Written in response to a commission by David Temple and Hertfordshire Chorus in 2003, and originally premiered under the title Jazz Mass, the Mass in Blue is a brilliant blend of driving jazz grooves and clear, strong, choral writing against which the solo piano and solo soprano voice weave and blend in a delightful aural tapestry. The work reflects not only the composer’s love of jazz music and his admiration of jazz performers, but also his own experience as an improviser. It also allows Todd to make use of his extensive choral skills which he deploys so effectively in works such as the oratorios The Burning Road (Op 10) and Saint Cuthbert (Op 7) or the chorus writing of his opera The Blackened Man.
It is a confident work by a composer who understands and responds to the jazz idiom, making free use of the 12-bar blues sequence (which has been fundamental in the development of jazz music) as well as more complex harmonic processes.
Composer: Will Todd Title of Musical Work: Mass in Blue