Missa Brevis

This piece was composed especially for the Cornell University Glee Club, and is dedicated to St. Maximilianis Kolbe, a Polish monk who was martyred during the Second World War.  The initial inspiration for the work was sketched by the composer during a 1983 visit to the monastery near Warsaw where St. Maximilian had lived and worked and from which he was arrested by the Nazis.  This work is thus a prayer, and act of rememberance and a statement of faith; the inscription on the score, drawn from the works of Kierkegaard, reads: "The tyrant dies and his rule is over; the martyr dies and his rule begins."  This Missa Brevis was awarded the Medley P. Ray Award, established to recognize outstanding major compositions for male chorus.