Introduction The musical setting of the Ordinary of the Mass (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei) was the principal large-scale form of the Renaissance. Many famous and influential masses were composed by Josquin des Prez, the single most influential composer of the middle Renaissance. Audio Naxos CDGIM009, 8.550836 Many audio examples can be found with Spotify (spotify.com) Mass composition in the 16th century Mass composition Middle Ages and Renaissance The earliest complete settings of the Ordinary of the Mass date from the 14th century, with the most famous example being the Messe de Nostre Dame of Guillaume de Machaut. Individual movements of the Mass, and especially pairs of movements (such as Gloria-Credo pairs, or Sanctus-Agnus pairs), were commonly composed during the 14th and early 15th centuries. Complete Masses by a single composer were the norm by the middle of the 15th century, and the form of the Mass, with the possibilities for large-scale structure inherent in its multiple movement format, was the main focus of composers within the area of sacred music; it was not to be eclipsed until the motet and related forms became more popular in the first decades of the 16th century. To mention a few Renaissance composers of Mass composition: Josquin des Prez William Byrd Tomás Luis de Victoria Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina Orlando di Lasso Mass composition after the Renaissance After the Renaissance, the mass tended not to be the central genre for any one composer, yet some of the most famous of all musical works of the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods are masses (e.g. Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Bruckner). Many of the most famous of the great masses of the Romantic era were Requiem masses (e.g. Fauré, Verdi). In the 20th and 21th century, composers continued to write masses, in an even wider diversity of style, form and function than before (e.g. Vaughan Williams, Stravinsky, Duruflé, Britten, Rutter, Sato). Types of mass composition Cantus firmus mass In Renaissance music, the cyclic mass was a setting of the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Mass, in which each of the movements – Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei – shared a common musical theme, commonly a cantus firmus, thus making it a unified whole. The cyclic mass was the first multi-movement form in western music to be subject to a single organizing principle. The cantus firmus, usually from a Gregorian chant, was most commonly put in the tenor voice. Hence the two names: cantus firmus mass or tenor mass The cantus firmus sometimes appeared simultaneously in other voices, using a variety of contrapuntal techniques. Later in the century, composers such as Guillaume Dufay, Johannes Ockeghem, and Jacob Obrecht, used secular tunes for cantus firmi. This practice was accepted with little controversy until prohibited by the Council of Trent in 1562. In particular, the song L'homme armé has a long history with composers; more than 40 separate Mass settings exist. 'Motto' mass (or 'head-motif' mass) An early method of establishing musical unity is the use of a common opening for each movement. Sometimes called 'motto' mass (or 'head-motif' mass). Example: Missa verbum incarnatum by Arnold de Lantins. Paraphrase mass Other techniques for organizing the cyclic Mass evolved by the beginning of the 16th century. One of them is the paraphrase technique, in which the cantus firmus was elaborated and ornamented. Paraphrase and parody (see below) supplanted cantus-firmus as the techniques of choice in the 16th century. Canon mass Yet another technique used to organize the multiple movements of a Mass was canon. The earliest Masses based entirely on canon are Johannes Ockeghem's Missa prolationum, in which each movement is a prolation canon on a freely-composed tune, and the Missa L'homme armé of Guillaume Faugues, which is also entirely canonic but also uses the famous tune L'homme armé throughout. Pierre de La Rue wrote four separate canonic masses based on plainchant, and one of Josquin des Prez's mature Masses, the Missa Ad fugam, is entirely canonic and free of borrowed material. Parody mass The parody technique incorporate an existing polyphonic source into the texture of the Mass. Interpolation of existing material is one method: one voice or several voices complete section(s) The other method is extending an existing source by addition of one or more voices: a four part composition will be a six part composition etc.. Apparently a popular technique: Palestrina alone wrote 51 parody masses. Missa Sine nomine The Missa Sine nomine, literally 'Mass without a name', refers to a Mass written on freely composed material. The name is also used in cases we don't know which sources have been used. Sometimes these Masses were named for other things, such as Palestrina's famous Missa Papae Marcelli, the Mass of Pope Marcellus, and many times they were canonic Masses, as in Josquin's Missa Sine nomine.