Mass/360 is computer music in the sense that the audio tape was realized with a computer language for digital synthesis. This tape is combined with traditional choral and instrumental forces, and demonstrates only one technique available for the use of computers in composition. The work displays a number of elements which afford both unity and contrast. The arch span of the whole is supported by timbral, melodic, rhythmic, and textural parameters. Recurring events include tone clusters, chant-like melodies, angular melodies, and counterpoint. Special vocal effects are found in all movements, and the large scale tonicizing effect of the movement from f to b-flat gives the composition a sense of direction over a long temporal span. The single pitch (doubled unison/octave) arises as the major event in the work, and other events are generated from this element. The use of different formal designs within each movement corresponds to the natural textual divisions found in the liturgy, and affords a contrast from one movement to the next. The relationship of the Gloria/Qui Tollis to the Sanctus/Benedictus, which is not a mirror relation, contrasts with the chiastic design of the whole. Traditional contrapuntal devices juxtaposed against contemporary vocal techniques and the use of …

The English Walnut Joke is a composition for concert band and dramatic soprano. The English Walnut Joke was based on a text of the same title by Alec Rowell and is divided into two movements with a total duration of approximately twenty-two minutes. The joke concerns itself with the dealings between a wood-chopper and a jongleur in medieval England and is related to the audience by a destitute factory worker (the dramatic soprano) in the early Industrial Age of that country.