Mass. Owing to the importance the RC Mass holds in the minds of worshippers and the opportunities it offers for mus. participation it has exercised a large influence upon the development of mus. High Mass is sung, Low Mass is spoken. The Proper of the Mass (i.e. the parts which vary from season to season and day to day) has naturally usually been left to its traditional plainsong treatment. The 5 passages that are frequently set for ch., or for ch. and soloists, are: (a) Kyrie (Lord have mercy), (b) Gloria in excelsis Deo (Glory be to God on high), (c) Credo (I believe), (d) Sanctus, with Benedictus properly a part of it, but in practice often separated (Holy, Holy … Blessed …), (e) Agnus Dei (O Lamb of God). These are, properly, the congregational element in the Ordinary, or Common of the Mass, i.e. the invariable part. Innumerable mus. settings have been provided by hundreds of composers of all European nations. The earliest polyphonic setting was probably that by Machaut in 14th cent. In the 15th cent. Du Fay and others introduced secular tunes as a cantus firmus, e.g. the folk song L'Homme armé. A high point was reached at the end of the 16th cent., when the unacc. choral contrapuntal style of comp. reached its apogee (Palestrina in It., Byrd in Eng., Victoria in Sp., etc.). In the 17th and 18th cents. the development of solo singing and increased understanding of the principles of effective orch. acc. led to great changes in the style of mus. treatment of the Mass, and the settings of the late 18th-cent. and early 19th-cent. composers ( Haydn, Mozart, Weber, Schubert, etc.), however musically effective, have not the devotional quality of the settings of the late 16th and early 17th cents. The practice had grown up of treating the 5 passages above mentioned as the opportunity for providing an extended work in oratorio style, two outstanding examples of this being the Mass in B minor of J. S. Bach (1724–49) and the Mass in D of Beethoven (1819–22). Many impressive settings have been comp. since Beethoven, e.g. by Bruckner, and in the 20th cent. by Stravinsky, Vaughan Williams, Rubbra, and many others.

In large-scale settings the above-mentioned 5 passages tended to become subdivided. The great setting by Bach is as follows: (a) Kyrie eleison (Lord, have mercy), Christe eleison (Christ, have mercy), Kyrie eleison (Lord, have mercy); (b) Gloria in excelsis Deo (Glory be to God on high), Laudamus te (We praise Thee), Gratias agimus tibi (We give Thee thanks), Domine Deus (Lord God), Qui tollis peccata mundi (Who takest away the sins of the world), Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris (Who sittest at the right hand of the Father), Quoniam tu solus sanctus (For Thou only art holy), Cum Sancto Spiritu (With the Holy Spirit); (c) Credo in unum Deum (I believe in one God), Patrem omnipotentem (Father almighty), Et in unum Dominum (And in one Lord), Et incarnatus est (And was incarnate), Crucifixus (Crucified), Et resurrexit (And rose again), Et in Spiritum Sanctum (And (I believe) in the Holy Spirit), Confiteor unum baptisma (I confess one baptism); (d) Sanctus (Holy), Hosanna in excelsis (Hosanna in the highest), Benedictus qui venit (Blessed is he that cometh); (e) Agnus Dei (O Lamb of God), Dona nobis pacem (Give us peace). See also Missa and Requiem.

mass / mas/ • n. 1. a coherent, typically large body of matter with no definite shape: a mass of curly hair from here the trees were a dark mass. ∎  a large number of people or objects crowded together: a mass of cyclists. ∎  a large amount of material: a mass of conflicting evidence. ∎  (masses) inf. a large quantity or amount of something: we get masses of homework. ∎  any of the main portions in a painting or drawing that each have some unity in color, lighting, or some other quality: the masterly distribution of masses.2. (the mass of) the majority of: the great mass of the population had little interest in the project. ∎  (the masses) the ordinary people.3. Physics the quantity of matter that a body contains, as measured by its acceleration under a given force or by the force exerted on it by a gravitational field. ∎  (in general use) weight.• adj. relating to, done by, or affecting large numbers of people or things: the movie has mass appeal a mass exodus of refugees.• v. assemble or cause to assemble into a mass or as one body: [tr.] both countries began massing troops in the region | [intr.] clouds massed heavily on the horizon. PHRASES: be a mass of be completely covered with: his face was a mass of bruises.in the mass as a whole: her genuine affection for humanity in the mass.DERIVATIVES: mass·less adj.

mass Measure of the quantity of matter in an object. The standard unit of mass is the kilogram (one kg = 1000 grams). Scientists recognize two types of mass. The gravitational mass of a body is determined by its mutual attraction to another reference body, such as the Earth, as expressed in Newton's law of gravitation. Spring balances and platform balances proved a measure of gravitational mass. The inertial mass of a body is determined by its resistance to a change in state of motion, as expressed in the second law of motion. Inertia balances provide a measure of inertial mass. According to Einstein's principle of equivalence, upon which his general theory of relativity is based, the inertial mass and the gravitational mass of a given body are equivalent. See also weight

Mass the Christian Eucharist or Holy Communion, especially in the Roman Catholic Church. Mass was also formerly used for the feast day or festival of a specified saint; this usage now survives only as a suffix, as in Candlemas, Christmas, Lammas, and Michaelmas.

Recorded from Old English, the word comes from ecclesiastical Latin missa, from Latin miss- ‘dismissed’, from mittere, perhaps from the last words of the service, ‘Ite, missa est [Go, it is the dismissal]’.

Mass / mas/ • n. the Christian Eucharist or Holy Communion, esp. in the Roman Catholic Church: we went to Mass the Latin Mass. ∎  a celebration of this: there was a Mass and the whole family was supposed to go. ∎  a musical setting of parts of the liturgy used in the Mass.