Payl Taylor’s Mass of St Francis is a very popular setting in Australian churches. There were six settings recommended initially and this was one of three that were playable in a typical suburban church. It was one of two we used back in Queensland and it is the only mass setting we use at my current parish.
I got this comment from Isaac Reefman about the mass recently:
I/my brother made a simplified harmony for guitarists and contemporary musicians that is now available from willow here: https://willowpublishing.com.au/product/mass-of-st-francis/
It’s barely adapted from the original, but some of the busy chord changes that don’t translate so well to guitar/comping have been simplified.
The mass is now best obtained from Willow where you will find the original setting, the Gospel Acclamation that wasn’t in the original music and Reefman’s simplified guitar setting.
I currently play the whole mass down two semitones, which helps. The Kyrie and Gloria I play down from D to C but capo 3 (in A) which I find makes the “busy” changes better. The rest being in F, I should play Capo 3 in D, but I drop it to capo 1 again for singing comfort. We still use the Celtic Alleluia instead of Taylor’s acclamation.
It would be nice to have a second mass locally but I’m not sure anyone has the energy to teach a new setting. I’m happy enough to be using this mass setting every week.
I like Erwin Cabucos’s versions of the mass parts:
An organ based take: