"I am Peter Benoit's Mass, a symphony of faith and folk spirit, born of notes and passion. My pages breathe the spirit of Flanders, my sounds rise like a cathedral of music, where the sacred and the human meet. My composer, a master of tone and tradition, poured his soul into my melodies. Around 1872, the Chapel asked him to write a mass, “missa tribus vocibus virorum”. I am bathed in an overwhelming, triumphant romantic atmosphere. The ancient words of the liturgy resound within me, but with the power and fire of a new voice. Where words fail, my sounds come to the rescue. My Kyrie is a cry for mercy, my Gloria an outburst of joy, my Credo a powerful profession of faith. I am not meant only for church walls – I am a mass that carries the people, a song that binds hearts together. My singers and organ bring the prayer to life, my harmonies unite simplicity and grandeur, devotion and art. Open your heart to me and even more... open your heart to Him to whom I pray and whose praise I sing. Let me resound in all my splendour, in voices that blend into a hymn of praise. Let my music rise like incense, as a tribute to God and to the beauty of the word that became sound. I am the Mass of Peter Benoit. Sing me, play me, experience me – and feel how the divine and the human embrace each other in music."
