In this essay, composer Sarah Kirkland Snider shares the story of (and behind-the-scenes photos from) her collaboration with video designer Deborah Johnson / CandyStations on Mass for the Endangered. The Mass, with a libretto by poet/writer Nathaniel Bellows, is a celebration of, and an elegy for, the natural world, an appeal for greater awareness, urgency, and action. The recording, on which the English vocal ensemble Gallicantus performs the piece, is due September 25. 'Sanctus/Benedictus,' from the piece, is available now, as is Johnson's video for it.

Composer Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Mass for the Endangered, performed by the English vocal ensemble Gallicantus led by Gabriel Crouch, will be released on September 25 on New Amsterdam and Nonesuch Records. A video for “Sanctus/Benedictus” from the Mass, made by Deborah Johnson / CandyStations, can be seen here. Snider’s Mass, with a libretto by poet/writer Nathaniel Bellows, is a celebration of, and an elegy for, the natural world—animals, plants, insects, the planet itself—an appeal for greater awareness, urgency, and action.