Resonance
In July 2011 Holly Newsom (of Zoo Animal) will debut the meditative and minimal liturgy called Resonance. As Holly describes it,
I’ve really been learning sometimes you have to position yourself so that you resonate with the truth. At first it may not feel natural, but once you allow yourself to relax, your being becomes in sync with the spirit and you find yourself able to move freely in the truth and it doesn’t feel binding. I used very minimal, repetitive notions musically in this liturgy to give the mind room to concentrate on it’s own being and how it is relating to Christ. It is meant to allow the partaker to meditate on the words and how real they are.
Listen to live recordings of the debut:
Vox Humana Mass
Vox Humana Mass was envisioned as an occasional liturgy by Wes Burdine that would try to incorporate more members of the church community in creating the music for the liturgies. It is an a capella composition with roots in blues (a la Nina Simone), Eastern Orthodox liturgical singing, and traditional ballads.
Reunion Day Mass
The Reunion Day M
ass came from a long-standing desire to pay homage to musicians such as Sam Cooke and Otis Redding. It was an attempt to change up the alt-country moods of some of our liturgies and inject some new melodies into our theological bloodstream at Mercy Seat. Thematically, it takes up the promise of deliverance, especially in the Song of Praise, “All My Friends are Comin’ Back to Jesus” and the cross-lament of the Sanctus, “I Cry, ‘Holy!’. It also includes the song “Reunion Day” that encloses the service parenthetically, promising, “It won’t be long ’til that fine reunion day.” The band is composed of liturgy regulars, Scott Munson and Jayanthi Kyle (of Black Audience), plus Mike Berger (of Cincinnati punk outfits toolshed and The Bushrocks) and Kim Larson.
Take a listen to some live recordings from the debut of the Reunion Day Mass.
Good News Bad News Mass
With the Good News Bad News Mass I sought to incorporate the passion of the Negro spirituals that I love into the sonic context of a western high-church setting, with its enormous acoustic space, refined grand piano, and explosive church organ. The resulting songs have a bit of ache and a bit of old time gospel to them.
Agnes Liturgy
Named after my departed Mother who was and is my spiritual mentor.
It was written over a 2 week period in late 2008. I am not a lyricist, so all words are from the traditional liturgy. As a composer I speak in melody and the Agnes liturgy is my voice. Performing it brings me joy and I hope it has a similar effect on the congregation. Agnes can be performed by a single musician or an ensemble.
The Agnes Liturgy is performed with a roving list of musicians that may or may not include: acclaimed jazz vocalist Nancy Harms, Dana Thompson (of Hothead Fiasco and Minor Planets), Hal Longley (of Century Brass and Chooglin’), Bob DeBoer (GST and Chooglin’), Tony Watercott (GST), and Joe Cline (GST).
Brandywine Mass
I wrote the Brandywine Mass in the Summer of 2009 as a liturgy for lost friends, family, and lovers. The name comes from the river running through Eastern Pennsylvania where I lived for some time and where one can find the Brandywine Art Museum, where one can find some of my favorite art by my favorite artist, Andrew Wyeth. The liturgy opens with an Introit that invokes our lost loves and asks, “Will we see our sisters there? Our brothers there? Our lovers there?” The rest of the liturgy follows this mood and sets the stage for a service asking for mercy and imagining a resurrection with choirs singing, “Hallelujah.” This liturgy is performed with Linnea Mohn of Rogue Valley and The Alpha Centauri.
You can listen to some live recordings of the Brandywine Mass below.
Massa
One of Mercy Seat’s first adventures into pop liturgies, Massa is an alt-country take on the Lutheran Mass. Taken right out of Ben Kyle’s playbook, it combines a soaring pedal steel, soulful harmonies, and fantastic melodies. This liturgy is performed by James Orvis and “Lucky” Luke Jacobs of Romantica, Jimmy Osterholt of The Small Cities, Jayanthi Kyle of Black Audience, and Marty Martinson of the Martinson Family Singers.
Mass for the End of the World
Debuted during Lent of 2007, Mass for the End of the World is pop music for the resurrection. It was written to transition from the mediation on morbidity of the Lenten season to the celebration of Christ’s resurrection. It opens with the Biblical paraphrase in the Antiphon: “Oh Lord reveal my end so I may measure out my days and pull my string taut so I see how fragile it may be” and closes with the 60s inspired: “Gimme the End of the World.” In writing the liturgy, I wanted to celebrate the idea of apocalypse and the end of the world as a daily invocation of the resurrection and rebirth. The liturgy is typically performed by Jimmy Osterholt, David Osborn, and Leif Bjornson of The Small Cities, Linnea Mohn of Rogue Valley and The Alpha Centauri, and Charissa Osborn, formerly of Wes Burdine & the Librarians.