When he was thinking about the Helios Ensemble’s summer concert, founder-conductor Benjamin Hansen had an idea: What if he took movements from Masses composed throughout the span of classical music — from the Renaissance to today — and wove them together into one glorious “Mosaic Mass”?
He started with the Kyrie from 16th-century Flemish composer Orlando di Lasso’s “Missa super osculetur me” representing the Renaissance era and ended it with the Agnus Dei from Stravinsky’s 20th-century Mass.
“I think it’s really fun. You get a lot of contrasting styles,” said Hansen, who will lead 37 Helios vocalists and a 28-member orchestra in a concert Sunday, July 17, anchored by the “Mosaic Mass.”
The di Lasso and Stravinsky’s movements bookend the traditional Mass’s other movements: the Gloria (and more) from Baroque composer Bach’s Mass in B-minor; Beethoven’s Credo from his Mass in C, representing the late Romantic/early Classical period; and the Sanctus and Benedictus from Poulenc’s Mass in G major, representing the modern era.
Hansen said he chose to end the piece with Stravinsky, whose Agnus Dei calls for a larger orchestra with woodwinds, trombones and English horn, creating a “serene, cool disposition to send you off to space.”
“It’s neoclassical and cool in the 20th-century traditional sense of the word,” Hansen explained, calling Stravinsky’s movement a “plea for peace, filled with disillusionment and sadness and desperation” that seemed “fitting for the times we’re living in.”
Sunday’s concert at Catalina United Methodist Church, 2700 E. Speedway, also includes solo works by Beethoven, Liszt and Thomas Weelkes, and works for full choir by Eric Whitacre, Martin Lauridsen and Emily Drum.
“I’m really kind of excited about it,” Hansen said.
Helios, which Hansen launched in 2014, will perform at 4 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $20 at the door, or $18 online through heliosensemble.org. Preferred seats are $40 and students with ID are free.
