Doc,
If you get the chance, check out Vonnegut's book, "Fates Worse than Death." It's a collection of speeches he's given, magazine articles he's written, random reminiscences, and other such non-fictional things. The text I used for my piece has an interesting genesis (to summarize): Vonnegut went to the premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem Mass (I'll withhold snide remarks) and found the music to be very pretty but was horrified when he looked at a translation of the text and saw that this mass which is supposed to put the dead to rest is all about judging them while they tremble in fear. So, as he puts it, "I stayed up half the night writing a better one. That is not a vain statement. Anybody could write a better one and nobody could write a worse one." So basically, he just revised the text (not totally changing anything), so for example, where the original begins, "Rest eternal grant them, O Lord, and let light eternal shine upon them," Vonnegut starts with, "Rest eternal grant them, O Cosmos, and let not light disturb their sleep."
Needless to say, I found that text quite inspiring. And, I've always admired the sound of masses, but due to my lack of religious connection, never was able to write one; this text allows me to get away with writing a mass without delving into religious subject matter.
So anyway, that's the story. Thank you for asking! Of course, the other part of the story is that I've spent the last 8 months dealing with lawyers and publishing folks trying in vain to get the permission to use Vonnegut's text. Oh well.
-Scott
masses
Scott
location: Canada
listening to: Brooks Williams
registered: 2009.07.04
posts: 89
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Doc,
If you get the chance, check out Vonnegut's book, "Fates Worse than Death." It's a collection of speeches he's given, magazine articles he's written, random reminiscences, and other such non-fictional things. The text I used for my piece has an interesting genesis (to summarize): Vonnegut went to the premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem Mass (I'll withhold snide remarks) and found the music to be very pretty but was horrified when he looked at a translation of the text and saw that this mass which is supposed to put the dead to rest is all about judging them while they tremble in fear. So, as he puts it, "I stayed up half the night writing a better one. That is not a vain statement. Anybody could write a better one and nobody could write a worse one." So basically, he just revised the text (not totally changing anything), so for example, where the original begins, "Rest eternal grant them, O Lord, and let light eternal shine upon them," Vonnegut starts with, "Rest eternal grant them, O Cosmos, and let not light disturb their sleep."
Needless to say, I found that text quite inspiring. And, I've always admired the sound of masses, but due to my lack of religious connection, never was able to write one; this text allows me to get away with writing a mass without delving into religious subject matter.
So anyway, that's the story. Thank you for asking! Of course, the other part of the story is that I've spent the last 8 months dealing with lawyers and publishing folks trying in vain to get the permission to use Vonnegut's text. Oh well.
-Scott
If you get the chance, check out Vonnegut's book, "Fates Worse than Death." It's a collection of speeches he's given, magazine articles he's written, random reminiscences, and other such non-fictional things. The text I used for my piece has an interesting genesis (to summarize): Vonnegut went to the premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem Mass (I'll withhold snide remarks) and found the music to be very pretty but was horrified when he looked at a translation of the text and saw that this mass which is supposed to put the dead to rest is all about judging them while they tremble in fear. So, as he puts it, "I stayed up half the night writing a better one. That is not a vain statement. Anybody could write a better one and nobody could write a worse one." So basically, he just revised the text (not totally changing anything), so for example, where the original begins, "Rest eternal grant them, O Lord, and let light eternal shine upon them," Vonnegut starts with, "Rest eternal grant them, O Cosmos, and let not light disturb their sleep."
Needless to say, I found that text quite inspiring. And, I've always admired the sound of masses, but due to my lack of religious connection, never was able to write one; this text allows me to get away with writing a mass without delving into religious subject matter.
So anyway, that's the story. Thank you for asking! Of course, the other part of the story is that I've spent the last 8 months dealing with lawyers and publishing folks trying in vain to get the permission to use Vonnegut's text. Oh well.
-Scott
