Missa brevis in B (Tambling)

Interior of St. Maria where the mass was first performed

Tambling, a church musician and music pedagogue, was described as "a great believer in making church music accessible". He was commissioned to compose a mass for the 28th Diözesankirchenmusiktag of the Diocese of Speyer by its department of church music and the regional Cäcilienverband (DCV).[1] The work was first performed at the meeting of church musicians from all over the diocese on 28 September 2014 at St. Maria in Landau by around 1,400 singers. It was first published that year by Dr. J. Butz, with a dedication on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the DCV to the church choirs of the diocese and bishops Karl-Heinz Wiesemann and Anton Schlembach.[2]

The mass is structured in six movements:[2]

• Kyrie (Moderato)
• Gloria (Con spirito)
• Credo (Moderato)
• Sanctus (Giocoso)
• Benedictus (Andante moderato)
• Agnus Dei (Moderato molto)

The work sets the complete text of the Latin mass, but is called a missa brevis (short mass) because of its brevity, of around 16 minutes.[1] Tambling wrote the music with the possibility to adapt it to different ensembles. The most modest group that can perform it is a three-part choir SAB with organ accompaniment, and the largest is a four-part choir SATB with parts for two trumpets and two trombones, tubular bells and organ.[3] The congregation is requested to sing Gregorian chant in the Credo which alternates it with choral passages. For much of the mass, the tenor part is the same as the bass. In four-part writing, altos or basses can sing short passages when no tenors are available.[4]

The mass, like Tambling's other sacred music, is popular in Germany.[5]