating with soloists and full choir.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period and perhaps the most widely celebrated in the history of Western music. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition resulted in more than 800 works including Masses, symphonies, operas, and chamber works.