Mass Ordinary
The unchanging parts of the Mass: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei.
What it means
The Ordinary of the Mass comprises the unchanging parts of the Catholic Mass: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus (with Benedictus) and Agnus Dei. Their texts do not change over the course of the church year, in contrast to the Proper, whose chants vary from feast to feast.
Musical use
The five parts of the Ordinary are the core of the Mass composition. Guillaume de Machaut's Messe de Nostre Dame (c. 1360) is regarded as one of the first settings of the complete Ordinary by a single composer. Later Josquin, Palestrina, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and many others set the Ordinary in Masses for choir and orchestra. The Requiem has its own Ordinary with different texts.
The Ordinary should be distinguished from the Proper of the Mass, whose texts change daily, such as the Introit, the Gradual and the Offertory.
Performance practice
When you sing a Mass, learn the Latin texts of the Ordinary by heart; they are the same in all settings. Pay attention to the characters of the five parts: entreaty in the Kyrie, praise in the Gloria, confession in the Credo, awe in the Sanctus and peace in the Agnus Dei.