Recital No. 1: Mass is the latest in a series of Davóne Tines’s works speaking to the African American experience while highlighting what all humans share in common. Using Caroline Shaw’s miniature Mass (a reimagined Latin service created especially for Tines) as a framework, the experience interweaves music from the Western European classical tradition, African American spirituals, and contemporary compositions. Music of J. S. Bach reflects that composer’s strong faith background, while provocative African American composer Julius Eastman reflects on the religious conviction of another in Prelude to the Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc. Contemporary composer and multi-instrumentalist Tyshawn Sorey’s Songs for Death interpret spiritual texts through disquieting settings, never quite offering the listener deliverance. Music of Margaret Bonds and Moses Hogan also receives renewed context and perspective in this powerful exploration of spirituality and humanity.

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