Vanessa Tammetta

520243916

Choral works in the 14th century developed into that of the 16 th century, and the evolution of such
can be seen through the Mass works of Machaut and Palestrina. The importance and use of
already written chants in music, the development of the harmonic content between the two
composers and the utilisation/alteration of form will all be discussed. For context, Machaut was
considered the ‘inventor’ of polyphonic Mass, as his “La Messe de Nostre Dame” is the oldest
known work with its singular composer known of such a nature and therefore represents the 14 th
century. Palestrina’s “Missa Papae Marcelli” is defined as ‘free’ 1, as it was composed entirely by
Palestrina himself and therefore exaggerates the qualities separating it from its ancestry. I chose it
because it is one of the most discussed pieces of music from its time. Looking at these two
masses, the developments between the two composers is clear.

There are only 5 scores of masses from the 14 th century still intact, one of them being “La Messe
de Nostre Dame” by Machaut, and the others being four anonymous Masses 2. In the 14th century,
the work of Philippe de Vitry became popular as he was the creator of the Ars Nova 3. This
brought about the ability to manipulate time to a greater degree than previously, including the
division of the semibreve into minims, and of mensuration signs which preceded time signatures.
Another new idea, especially brought about by Vitry in the 14th century was isorhythm 4, in which
a melodic role would repeat the same rhythm multiple times. A key component clear in the
compositions of the 14th century is the use of melodies composed separately prior to the mass.
Machaut used the Use of Vitry’s innovations is clear in Machaut’s “La Messe de Nostre Dame”.
He can be seen to use the newly-introduced smaller note values in a syncopated manner,
particularly in the Credo at bar 120 (Ex. 1 on last pages) of in the Motetus and at bar 146 (Ex. 2)
in the Triplum. There are often meter changes, regularly they are quite close together, such as bar
38 and 39 of Gloria (Ex. 3). Another significant component of the work is the ‘dissonant’
intervals of 3rds and 6ths being used more than previous works, amongst the use of 5ths and
octaves. However, much of the harmony still is very reliant on the aforementioned “perfect
intervals”, seen at the beginning of Kyrie (Ex. 4). Throughout the mass, the harmony works in a
pattern of cycles, establishing a musical passage and repeating it before moving onto the next
cycle. Another important point is the form of counterpoint used, which is predominantly first-
species, although there is use of fourth species counterpoint particularly in the Amen section of
Gloria (Ex. 5). The structure of this mass is 6 movements: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus
Dei and Ite Missa Est (although it is far shorter than any other movement by far, so it’s difficult
to consider it such a movement in comparison. All surviving 14 th century masses are based
around the first 5 movements, and the length of the movements creates a “two-finger” image, in
which the Kyrie, Sanctus and Agnus Dei all separately have far less material in comparison to the
Gloria and Credo5. Although this isn’t as applicable to “La Messe de Nostre Dame”, the Gloria
and particularly the Credo have more material than the other movements. Although the 14 th
century masses were not all identical in structure and composition, “La Messe de Nostre Dame”
effectively represents the key compositional aspects of the period firstly displaying the effects
Ars Nova had on the composition and notation of the period through the decisions made in
rhythm and time dissection, the experimentation with dissonant intervals in the harmony, the use
of cycled sections to develop the work and the “two finger” structure.

1
J. Peter Burkholder et al., A History Of Western Music, (New York: W.W. Norton & Company 2019), 244.
2
Irene Gultesky, “The Four 14th-Century Anonymous Masses: Their Form; The Restoration Of Complete Cycles,
And The Identification Of Some Authors” Acta Musicologica 81, 2 (2009): 167.
3
Burkholder et al., A History Of Western Music, 108-112.
4
Burkholder et al., A History Of Western Music, 112.
5
Gultesky, “The Four 14th-Century Anonymous Masses,” 171-175.
In the 16th century, many works used much of the material from earlier masses. John Milsom
refers to these masses as “T-Masses”, as they transfer, transform and transfuse the material they
utilise6. These “T-Masses” went to the extent that the its chant base was used as much as possible.
Manuel Mendes’ Requiem Mass’ Offertory setting was based on a melody similar to the
Jeronymite Gradual, and it is made very clear in the music 7. However, in Palestrina’s “Missa
Papae Marcelli”, no material is used. As mentioned before, since this mass is a ‘free’
composition, the 16th century quality is exaggerated. It is clear that Palestrina’s work has a
phrased-based design in comparison to the 14 th century composers cyclic design, as almost no
sections are repeated directly. Following the advances in music theory and harmony, composers
focused on more complex ideas. Throughout the work, there is immediately clear individuality
between the parts - far more implementation of 4 th species counterpoint, as well as deliberate
rejection of isorhythm. Due to this, there is not a clear pulse, and almost the entire work is in a
duple meter. However, Palestrina’s focus on phrasing is exquisite and results in extreme
smoothness of sound8. His melodies are described as being “like plainchant” 9. There are accents
on differing beats moving forwards, initially in the cantus firmus solely, but developed and
shared between multiple parts through the use of stretched syncopation, something that was not
developed in Machaut’s time. A clear concept that is used in the mass is imitation, as the cantus
firmus introduces the melody at the beginning, and the other parts take turns in singing it,
creating harmony through the placement of the notes. An important melodic aspect of the piece is
use of the melodic embellishments of suspensions, passing tones and neighbouring tones, which
allows Palestrina to purposefully use dissonance to enhance the harmonic content of the work.
Another important harmonic aspect is the use of six voices rather than four, allowing for a more
dense and full sound. Masses were written for as many as up to 12 voices or more in this period,
to allow for more projection of the music and specifically individual melodies in a church
setting10. Palestrina wrote this Mass with 7 movements: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus,
Benedictus, Agnus Dei I and II. It is still based on the 5 movements at its core, but it embellishes
it slightly. Contrary to the nature of the 14 th century mass, mass ordinary in the 16 th century acted
as one large cycle unlike the many cyclic sections preceding it. This is seen when Palestrina very
clearly almost duplicates the introduction of Kyrie in Agnus Dei I 11. Although Palestrina doesn’t
base his mass on pre-existing chants, his “Missa Papae Marcelli” effectively represents the 16 th
century mass. His use of 4th species counterpoint, more complex and developed harmony,
smoothness through phrasing and the fact that he wrote his own melodies, the enhanced
instrumentation and structure of the work all are results of development of 14 th century mass.

Whilst Machaut and Palestrina wrote in the same style, it is clear that the time between them
resulted in fundamental changes to how their music was composed. The choice and
implementation of melodies from pre-existing chants between the two periods is incredible, with
14th century mass only hinting towards chants while 16 th century either completely recycles the
chant or doesn’t even use one in Palestrina’s case. The development of harmony from note-
against-note and 5th- and octave- base to ornamented, fourth species syncopated counterpoint
which blurs pulse because it is so complex makes the statement even more clear. And lastly the
use of cycles within the piece, and specifically making each section a different length to create
6
John Milsom, “Attending (To) The Masses In The Long 16 th Century” Early Music 48, 2 (2020): 251-257.
7
João Pedro d’Alvarenga, “Two Polyphonic Settings Of The Mass For The Dead From Late Sixteenth-Century
Portugal: Bridging Pre- And Post- Tridentine Traditions” Acta Musicologica 88, 1 (2016): 23-26.
8
David Larkin, “Music in Western Culture: Week 2,” (Lecture, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Sydney, 9
August 2022).
9
Burkholder et al., A History Of Western Music, 244-245.
10
Finn Upham and Julie Cunning: “Auditory Streaming Complexity And Renaissance Mass Cycles” Empirical
Musicology Review 15, 3-4 (2021): 203.
11
Julian Grimshaw. “Compositional Phenomena in the Missa Papae Marcelli.” Recercare (Lucca) 24, no. 1/2
(2012): 11-12.
the same “two-finger” image as opposed to the entire piece being a cycle that is equal in its
balance to further emphasise that idea further proves the statement that the music developed so.

Bibliography

Anderson, Michael Alan. St Anne in Renaissance Music: Devotion and Politics. Cambridge
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Burkholder, J. Peter and Donald Jay Grout and Claude V. Palisca. A History Of Western Music
(International Student Edition), 10th Edition. New York: Norton and Company, 2019.

Cook, James. The Cyclic Mass : Anglo-Continental Exchange in the Fifteenth Century.
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Grimshaw, Julian. “Compositional Phenomena in the Missa Papae Marcelli.” Recercare (Lucca)
24, no. 1/2 (2012): 5–33.

Guillaume, and Daniel. Leech-Wilkinson. “La messe de Nostre Dame.” Oxford: Oxford
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Guletsky, Irene. “The Four 14th-Century Anonymous Masses: Their Form; the Restoration of
Incomplete Cycles; and the Identification of Some Authors.” Acta Musicologica 81, no. 2 (2009):
167–227.

João Pedro d’Alvarenga. “Two Polyphonic Settings of the Mass for the Dead from Late
Sixteenth-Century Portugal: Bridging Pre- and Post-Tridentine Traditions.” Acta Musicologica
88, no. 1 (2016): 5–33.

Leech-Wilkinson, Daniel. “Le Voir Dit and La Messe de Nostre Dame: Aspects of Genre and
Style in Late Works of MacHaut.” Plainsong & Medieval Music 2, no. 1 (1993): 43–73.

Milsom, John. “Attending (to) Masses in the Long 16th Century.” Early Music 48, no. 2 (2020):
251–57.

Palestrina, Giovanni Pierluigi da, and Lewis. Lockwood. “Pope Marcellus Mass : an
authoritative score, backgrounds and sources, history and analysis, views and comments.” New
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Upham, Finn, and Julie Cumming. “Auditory Streaming Complexity and Renaissance Mass
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https://doi.org/10.18061/emr.v15i3-4.7980.
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Ex.2
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Ex.4
Ex.5