Missa brevis in honorem Sancti Stephani / Missa quarta

My Dutch publisher, Ascolta Music Publishing, asked me to write a mass for men’s choir. I then thought of the countless composers who had already set this eternal text to music and, yet, I felt that I, too, would still have a few ideas when composing a new work for men’s choir. It was thus a continuation of my three previous masses for mixed choir, hence its name “Missa quarta”.

This composition dates from 1994 and can be performed with organ or string orchestra. Written for my grandson Istvan, it is dedicated to the Chant de Ville male choir of Estavayer-le-Lac. The Vrouwen Kleinhoor Orpheus women’s ensemble was interested in it, so I made a new version for women’s choir. — Ferenc Farkas