Category: Choral Music
Instrumentation: SATB chorus
Duration: 4 minutes
Difficulty: Intermediate
Publisher: Alymar Publications
Text / Source: Kyrie text from the Ordinary of the Mass

Kyrie is a concise four-minute setting of the opening section of the Mass for SATB chorus. Written in ternary form, the piece combines formal clarity with expressive sacred character, offering a focused and accessible work for intermediate choirs.

The texture alternates between homorhythmic writing and more polyphonic passages, allowing the choir to move between unified textual declamation and more independent contrapuntal motion. The harmonic language is tonal, enriched by chromatic color in keeping with Baxter’s lyrical and contemporary traditionalist voice.

Kyrie is well suited for church services, sacred choral concerts, and programs featuring contemporary settings of traditional liturgical texts. Its intermediate difficulty, clear form, and varied choral texture make it practical for capable church, school, community, or collegiate choirs.