Frank La Rocca: Mass of the Americas The Benedict XVI Choir, The Benedict XVI Orchestra & Richard Sparks

• Frank La Rocca (b. 1951): Mass of the Americas:
• 1 Rocca: Mass of the Americas: I. El cantico del alba 02:51
• 2 Rocca: Mass of the Americas: II. Kyrie 04:15
• 3 Rocca: Mass of the Americas: III. Gloria 06:01
• 4 Rocca: Mass of the Americas: IV. Offertory "Ave Maria" 05:27
• 5 Rocca: Mass of the Americas: V. Sanctus - Benedictus 03:33
• 6 Rocca: Mass of the Americas: VI. Agnus Dei 02:33
• 7 Rocca: Mass of the Americas: VII. Ave verum corpus 05:36
• 8 Rocca: Mass of the Americas: VIII. Aue Maria 05:47
• 9 Rocca: Mass of the Americas: IX. Salve regina 04:36
• 10 Rocca: Mass of the Americas: X. Alma redemptoris mater 03:01
• 11 Rocca: Mass of the Americas: XI. Ave regina cælorum 03:55
• 12 Rocca: Mass of the Americas: XII. Regina cæli 03:03
• Total Runtime 50:38

Info for Frank La Rocca: Mass of the Americas

Frank La Rocca extends the genre of the festal Missa solemnis in his Mass of the Americas, a sublime setting of the Traditional Latin Mass for choir and orchestra. La Rocca weaves a rich tapestry with serene Gregorian chants, folk melodies from 18th-century regions of México, and florid praises in Nahuatl, the language spoken by Our Lady of Guadalupe to St. Juan Diego in 1531. Cultures past and present are joined musically as a witness to faith, hope, and reconciliation in this masterpiece of liturgical art.

Benedict XVI Choir’s début recording is sung by some of America’s finest singers, many GRAMMY®-nominated. Sung in Latin, Spanish, and Nahuatl.

William P. Mahrt, editor of the Sacred Music journal, ends his extensive essay with “Variety, ingenuity, sheer compositional skill, and liturgical suitability have made these compositions in The Mass of the Americas destined to be classics.”

Mass of the Americas was the first musical work commissioned by the Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship. In 2018 His Excellency Salvatore J. Cordileone, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco, noted the exact coincidence of two feasts in that year: The Immaculate Conception and the celebration of the Guadalupana, the festive observance of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This inspired him to hold a liturgical observance uniting the two traditions, honoring Our Lady under both titles. For the occasion he commissioned composer Frank La Rocca to create music for a Mass incorporating, in the manner of Renaissance paraphrase Masses, traditional Mexican melodies, especially “La Guadalupana.” He asked La Rocca to craft with music what the Franciscan friars of the Mission Era had crafted with church architecture: at once keeping with Catholic sacred traditions and reflecting contributions of local culture—both timeless and timely.

The mission of The Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship is to open the door of Beauty to God. The Institute provides resources for more beautiful and reverent liturgy and seeks to renew a Catholic culture of the arts. The Benedict XVI Institute’s most recent commissions from composer-in-residence Frank La Rocca will form its next recording release, the Requiem Mass for the Homeless and Missa Sancti Juníperi Serra, honoring the founder of the California Missions.

Benedict XVI Choir and Orchestra
Richard Sparks, direction

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