Mass for the Caribbean
I wrote this mass during the time my wife and I spent five weeks a year for three years on the island of Carriacou, the largest of the Caribbean's Grenadines, being all of thirteen square miles. Shortly after our arrival there I was ensconced as organist in the Anglican 'Cathedral', a very large - and generally filled-to-the-brim - brick structure that had miraculously withstood the many hurricanes that had
beset the island. I wondered why there was little 'local' music sung during the service. Occasionally the six person women’s choir let loose, but then always returned to their British roots.
During our second year on the island I started to work with Mike Agostini, a local steel drum player who spent several years playing in North America, mainly New York. He was starting a 'pan’ band in the
local school and welcomed me as a student. What a delight! I quickly put two and two together and asked the Cathedral priest (from Ontario, Canada!) what he thought about my composing a “Mass for the Caribbean”. His reply was simply "Go for it!" and so I did. I soon discovered that scoring for "pans" was very similar to writing for strings and arrived for my third and regrettably last visit to the island with a completed mass. It included a few songs from Festival Folkmass which some of the Island City Singers and I had written three decades before. To my surprise the church choir had grown to a mixed
choir of thirty members who now sang gospel in the church once a month. They embraced the notion of a new mass setting and even insisted on longer and extra rehearsals!
What a pleasure it was to work with the kids in the steel drum ensemble and the largely adult gospel choir. Following a single joint rehearsal, the first performance of the mass took place on Palm Sunday
with the Bishop of the Leeward Islands in attendance. The red-robed choir processed through the town of Hillsborough before arriving at the church, the 16-member steel drum ensemble was in place, and the service began. The music was sung with great reverence and enthusiasm by the choir and congregation and both Bishop and Priest joined a spirited, swaying choir in much of the music. It was wonderful! I understand the setting continues to be sung there quite regularly. Some of its music is found in the United Church of Canada’s recently published “More Voices”.
