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RETROGRADE, INVERSION,RETROGRADE-INVERSION, ANDRELATED TECHNIQUES IN THEMASSES OF JACOB US OB REC HT
By R . LA RRY TO D D
ONE WOULD NOT expect a pioneer of modern music to seek
historical precedent in compositions more than four hundred
years removed from his own work. Yet Anton von Webern, in a lec-
ture delivered on March 2, 1932, from the series Der Weg zur neuen
Musik, showed an active awareness of the past and its relation to his
music when he described the "particularly intimate unity" of his
Symph ony, Op us 21 (1928). Sum m arizing the funda me ntal stru ctu re
of the final movement as a "double canon by retrograde," he con-cluded : "Gr eate r unity is impossible. Even the Neth erlande r^ di dn 't
manage it ."1
By "Nethe r landers" W ebern was undou btedly referring
primarily to Heinrich Isaac, whose Choralis Constantinus — a monu-
m enta l cycle design ed especially for the pro pe r of the Mass — dis-
plays a superabundance of learned contrapuntal devices. Webern
had edited the second part of this cycle for the Denkmdler der Ton-
kunst in Osterreich, and for him it represented the intellectual sum-
mit of the "Netherlander" polyphonic art .2
Th is study is a revised and ex pand ed version of a paper read at the New Englan d
Chapter meeting of the American Musicological Society in New Haven on April 10,
1976. The author wishes to express his gratitude for the gracious assistance and sug-
gestions of Professors. Craig W righ t, Leon Plan tinga , and C laude Palisca of Y ale
University.1 Anton von Webern, "The Path to Twelve-Note Composi tion," in The Path to
the New Music, ed. W ill i Reich (Bryn M awr, 1968), p. 56.
2Z)TO , Bd. 32, Jahrga ng XV I/1 (Vienna, 1909). W ebem 's summary of Isaac's
contrapuntal artistry appears in the Einleitung, p. x. A study of Webern's appreciation
of music history is provided by Scott Goldthwaite, in "Historical Awareness in AntonW e b e m ' s Symphony, Op. 21," Essays in Musicology in Honor of Dragan Plamenac on
His 70th Birthday, ed. Gustave Reese, R. J. Snow (Pittsburgh, Pa., 1969), pp . 65-81.
50
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• , " t .
Te chn ique s in the Masses of Jacob us O brech t 51
Isaac was, of course, not the only Netherlander composer to at-
tain a mastery of such a specialized polyphonic craft. Webern could
have found in Jacobus Obrecht a figure equally suitable for his pro-vocative historical comparisons. Several of the approximately twenty-
five Masses definitely ascribed to O brecht offer ex am ples in which
the cantus firraus is ordered according to a precalculated plan simi-
lar to our modern notion of serialism.8
In these works the cantus
firraus, in addition to being heard in its original form, is also stated
in retrograde, arranged in inverted order, or, by combining the two
properties, presented simultaneously in an inverted and retrograde
fashion. On occasion Obrecht employs transposition, either of the
original cantus firmus — which is, of course, consistent w ith the in-creasing theoretical recognition of modal transposition at this time
— or of a deriva tive version of the cantus firmus. O ften these elabora-
tions are concisely effected by verbal canons without notating in full
the new form of the cantus firmus. However, if the canon calls for
especially elaborate changes, then the new, derived cantus firmus
may be written out to ensure proper execution. For example, the
Et incarnatus of the Missa Graecorum, which survives in a single
printed source (Petrucci 's Misse Obreht of 1503), requ ire s extens iveadjustment of the cantus firmus by means of a canonic inscription.
To avoid possible error, Petrucci provides both the canon and
its realization. F our othe r Masses of Ob rec ht th at illu strate c anonic-
ally produced techniques of retrograde, inversion, or retrograde-
inversion are L'homme arm<i, De tous bien plaine, Fortuna desper-
ata, and Petrus Apostolus*
3 It must be stressed that in this study, "serialism" on ly applies in the general
sense to the organization of musical material through the use of retrograde, inversion,
or retrograde-inversion. There is no attempt here to search for twelve-tone procedures
in the fifteenth century. Yet it is interesting to note in passing that Webern's mentor,
Arnold Schoenberg, was also intrigued by the contribution of the Netherlanders,
whose influence was exercised in a strange manner in the curious Doppelt Spiegel-
und Schlussel-Kanon for vier Stimen gesetzet auf niedcrlandsche Art [sic], composed
in 1922. A facsimile of this curious miniature is in Arnold Schoenberg Gedenkau sstel-
lung 1974, ed. Ernst Hilm ar (Vienn a, 1974), p. 148.
* An additional Mass, the Missa Salve diva parens, discussed below, does not
transmit specific verbal canons but does contain passages organized according to
serial procedures. A Magnificat ascribed to Obrecht displays some evidence of inver-
sion in the setting of its eighth verset. The authenticity of this work, however, is in
question. (See Sister Mary Ellen Nagle, "The Structural Role of the Cantus Finnus
in the Motets of Jacob Obrecht" [PhD. diss., University of Michigan, 1972], p. 102.)
More promising is an anonymous Mass that is based on the chanson N'arai je jamais of
Rob ert Morton and em ploys inversion of the cantus firmus in the A gnu s .Dei. C on-
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52 T h e Musical Q uarte rly
A n u m b er of oth er O brech t Masses exh ibit o the r cantus-firmus
transformations that, while differing from strict "serial" procedure,
also portray the composer as an "uncompromising rationalist whoprefers to use . . . eith er a literal qu ota tio n of th e origin al melody
or a schematically manipulated version of it. . . ." 5 One of these
stratagems favored by Obrecht is the segmentation of the cantus
firmus as, for example, in the Masses Maria zart, De tous bien plaine,
Malheur me bat, Rose playsante, Je ne demande, and Si dedero. A
variant of the cantus firmus occurs when the composer rearranges
the order of the fragments, distributing them either among the vari-
ous voices, as in the Missa Maria zart, or in one voice, as in the
Missa De tous bien plaine. In the Sanctus of this Mass, eight state-
ments of the cantus firmus are rotated to form the following se-
que nce, not qu ite an exact retrograd e: 1, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. T hr ou gh
yet another process Obrecht designates the reordering of the cantus
firmus according to rhythmic values, as he does in both the Missa De
tous bien plaine and the Missa Graecorum. Such a conscious applica-
tion of predetermined, ordered elements shows Obrecht's concern
for formal unity within the cyclic Mass. To be sure, this fascination
with a strict serial-like regulation of the cantus firmus is not uniquein the late fifteenth century. And even before Obrecht's time, com-
posers practiced techniques such as retrograde-inversion, in addition
to the more frequently used retrograde and inversion. A brief re-
view of this tradition may help to place Obrecht's contribution in
historical perspective. To this end a list appended to this study pre-
sents in approximate chronological order some other relevant ex-
amples from contemporaries of Obrecht, as well as before and after
him. (See Table 1.)Of the three procedures, retrograde motion appears to have been
the first to be cultivated widely by composers. In a two-part sub-
sidered with the fragmentation of the cantus firmus in the earlier movements, a de-vice characteristic of the composer, this strongly suggests Obrecht as the composer.For discussion see Martin Staehelin, "Moglichkeiten und praktische Anwendung derVerfasserbestimmung an anonym uberlieferten Kom positionen de r Josqu in-Zeit," inTijdschrift van de Vereniging voor Nederlandse Muziekgeschiedenis (TVNM), XXIII
(1973), 87; idem, "Obrechtiana," in TVNM, XXV (1975), 3-5; and Martin Jus t, DerMensu ralkodex Mus. ms. 40021 der Staalsbibliothek P reussischer Kullurbesiti Berlin,Vol. I, (Tu tzin g, 1975), 297 f. A third related Mass is the Je ne demande. See n. 21below.
5 Edward H. Sparks, Cantus Firmus in Mass and Motet 1420-1520 (Berkeley, Calif.,
1963), p. 254.
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Te ch niq ue s in the Masses of Jaco bus Ob recht 53
stitute clausula based on the tenor word Dominus from the mid-
thirteenth century manuscript Florence Pluteo 29. 1, the syllables
are found in reverse order (Nusmido), indicating to the performer
that for a correct rendition the chant is to be executed backwards. 6
The repertory of the fourteenth century offers at least three crab
canons: two works from the manuscript Strasbourg Bibliotheque
de la Ville 222 C. 22, J'ai mis ce rondelet and Tres douls amis,7
and
the well-known rondeau Ma fin est mon commencement by Gui-
llaume de Machaut. A late fourteenth-century source, the Chantilly
Manuscript , provides a pal indrome in the anonymous motet Ami-
cum quaerit, while the Old Hall Manuscript contains an anonymous
Credo that employs retrograde motion as well.8
Two early fifteenth-century m anusc ripts, Bologna Q 15 and Oxford Can onici 213, trans-
mit motets with retrograde techniques by Richard Loqueville and
Domenico da Ferrara,9
respectively. The former piece bears the
canon, tenor isle dicitur sicut iacet 2° retrogradendo .
While the use of a retrograde ordering is manifest as early as
the mid-thirteenth century, inversion and retrograde-inversion ap-
pear less frequently. Manfred Bukofzer was the first to discover
mirror inversion in an anonymous Gloria from the "Fountains Frag-m en t"; th e pro ced ure is specified there by the canon , hie tenor est
arsis et contra sit tibi thesis. If Bukofzer's dating of the fragment is
accepted, then the Gloria may originate from as early as 1420.10
A
more famous example of inversion is the isorhythmic motet of Duns-
8 Fresh evidence on the dating of this manuscript is given in R. A. Baltzar,"Thirteenth-Century Illuminated Miniatures and the Date of the Florence Manu-script," in Journal of the Am erican M usicological Society, XXV (1972), 15. For dis-cussion of the Nusmido clausula, see Friedrich Ludwig, "Die mehrstimmige Musik des
14. Jahrhundem," in Sammelbdnde der Internationalen Musikgesellschaft, IV (1903), 30;and Manfred Bukofzer, "Speculative Thinking in Mediaeval Music," in Speculum,XVII (1942), 176.
7 An additional fourteenth-century work formerly thought to use retrograde mo-tion may be mentioned briefly. Talent met pris was printed as a crab canon in Fried-rich Kammerer, Die M usikstucke des Prager Kodex X I E 9 (Augsburg, 1931), pp. 137-40. This interpretation was corrected by Nino Pirrotta in "Per 1'origine c la storiadella 'caccia' c del 'madrigale' trecentesco," Rivista Musicale Italiana, XLVIII (1946),318; and Jacques Handschin in "The Sumer Canon and itj Background," Musica
Disdplina, III (1949), 80-81.
S Cf. Manfred Bukofzer, "The Music of the Old Hall Manuscript," in Studies in
Medieval and Renaissance Music (New York, 1950), p. 66.9 Facsimile of the latter is in J. F. R. Stainer, ed., Dufay and His Contemporaries
(London, 1898), PI. 8.
i°See Manfred Bukofzer, "Th e Fou ntains Fragment," Studies in Medieval andRenaissance Music, pp. 92 f. and 108.
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54 T h e Musical Qu arterly
table found in the manuscripts Trent 92 and Modena Biblioteca
Estense lat. 471, Veni sancte spiritus et emitte. According to the ver-
bal directive, the three taleae of the ten or are to be perfo rm ed first
as written, then inverted, and finally by means of retrograde-inver-
sion with a transposition a fifth below (et dicitur primo direcle,
secundo subvertere lineam, tertio revertere remittendo terciam par-
tem et capies dyapen the si vis habere tenorem).11 Noteworthy here is
the combination of retrograde-inversion with transposition; the same
device occurs in Obrecht's Missa Graecorum.
A glance at the register of works in Table 1 shows that only rarely
did the three "serial" operations appear within the oeuvre of a single
composer. Dunstable seems to have restricted his experiments to oneisorhythmic motet; Dufay resorted only to the retrograde procedure
in his Missa L'homme arme; while Ockeghem, the composer of the
erudite Missa P rolationum, was not interested in these techniques.12
In striking contrast to the works of these men are those of Antoine
Busnois, an important composer directly associated with Obrecht.
No less than six compositions of Busnois illustrate these methods.
And if the extraordinary series of anonymous L'homme arme' Masses
preserved in the Neapolitan manuscript, Biblioteca Nazionale MSV I. E. 40, are in fact by Busnois, then his imp ortan ce as a com poser
who is interested, like Obrecht, in "serial" manipulation of the cantus
firmus is greatly enhanced. Five of the six Masses in this source trans-
mit canons that designate retrograde, inversion, and retrograde-in-
version presentations of the famed tune.18
A measure of support for
Busnois's authorship is the fact that the same version of the L'homme
11 Two fragmenu by Dunstable which are of related interest and both of which
are isorhythmic may be noted in passing here. The first, found in British LibraryMS Add. 31922, bears the following inscription: a dorio tenor hie ascendens essevidetur quater per genera tetrachordum repetelur. The second, an isorhythmic for-mula consisting of ascending and descending tetrachords, is located in a version ofthe treatise, Libellus cantus mensurabilis, ascribed to Johannis de Muris. The twoitems are available in John Dunstable, Complete Works, ed. Manfred Bukofzer, 2ndrev. ed. (Lo ndo n, 1970), pp . 94, 156.
'2 A Missa Pour quelque paine, which employs inversion and retrograde canonsin the Sanctus and Agnus Dei, is attrib uted to Ockeghem in one ma nuscr ipt (BrusselsBibliothfrque royale, MS 5557), but is evidently the work of one Cornelius Heyns. SeeDragan Plamenac, "A Postscript to Volume II of the Collected Works of Johannes
Ockeghem," Journal of the American Musicological Society, II I (1950), S4 f." T h e basic study of this manuscript remains Jud ith Cohen, The Six Anonymous
L'homm e Armi Masses in Na ples, Hiblioteca Nazionale, MS VI E 40 (n.p.: AmericanInstitu e of M usicology, 1968). Evidence that points to Busnois as the com poser of th eMasses is summarized there on pages 62-71.
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Te chn iqu es in the Masses of Jacob us Ob recht 55
arme melody is used as a cantus firmus in the well-known L'homme
arme Mass definitely determined to be by Busnois. This composi-
tion displays inversion in the Agnus Dei according to the canonicru le , Ubi thesis assint sceptra ibi arsis et e contra, and is, in turn,
closely related to Obrecht's Mass on the same tenor.
Busnois's motet, In hydraulis, which dates from before 1467,14
derives its tenor from a three-note figure — d-c-d, a-g-a, d'-c'-d', a-g-a,
d-c-d — that may be interpreted as a large-scale palindrome. George
Perle noted the presence of motivic inversion in the rondeau, Je suis
venu vers mon ami,™ and more recently Albert Seay has detected
retrograde, inverted, and retrograde-inversion patterns in Busnois's
hymn setting, Conditor alme siderum.16 A work of Busnois printed
in the Odhecaton, J'ai pris amours tout au rebours, depends upon
an inverted form of an external tenor for its own cantus firmus, in
this case, the tune, J'ai pris amours.11 Finally, the bergerette, Main-
tes femmes, also published by Petrucci, contains some rather recon-
dite riddle canons that require of the performer a knowledge of the
Guidonian hand just to generate the cantus firmus, which is sub-
sequently presented in both "prime" and retrograde forms.18
The extensive application of retrograde, inversion, and retro-
grade-inversion in the music of Busnois and Obrecht may point to a
close musical association between the two composers. We know that
both musicians were in Bruges around 1490, Busnois as rector can-
n In the text Busnois is referred to as the indignum musicum of Charles, Countof Charolais, who became Duke of Burgundy in 1467. The only discussion of Busnois'smotets remains that of Edward H. Sparks, "The Motets of Antoine Busnois," Journal
of the American Musicological Society, VI (1953), 216-26.18
George Pcrle, "The Chansons of Antoine Busnois," Music Review, XI (1950), 94.An analysis of the rondeau is in Putnam Aldrich, "An Approach to the Analysis ofRenaissance Music," Music Review XXX (1969), 12-16.
16 Albert Seay, "The Conditor Alme Siderum by Busnois," Quadrivium, X II(1971), 225-34.
17Table 1 shows two other pieces in which reordered versions of separate tenors
are used for the structural voice. The tenor of Ghizeghem's popular rondeau De tous
bien plaine is inverted in a setting by Ja p an (No. 36), and the anonymo us A quoi
passerai (No. 15) has an inverted form of a rondeau teno r from the D ijon Chan-sonnier. The latter work, possibly by Busnois, was recently discovered in a Lillearchive. See Craig W righ t, "An Exam ple of Inversion from the C ircle of Dufay,"
in Papers read at the D ufay Quincentenary Conference, Brooklyn College Decem ber6-7, 1974, ed. Allan W . Atlas (Brooklyn , 1976), pp . 144-48.
18The solution to Busnois's puzzle was supplied by Helen Hewitt in "The Two
Puzzle Canons in Busnois' Maintes femmes," Jou rnal o f the A merican Musicological
Society, X (1957), 104-10. See also Ca the rine Brooks, "A nto ine Busnois as a Composerof C hansons" (Ph .D. diss., New York University, 1951), p . 129-32.
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56 T he Musical Qu arterly
loriae at Saint Sauveur, and Obrecht as a succentor at Saint Dona-
tian.19 It is very possible that O bre cht h ad become acq uain ted with
Busnois's work even earlier in his career while in Cambrai duringthe years 1484 an d 1485. Busnois himself ha d pro bab ly acco m panie d
the Count of Charolais, the future Charles the Bold, to Cambrai on
nu m ero us occasions d ur in g the 1460s, an d his mu sic was part of th e
repertory of the cathedral choir.20 Thus it is not surprising that sev-
eral Obrecht Masses derive their cantus firmi from Busnois chan-
sons,21
while one Mass, the L'homme armc, was probably directly
modeled after Busnois's Mass on the same tenor.
There are many similarities between the two L'homme armc
Masses that disclose Obrecht's debt to Busnois,22 but several details
concerning the organization of the cantus firmus point to Obrecht's
role as more than that of an imitator. Busnois applies both trans-
position and inversion: the tenor is transposed a fourth below in
the Patrem of the Credo, while in the Agnus Dei the cantus firmus
is inverted, the first half of the melody being presented in Agnus
Dei I, the second half in Agnus Dei III. Obrecht follows closely
Busnois's arrangement of the cantus firmus in the corresponding
sections, but introduces some modifications as well. In the Credothe melody is transposed not a fourth but a fifth lower. This is
18 Georges van Doorslaer, "La Chapellc musicale de Philippe le Beau," Revue
Beige d'Archiologie, IV (1934), 21-57 and 139-65. A summary of th e docu me ntaryevidence is in Bain Mun-ay, "Jacob Obrecht's Connection with the Church of OurLady in Antwerp," Revue Beige de Musicologie, XI (1957), 125-33. Of rela ted interestis idem, "New Light on Jacob Obrecht's Development — a Biographical Study,"The Musical Quarterly, XLIII (1957), 500-516.
w
For documentary references to Charles's visits to Cambrai, see Craig Wright,"Dufay at Cambrai: Discoveries and Revisions," Journal of the American MuiicologicalSociety, XX VIII (1975), 208-9.
Ji Missae Je ne demande, Fortuna desperata, an d Diversorum tenorum. The firstMass is transmitted with two versions of the second Agnus Dei, one in Munich,Staatsbibliothek Codex 3154 and the other, a print, in Petnicci's Misse Obreht. Ina recent study ("Problems of Transmission in Obrecht's Missa Je ne demande," TheMusical Quarterly, LX III [1977], 211-23). Thom as Noblitt argues convincingly forthe Munich manuscript as the authentic source. In that version, interestingly enough,Busnois's melody is not only segmented, but executed in a retrograde order as well.
The latter of the three Masses (Diversorum tenorum) borrows from three Busnois
chansons: Joye me fuit, Accordes moy, and Mon moignault. The only critical editionof these works remains Catherine Brooks, "Antoine Busnois as a Composer of Chan-sons"; a summary of her research is in "Antoine Busnois, Chanson Composer,"Journal of the American Musicological Society, VT (1953), 111-35.
MCf. Oliver Strunk, "Origins of the 'LTiornme arme' Mass," Bulletin of the
American Musicological Society, II (1937), 25.
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Te chn iqu es in the Masses of Jacobu s Ob recht 57
necessary because a transposition a fourth below Obrecht's Phrygian
version of the L'homme armi melody would produce an awkward
modal construction on B, one that would conspicuously display the
much-dreaded diabolus in musica. Obrecht's choice of transposition
bears on other matters as well. For one thing, it creates a good bit
of voice crossing between the tenor and bass parts, so that at the
end of the Et incarnatus section the tenor voice actually assumes the
cadential function of the bass. More significant, the trap.position a
fifth lower is compatible with the cadential structure of the Mass.
Though Obrecht continually casts the L'homme armi tune in the
Phrygian mode, he just as consistently executes the principal ca-
dences not on E but on A; therefore, a statement of the melody inits Aeolian form seems particularly appropriate. In comparison,
Busnois's Mass, which is set in a transposed Dorian mode on G, main-
tains cadences on G throughout with one exception, a cadence on D
that occurs at the close of the Et incamatus.
A more striking deviation from Busnois's model is found in the
Agnus Dei. Unlike Busnois, Obrecht uses not merely inversion but
retrograde-inversion. This device is applied to the first half of the
cantus firmus in the first Agnus Dei, and the second half of themelody is similarly rendered in the concluding Agnus Dei. Although
Obrecht strictly controls the pitch organization, he does formulate
a variant metrical scheme for the third Agnus Dei, where the ternary
mensuration yields to an augmented setting of the cantus firmus in
binary values. At this point the opening pitch of the final Agnus Dei
— which, because of the tr ea tm en t of the can tus firmus, is actually
the last pitch of th e origin al melody — is sustained for twelve full
measures to form a lengthy and formidable pedal point.T h e L'homme arme tune, as Obrecht quite possibly realized, is
well suited to both inversion and retrograde procedures. Character-
ized by an alternating pattern of disjunct and conjunct motion, the
opening of the melody outlines a curious ambivalence between the
modal division of fifth plus fourth and fourth plus fifth. In Obrecht's
Phrygian version of the melody, two species of tetrachords (e-a and
b-e') and the pen tach ord (e-b) are prom ine nt, so that th e octave at
first appears to be divided e-a-e' and e-b-e'.23 Such a division of the
Phrygian octave, with the melodic emphasis wavering between a
23 For a different analy sis of the L'homme armi melody, see Lewis Lockwood,
"Aspects of the 'L'Horarae arm e' Tr adi tion ," Proceedings of the Royal Mu sical Associa-
tion, C (1973-1974), 104-5.
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58 T h e Musical Q uarterly
and b , is, of course, rath er u nor thod ox, and exposes the Phrygian
mode as an unusual choice for this particular cantus finnus. Not-
Avithstanding this, an examination of the L'homme arme tune in its
inve rted and re trog rad e guises yields fruitful re sults (see Exx. la, l b ,
E i . l a . ObrKhl, Mlnm LTiomme Anmr , Kyrfc (ttnor)
Ex. lb. Inverted form
Ex. Ic ObnAl.HllnmLimmmtArme, Agran Dd I (tenor)
n . [
13
I I
lc). Since the disjunc t m otion is lim ited to fourth s a nd fifths, inver-
sion of the melody provides a comparable intervallic structure: in
fact, the same duality of modal structure is retained. Thus the fourth
e-a becomes e-B and the fifth e-b is transformed to e-A (Ex. lb). And
because of the unique construction of the melody, the adoption of
retrograde motion is equally appropriate. As shown in Example lc,
the sequence of fourths and fifths for the first half of the melody is the
following: fo urth (with stepwise m otio n), fifth, fifth (with stepwisemotion), fifth, and fourth (with a combination of disjunct and con-
junct motion). Thus a highly symmetrical pattern is formed by this
series of intervals that remains fairly constant even when performed
in cancrizans. It may have been on account of these and other fea-
tures of the cantus finnus that Obrecht decided to depart from the
model of Busnois.
For a more extensive manipulation of a borrowed melody one
may turn to Obrecht's three-voiced Missa De tous bien plaine (pub-
lished by Johan nes W olf as a Missa sine nomine). In the Patrem the
rubr ic , a maiori debet fiori denominaiio, calls for a radical alteration
of Heyns's transposed Dorian tune into a seemingly amorphous suc-
cession of pitches (see Exx. 2a, 2b). According to this directive, the
b y g u e s t on J an u ar y 5
,2 0 1 1
m q. ox f or d j o ur n al s . or g
D
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Te ch niq ue s in the Masses of Jacob us O bre cht 59
E x . 2a. Otmcht, Mlna D e torn M e n pMne, Kyrk tenor)
y w " i " i • • i ~ i • • i i i r i i i i ' ' i ~ i1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
I I I I I I I20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37
I I I 1 I ~n r T i r ii i i =a=i38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 SO 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 JO 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79
Ex. 2 b . Obrvcbt, M b m D e toia bimpJcint, Pitnun (fenor)
tv. .L i m i i i n t i i_ - t_ i n T M i ^ _ i n T n i p i w i W " i r i i " l a '
wn
r r r iiiirr NII iqri i i i i =
1 19 37 54 62 80 2 3 3 11 14
I I I I I I ^ ^ T ^ I T I I17 18 20- 21 27 32 33 36 42 43 45 47 48 52 55-5 6 61 63-6 4
" i i i r ^ ^ i i i r - i T ^ i' 5 66 70 73 79 4 5 6 7 9 10 1 2 1 3 15 16 22 23 24 25 26 28 30 31
v \ " ° I I I " I ' I " " I " ° I " - 1 ' I I I I II34 35 38 39 40 41 44 46 49 SO 51 53 57 58 59 60 67 68 69 71 72 74 75 76 77 78
Ex. 2c . O bnch t , Mam Dt torn bit* pUtnt, Et inctrruluj ( tenor)
i l l . l " ? H I - I - i l l i l l I - I - I r i i I I ! I I i I I i g . M i ^ i I '
80 62 S4 37 19 1 79 73 70 66 65
' H a l H I 1 1 ! 1 1 ! 1 1 ! I I I 1 1 ! ! ! I l l 1 I " I I H I64-6 3 61 56 -55 52 48 47 45 43 42 36 33 32 27 21 -20 18 17 14
' ^ i i l l i i I i ia" r ' n°" i ^
11 8 3 2 76 75 74 72 71 69 68 67 60 59 58 57 S3 51 50 49 46 44
I I I ^ ^ ^ I I I4 1 40 39 38 35 34 31 30 2 8 2 6 25 24 2 3 2 2 16 15 13 12 10 9 7 6 5 4
cantus firmus is to be arranged in decreasing rhythmic values: the
longae are selected and heard first, then the breves, and finally
the semibreves. T h e result is an arbitrary reorg anization of the
melody into three parts with each new section containing progres-
sively smaller note values. Concomitantly, each level of acceleration
b y g u e s t on J an u ar y 5
,2 0 1 1
m q. ox f or d j o u
r n al s . or g
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60 T h e Musical Qu arterly
is accompanied by a decrease in modal stability. The longae of the
chan son , the first level of Ob rech t's schem e, afford the m ost stab le
pitches of the mode: notes 1, 19, 29, 37, 54, 62, and 80 simply oscil-
late between the finalis and confmalis, G and D. The other two
rhythmic levels supply the remaining pitches of the mode. Whimsical
and seemingly inexplicable passages of disjunct motion are the pri-
mary result of Obrecht's experiment, as, for example, in the second
rhythmic section (e. g., pitches 32, 33, 36, and 42). This is even more
true of the third level in which othenvise unaccountable skips of the
sixth are generated (pitches 16, 22, 35, and 38). Finally, there is a
harmonic problem created by this disruption of Heyns's melody.
The last semibrevis of De lous bien plaine — and hence of Obrecht'sreord ered c antu s firmus — is a B-flat. T o m ain tain the c antu s firmus
bearing tenor as the lowest of the three voices would have led to an
awkward final chord built on the B-flat. Voice crossing, already used
by Obrecht in the second rhythmic area, is reintroduced in this con-
cluding section of the Palrem to solve the difficulty. By this means
the anticipated B-flat bass tone is converted to the third of a more
stable triad on G.
Obrecht repeats the procedure in the Et incarnatus est; but therubr ic , ut prius sed dicitur retrograde, signifies that the process is to
be executed in reverse order — that is, Obrecht maintains the rhyth-
mic fragmentation of the song, but each of the three sections is
ordered in retrograde. The simple instruction yields the arrange-
ment shown in Example 2c. Since the first section alternates between
the final and reciting tone, the cancrizans pattern effects no change,
but merely replicates this two-note motive.24 The shift to breves
produces an apparently aimless succession of pitches as in the Pat-rem, but the change to semibreves is most significant, because the
very last semibreve, that is, the first semibreve of Heyns's original
chanson, is the finalis of the mode. To articulate the approach to the
finalis, Obrecht indulges himself by inserting a passing tone that
provides a stepwise descent to the close.
Given the presence of only three voices, the extensive voice cross-
ing, and other internal evidence, Otto Gombosi dated the Missa De
24 Obrecht resorted to the ostinato on o ther occasions as well; an ex ample pa rexcellence is the concluding Agnus Dei of his Missa Malhcur me bat, in which thebass voice is limited to repeated statements of the fourth e-a. A discussion of relatedinterest is R. B. Lenaerts, "Zur Ostinato-Technik in der Kirchenmusik der Nieder-lSnder," in Festschrift Bruno Stablein zum 70. Geburtstag, ed. M. Ru hn ke (Kassel,1967), pp. 157-59.
b y g u e s t on J an u ar y 5
,2 0 1 1
m q. ox f or d j o ur n al s . or g
D
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Te chn ique s in the Masses of Jacobu s O brech t 61
tous bien plaine as early as the 1470s.25
If this dating is correct, one
may infer that Obrecht practiced specialized cantus-firmus tech-
niques relatively early in his career. And he continued to composein this vein even into his late maturity, as can be seen in the fully
developed Missa Fortuna desperata. As in the Missa L'homme armi,
Obrecht draws heavily upon a composition of Busnois, in this case,
the three-voice Fortuna desperata. Ind ee d, the M ass of O bre cht has
been cited as "approximating the parody technique,"2 8
so extensively
does it borrow from Busnois's model. Nevertheless, modifications of
the cantus firmus in the Credo appear to be solely the act of Obrecht,
who once more realized the compositional possibilities inherent in
the preexistent tenor.
Obrecht may well have been inspired by the opening of Busnois's
me lody which presents a sym metrical figure in the form of an as-
cending and descending third. He converted the cantus firmus into
a large-scale palindrome structure that spans two movements of the
Mass. To this end, the center of the melody conveniently offers a rest
(m. 32) surrounded on either side by the pitch F. Obrecht isolates
the first of these to serve as the demarcation between the halves. Two
canons for the Gloria (cancriiat in medio consistit virtus) and theCredo (in medio consistit virtus) call for a sophisticated unfolding
of the cantus firmus that effectively links the two movements. Start-
ing with the Et in terra, the first half (pitch es 1-41) is sta ted in
retrograde, while the second half (43-83) is performed in normal
sequence. The entire process is repeated to conclude the movement.
In the Patrem of the Credo, however, the scheme is reversed: the sec-
ond half is given in retrograde, while the first forty-one pitches are
sung in their original order. The two movements are summarized inthe following diagram, in which a and b symbolize the regular form
of each half, while a' and b' indicate the retrograde order:
A A '
Gloria Credoa'(41-l) b(43-88) a'(41-l) b(43-83) b'(83 43 )
The figure reveals an enormous symmetrical structure consisting of
several palindromes. A primary level of symmetry is the unit b-b'
U Jacob Obrechl, cine itilkrilische Studie (Leipzig, 1925), p. 47.M Giutave Reese, Music in the Renaissance, 2nd rev. ed. (New York 1959), p . 201.
b y g u e s t on J an u ar y 5
,2 0 1 1
m q. ox f or d j o u
r n al s . or g
D ownl o a d e d f r om
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62 T he Musical Qu arterly
which is set w ithin the en tire framew ork an d successfully bind s th e
conclusion of the Gloria to the beginning of the Credo. A second
level is established by the palindrome a'-a that fixes the endpointsof the structure. Finally, taken as a whole, the tenor builds a large-
scale palindrome designated in the diagram as A-A'. Clearly, the two
movements reveal an ingenious display of what Obrecht realized to
be jus t one of the possibilities inh ere nt in cantus-firmus tech niq ue.
To apply Webern's criterion, these movements are informed with a
"particularly intimate unity."27
While such procedures are canonically derived in the Missa For-
tuna desperata, Obrecht freely incorporates "serial" principles with-
out the benefit of verbal instruction in at least one Mass, the Missa
Salve diva parens. Printed in Petrucci 's Misse Obreht of 1503, this
work remains one of his most enigmatic creations, in part because
the exact source for the title is unknown. And, on account of what
appears to be an extensive use of paraphrase in the Mass, the cantus
firmus itself — assum ing that the Mass is in fact cons tructed up o n
one — has not been conclusively identified.28 There are nevertheless
at least two passages that display strict serial ordering. In the bass
voice of the Hosanna, motivic pairs founded upo n inversion and trans-position form a highly structured sequence. The germ cell of this
passage is a six-note patte rn revo lving aro un d the pitch e that out-
lines both f, the upper neighbor of e, and c, the third below e. Fol-
lowing an inverted statement of the same figure, the turn motive is
expanded to a third, as shown in Example 3a, and this new arrange-
ment is then inverted to close the second pair. In the next group the
motive is enlarged to include a skip of the fourth; after this it is
itself inverted. The final pair comprises a new figure, one that spansthe sixth, c'-e. Instead of inverting, Obrecht transposes this a fifth
below, and the passage concludes on A.29
27 At tem pts have been m ad e to view this type of organ iza t ion as symbol ic of the
wh e e l of f o r tu n e . See E d wa r d L o win s k y , " T h e Go d d e s s F o r tu n a in M u s ic , " Th e Musical
Quarterly, XXI X ( i9 4 3 ) , 64-73; a n d Alfred Loeffler, "Fortuna Desperata: a C o n t r i b u t i o n
t o t h e S tu d y of Musical Symbolism in the R e n a i s s a n c e , " Student Musicologists at Minne-
sota, I I I (1968-1969), 13-17.
28 Summ ar ies of recent research a r e f o u n d in L. G. van H o o m , Jacob Obrecht
(The Hague , 1968) , p p . 120-122; a n d M a r t i n S t a e h e l i n , " O b r e c h t i a n a , " p p . 20-23. A
list of m a n u s c r i p t a n d pr in ted sources is s u p p l i e d b y t h e v a lu a b l e b ib l i o g r a p h i c a l
s tu d y , C h r i s M a a s , "T o wa r d s a N e w Ob r e c h t E d i t i o n , a P r e l i m i n a r y W o r k s h e e t , " i n
TVNM, XX VI (1976), 84-109.
29 T h e passage is cited in p a r t in Sylvia Kenney, Walter Frye and the Contenance
Angloise ( N e w Haven, 1964), p . 196.
b y g u e s t on J an u ar y
5 ,2 0 1 1
m q. ox f or d j o u
r n al s . or g
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Techniques in the Masses of Jacobus Obrecht 63
An intriguing by-product of Obrecht's serial techniques in the
Hosanna pertains to intervallic relationships between nonconsecutive
cellular units. These are bracketed and lettered in Example 3a (por-
tions of the bass that are inversionally related and follow in con-
secutive order bear the same letter, for example, a and a'). Now if
one considers the first and third cells (a and b), it is evident that the
initial interval of a, the half-step e-f, is embedded in b as its first and
last pitches. By this reasoning, a' and b' share a similar organization:
the first interval of a', the descending whole-step e-d, in fact returns
as the extreme pitches of b'. In the same way, b and c, and b' and d
display correlate intervallic constructions for the thirds, e-g and e-c.
It is indeed unusual that such a predictable device occurs betweenunits of the Hosanna that are not serially related. Nevertheless, it
demonstrates once more Obrecht's attempt to organize and unify
the can tus firmus — purposes tha t are directly allied w ith the com-
poser's interest in serial techniques.
r i I I i ^
m ' II U
Ex.3t>. Obn&UMiMSitrtGrtptnm.Cam nncto (tenor)
i i r i i n r i r i - i r i i i i i r p r f
T r ii i i rr r i—r
S i r \ rA second example that combines a strict serial process with se-
quence may be viewed in the Gloria of the same Mass. The tenor
voice of the Cum sancto spirito constitutes a large-scale sequence de-
rived again from a turn figure, a melodic component that permeates
m uch of the M ass (Ex. 3b). W ith each r epe tition of the t ur n, a step-
wise descent from e' is fashioned, so that the passage eventually com-
b y g u e s t on J an u ar y 5 ,2 0 1 1
m q. ox f or d j o u
r n al s . or g
D ownl o a d e d f r om
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64 T he Musical Qua rterly
pletes the span of the fifth, e'-a, in this manner: e', e'-d', e'-cf, e'-b,
e'-a. The same process then follows, but in retrograde or inverted
order, and in diminuted rhythmic values as well: a-b, a-c/, a-d', a-e'.
A concluding section then reintroduces the neighbor-note figure be-
fore completing an embellished descent from e' to a. Obrecht's
passage may very well have been imitated by the Isaac pupil, Lud-
wig Senfl, whose Fortuna ad voces musicales (cited in Table 1) illus-
trates an analogous sequential method that incorporates retrograde
m otion as well.
Obrecht 's l i t t le-known Missa Petrus Apostolus provides a poly-
phonic setting of a plainsong cantus firmus that, unlike the case of
the Missa Salve diva parens, can be identified readily — it is a Mag-nificat antiphon for the Octave of Saints Peter and Paul. The version
of this Hypomixolydian chant in the present Liber Usualis is given
in Example 4a. The cantus-firmus treatment is distinguished through-
out the Mass by such great freedom that the antiphon is often
paraphrased rather than repeated in its original form. For example,
in the first Kyrie Obrecht alters substantively the melody by adding
ornamental neighboring tones, interposing a more concrete embel-
lishment, or by omitting several pitches of the plainsong. He alsohas segmen ted the revised cantus firmus into four roughly equal
parts. A com parable m ethod of elaboration may be studied in the
second Kyrie, and here even further melodic transformations occur,
as a cursory investigation will confirm.
It is, however, in the Gloria and Agnus D ei that the com poser
submits the tenor to a stricter regimentation. An inverted form trans-
posed a fifth above is applied in the Qui tollis (Ex. 4b), and the con-
cluding Agnus Dei makes use of retrograde-inversion at the originalpitch level according to the direction, tu tenor cancrisa et per anti-
phrasim canta (Ex. 4c). Quite in contrast to the considerable freedom
of the other movements, these two presentations of the cantus firmus
are derived mo re or less in agreement w ith the written instructio ns.
The main differences are the result of omissions, which are indicated
by asterisks in Examples 4b and 4c. Also important is the rhythmic
ordering of the tenor into longae perjectae (Qui tollis) and longae
(Agnus Dei III). The possibility of rhythmic variety is thereby min-imized by equalizing the duration of the pitches. The choice of a
retrograde form for the concluding movement is an apt one; taken
together with the Kyrie the outer movements betoken a palindrome
b y g u e s t on J an u ar y
5 ,2 0 1 1
m q. ox f or d j o u
r n al s . or g
D ownl o a d e d f r om
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Techniques in the Masses of Jacobus Obrecht 65
E X . 4 L Ant iphon , Ptma Apatoha (Ubrr UmtUt . Toar ro i . 1963 , 1547)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1314 1516 17 18 19 20 21 73 . 23 2425262728 29303132 33 34 35363 7 38 39 40 41 42
P e- U u j A - po-ao-his ,et Pmi- lus Doc-tor gen-t i -om.ip-s i BOS do-cu-e - tual lc-gem tu - enDo-mi-ae.
Ex. 4b. Obteehi, M at Ptma Apottoba, Qui loDii (tenor)
1 I I I 1 I I I I I I 1 I I I
I 1 I I I I I 1 1 I I M8 9 10
n i^ [ ~ r r i i n ^ i13 • IS
20 « 22 • 25
I 1 I I I '1
I " I " 1 I I I 1 I I 130 31 32 • 34
i r i i n I i i i
E x . 4 c . O b c t d i t , Mhm Prlnu Apottoba, A f m a D ei ID '(b«M )
^ nr|̂ T-TBntirgncrT̂ la In in
42 41 40 39 3 8 * 3 6 » 3 4 » 3 2 31 30 29 28 27 26 2 5 » 2 2 » 2 0
V:t, q | n | o | B | • 1 n I• HI
UIu
I°I °I '' 1 1 '' I " 1 • I I ' II19 18 17 16 15 • 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
with respect to the tenor voice, and this is further evidence of the
composer's desire to shape and unify through symmetric construc-
tions and careful calculation.
The contrast between rigid control, accomplished by the meth-
odical ordering of the cantus firmus, and arelative degree of flex-
ibility, as witnessed in the paraphrasing of the original chant, is also
operative in the sixth and final Mass to be discussed, the relatively
obscure and highly problematic Missa Graecorum. Fifteen statements
of the cantus firmus, arranged and ordered in various ways, stand in
stark contrast to sections freely com posed with ou t ten or tha t are
b y g u e s t on J an u ar y 5 ,2 0 1 1
m q. ox f or d j o u
r n al s . or g
D ownl o a d e d f r om
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66 T h e Musical Qu arterly
characterized by soaring melismatic passages and plentiful sequences
in parallel tenths (an especially favorite feature of the composer).80
At first glance Obrecht appears to strike a tenuous balance between
the highly rational and the emotional elements of his art, a salient
aspect of his work that has been described before with respect to the
Missa Fortuna desperate31
T h e Missa Graecorum, however, shows
that on this occasion the composer tipped the balance in favor of
somewhat cryptic, intellectual processes. Lewis Lockwood has ob-
served that in the Missa Sub tuum praesidium Obrecht places "con-
siderations of formal structure above considerations of text-design
and text-expression";82
the same statement may be applied with per-
haps greater force to the Missa Graecorum, for it is here that Obrechtassembles his most formidable array of serial techniques.
The very title of the Mass has been a stumbling block for previous
investigations.83
The only known source remains Petrucci 's collec-
tion of Ob rec ht Masses publish ed in Ve nice in 1503, bu t no clue is
found there that might divulge the origin of the cantus firmus.
Furthermore, the melodic structure of the Graecorum tune poses
further perplexity. In all probability, because of the abrupt close
of the melody on C, a fourth above the proper finalis, it is quitelikely that the "cantus firmus" is in fact a fragment (see Ex. 5a). The
last eight pitches, which conclude on the reciting tone D, appear to
have been appended in order to round out the incomplete tune and
fulfill some degree of modal consistency. This addition, however, is
no thi ng oth er than a rep rod uctio n of the first eight pitches of the
cantus firmus, which are added by the composer also to obtain a
harmonic close on G. Obrecht most likely intended the tenor
voice in the first Kyrie to serve as the cantus firmus, incomplete
as it may be. And his selection of the tenor material may be ap-
30 A schem atic diagram of the can tus finnus is offered in B. Me ier, "ZyklUche
Gesamutruktur und TonalitSt ih den Messen Jacob Obrechts," Archiv fur Musikwissen'
schaft, X (1953), 297.
"l See Myroslaw Antonow ytsch, "Re naissance-T enden zen in den F ortuna-desperata-
Messen von Josquin und Obrecht," Die Muiikforschung, IX (1956), 20.3 8
Lewis L ockwood , "A N ote on O brecht's Mass 'Sub tu um praesidium ,' " Revue
Beige de Musicologie, XI V (1960), 39.
8 8 See the Inleiding to A. Smijers' edition in Jacobus Obrecht, Opera omnia(Amsterdam, 1954), I, fasc. II, 69; Andri Pirro, Histoire de la musique de la fin du XlVe
sitcle a la fin du XVIe (Paris, 1940), p. 194; Otto Ursprung, "Alte griechische Einfldsse
und neuer grSzistische Einschlag in der mittelalterlichen Musik," Zeitschrift fur
Musikvissenschaft, XII (1929-1930), 219; and M artin Staeh elin,"Obrechtiana," p p. 23-25.
b y g u e s t on J an u ar y 5
,2 0 1 1
m q. ox f or d j o ur n al s . or g
D ownl o a d e d f r om
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Te ch niq ues in the Masses of Jacob us Ob recht 67
preciated more readily if we consider it as a stepping-stone to further
alterations and permutations.
Ei.5«. Otmctit, Mtsu Gmcorum, Kyrfc n (tenor)
r 1 r r r r4 5 6 7 8 9 10 II 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
I * r i r i i r i 1 1 r i r r i r25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47
I f I I I [ F ' 1 * 1 1 1 I I | I f:51 52 S3 S4
A simple analysis of the melody reveals that the tune is divided
into halves (numbered 1-28, and 31-54), the first of which is further
subd ivided into three smaller sections. Th e ascending fifth, the initial
melodic motion, is answered in the third of these subsections by its
obverse, a descending fifth that is unfolded by stepwise motion . W ha t
occurs between the two (pitches 9-19) may be described as a prolonga-
tion of the confinalis D by the third above and below (see Ex. 5a).
In the second half of the cantus firmus the confinalis is prolonged
in a similar way without benefit of a descent to the finalis. A step-wise descent from D to C forms the ambiguous and puzzling close.
The persistent and stable hovering around the reciting tone sug-
gests that a recitation formula may be the origin of the chant. 84
The irregular nature of the Graecorum melody yields rich re-
sources for serial treatment. This may explain why Obrecht elected
to use such a mo dally u nst able fragmen t. As defined by the fifth (g-d')
and the signature of one flat the mode is transposed Dorian. Under
inversion, however, a new pentachord (c-g) is substituted, and theclosing descending whole step (D-C) is recast as an ascending step. If
inversion is com bined w ith a retrog rade orde ring, a similar mo dal
dislocation and irregularity is produced. At the same time the ad-
vantage of these manipulations is that the composer can introduce a
harmonic treatment foreign to the original transposed Dorian. That
is, the incompleteness of the original cantus firmus is an opportunity
for further harmonic experimentation. A strict reordering of the
material effectively charges the contrapuntal flow with a newharmonic vocabulary.
3* In the Missa Graecorum Obrecht does, in fact, cite the Easter prose, Victimae
paschali. See Pirro, loc at., and Arnold Sa lop, "T he M asses of Jacob Obrech t (1450-
1505), Structure and Style" (PhJD. diss., Indiana University, 1959), pp. 49 f.
b y g u e s t on J an u ar y
5 ,2 0 1 1
m q. ox f or d j o u
r n al s . or g
D ownl o a d e d f r om
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68 The Musical Quarterly
Obrecht is quick to turn to his advantage the suspension of
modality in movements from the Missa Graecorum with reordered
cantus firmi. Examples of this include the Credo, in which verbalcanons call for rhythmic reordering (similar to that encountered in
the Missa De tous bien plaine), retrograde-inversion, and inversion
in the Palrem, el resurrexit, and et mortuus sections, respectively.
A no the r exam ple is in th e Agnus D ei — here inversion, a transposi-
tion of the prime form, and cancrizans motion are found side by
side in the three sections of the concluding movement. Especially
conspicuous in this movement is Obrecht's evident sacrifice of modal
clarity for the unifying tendency of the reorganization of the cantus
firmus. These examples stand as exceptions to the conventional
op inio n that Ob rech t was a compo ser largely interested in " to na l"
design.88 Rather than establish recurring tonal centers, reordering
of the cantus firmus according to serial principles produces in the
Missa Graecorum just the oppo site effect— the introdu ction of
different cadential areas that temporarily appear to undermine the
stability of the mode.
Ex. 5b. Obrecfit, MISM Grarmmm, Afnin DeiAgniu Dei 1 (tenor)
H J 1,1 j
i " i r lp i " i • i
4Afn us Dei D (superius)
JI- . U J
; P ^
Agntu Dei m (tenor)
- I • " • • ! • » - ! • ^ P I » I ° I •• I e N P I • =3
?T > ° i - i " i i ° I T : I ,I J i
3* See Arnold Salop, "Jacob O brecht and the Early Development of H armo nic Poly-phony," Journal of the American Musicological Society, XV II (1964), 288.
b y g u e s t on J an u ar y
5 ,2 0 1 1
m q. ox f or d j o u
r n al s . or g
D ownl o a d e d f r om
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Te ch niq ue s in the Masses of Jacob us O brech t 69
The Agnus Dei of the Mass illustrates how significantly these
serial experiments may affect the harmonic structure of the composi-
tion (Ex. 5b). Obrecht chooses three different versions of the cantus
firmus that enable him to elide the three sections of the movement.
In the first Agnus Dei, the canon, Qiti se exaltat humiliabitur, et qui
se humiliat exaltabitur, exhorts the performer in metaphorical terms
to apply musical inversion. The pentachord c-g is predominant
throughout the section, but the unexpected and irregular close on d
permits Obrecht to contrive a transposition of the cantus firmus a
fifth above for the central Agnus Dei, which is also contrasted from
the outer sections by the reduction of the texture from four to three
voices. In turn, the final note of this second version, a g, does notprod uce — as one migh t anticipate — a cadence on G bu t rathe r
one on C. This is a deliberate maneuver on Obrecht's part, for the
accompanying return to the c-g pentachord allows him to engage
one final serial operation. The stipulation, in paripathe ypathon
aries vertatur in pisces [sic], informs the performer that he is to begin
on the final note of the cantus firmus (the c, or parhypate hypaton in
the Greek systema teleion) and then proceed in retrograde order.
This artifice returns the movement to its proper final cadence on G.The entire Agnus Dei is a brilliant technical achievement in which
carefully selected serial operations determine in large part the
fundamental structure of the entire movement.
These six Masses of Obrecht demonstrate an important aspect
of late fifteenth-century Netherlander polyphony. In these works,
Obrecht's individual accomplishment was to assign systematically,
and in varied format, serial concepts of cantus-firmus organization
w ithin a large-scale structu re. Of the composers who anteda te Ob rechtand exhibit similar techniques in their works, it appears that only
Busnois approached in degree this type of experimentation. And
with the exception of the L'homme arme Mass, Busnois's efforts
are considerably mo re restricted — at least un til the anonym ous
group of L'homme arm.6 Masses may be conclusively ascribed to
him. Obrecht's Masses display a wide spectrum of serial techniques
and show that if the rigid regimentation of the cantus firmus was a
means of insuring unity within the cyclic Mass, it also often served to
prov ide a mea ns of flexibility with in the polyp ho nic framework.
Composers in the generation after Obrecht continued to use
retrograde, inversion, and retrograde-inversion procedures in their
mu sic; Ta bl e 1 lists only a few works of Jo sq uin , M outo n, Isaac,
b y g u e s t on J an u ar y
5 ,2 0 1 1
m q. ox f or d j o ur n al s . or g
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70 T h e Musical Qu arterly
Senfl, and others that chronicle in part this type of cantus-firmus
treatment in the early sixteenth century. A concern for organization
on a large scale, and for the right of the composer to predetermine
rationally, or "serialize," in the general sense, various elements of
the composition are the outstanding features of this repertory. The
music of Jacobus Obrecht occupies a most prominent position in
this development.
b y g u e s t on J an u ar y 5 ,2 0 1 1
m q. ox f or d j o ur n al s . or g
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C O M P O S E R
1. Anonymous
2. Anonymous
8. Anonymous
4. Machaut
5. Anonymous
6. Loqueville
7. Domenico da
Ferrara
8. Anonymous
9. Anonymous
C O M P O S I T I O N
Nnsinido
J'ay mis ce rondelet
Tres douls amis
Ma fin est mon
commencement
Amicum quaerit
O flos in divo are / Sacris
pegnoribtts dotata
O dolce conpagno
Credo
Gloria
T A B L E I
(See Table 2 for Abbreviations)
R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S O U R C E
(M S O R P R I N T )
Florence, Biblioteca Mediceo-
Laurenziana, Pluteo 29.1
f. 150'
Strasbourg, Bib. de la Ville222 C. 22 No. 133
Strasbourg, Bib. de la Ville
222 C. 22 No. 131
Paris, B. N. f. fr. 1584, f. 479
Chantilly, Musee Gonde
564 (olim 1047), f . 64'
Bologna, Civico Museo,
Bib. M us. Q 15, f. 25 4'
Oxford, Bodleian MS.
Cano nici mis c 213, f. 135'
London, Br i t i sh Library
Add. MS 57950, f. 77'
London, Br i t i sh Library
Add. MS 4001 IB, f. 1C
C. F.
T E C H N I Q U E
retrograde
R E F E R E N C E
Florence
ret rograde
ret rograde
ret rograde
ret rograde
ret rograde
ret rograde
ret rograde
inversion
Apel I I I ,97-98
Apel I I I ,
145-47
Schrade,
156-57
Giinther ,
23-26
Reaney,
21-23
Stainer,
160-61
Hughes-Bent I
300-306
Bukofzer,
108
nn
ft
InC/l
o
8cr
Ocr
I
b y g u e s t on J an u ar y 5 ,2 0 1 1
m q. ox f or d j o ur n al s . or g
o a d e d f r om
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C O M P O S E R
10. Dunstable
11. Dufay
12. Dufay
IS. Caron
1-1. Cornelius
Heyns
15. Anonymous
16. Busnois
17. Busnois
18. Busnois
C O M P O S I T I O N
I'eni snncte spiritus
el einitte
Snnctus papale-
Agmis Dei
Missa L'hotnme armi
Missa Jesus autem
tiansiens
TA BLE I (Cont .)
(See Table 2 for Abbreviations)
R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S O U R C E
(M S O R P R I N T )
Trent . Castel lo del Buon
Consiglio, Codex 92, f. 192'
Trent, Castello del Buon
Consiglio, Codex 92, f. 208'
Rom e, Ca pp. Sis. 49, f. 36'
Rome, Capp. Sis. 51, f . 46'
Missa Pour quelque paine
A quoi passerai
In hydraulis
Je suis venu vers mon ami
Conditor alme siderum
Rome, C app . Sis. 51, f. 18'
Lille, Archives ddpartemen-
tales du Nord, MS 4 G
1081, f. 36'
Trent, Castello del Buon
Consiglio, Codex 9 1, f. 70'
Paris, B. N. f. fr. 15123,
f. 127'
Perugia, Bib. Augusta M.
36 (1013), f. 11 3'
C. F.
T E C H N I Q U E
inversion;
retrograde-
inversion
retrograde
retrograde
inversion;
ret rograde
inversion;
ret rograde
inversion
retrograde
inversion
inversion;
retrograde-
inversion
R E F E R E N C E
Dunstable,
92-94
Dufay IV,
45-52
Dufay III, 33-65
Caron, 67-99
Ockeghem II ,
98-116
Wright
DT O VII, 105-11
Brooks III,
283-87
Seay, 231-33
H
ucQuey
b y g u e s
t on J an u ar y 5 ,2 0 1 1
m q. ox f or d j o ur n al s . or g
wnl o a d e d f r om
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COMPOSER
19.
20 .
21 .
22.•26.
27 .
28 .
29 .
30 .
Busnois
Busnois
Busnois
Busnois?
Anonymous
Obrech t
Obrech t
Obrech t
C O M P O S I T I O N
J'ai pris amours tout
au rebours
Maintes jemmes
Missa L'homme armi
Missae L'homme armi
Missa L'homme armi
Missa L'homme armi
Missa De tous bien plaine
Missa Fortuna desperata
T AB L E I (Com.)
(See Ta bl e 2 for A bbreviations)
R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S O U R C E C. F.
( MS O R P R I N T )
Petrucci, Odhecaton (1501)
R E F E R E N C E
T E C H N I Q U E
inversion He wit t 1, 305-6
Petrucci, Canti C (1504) retrograde
Ro me , Ca pp . Sis. 14, f. 106' invers ion
Naples, Bib. Naz. MS retrog rade;
VI E 40 inversion;
retrograde-
Bologna, Civico Museo, inversion
Bib. Mus. Q 16, f. 101
Mod ena, Bib. Est. VI H. I, retrograde-
f. 143 inversio n
Vienna, Staatsbib. MS 11883, retro grade
f. 121'
Petrucci, Misse Obreht retrograde
(1503)
Brooks III, 185-90
Feininger 2
Feininger 3
Feininger 1
Obrecht-Wolf,
Missen, Deel 5,
53-96
Obrecht-Wolf,
Missen, Deel 5,157-84
Obrecht-Smijers,
113-69
a
• 5
n
5'5-n
CO
oOa"
I
b y g u e s t on J an u ar y 5 ,2 0 1 1
m q. ox f or d j o ur n al s . or g
nl o a d e d f r om
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TA BL E I (Cont .)
(See Table 2 for Abbreviations)
C O M P O S E R
31 . O b r e d i t
32 . Obrecht
33 . Obrecht
34 . Obrecht?
35 . J a p a r t
36. J a p a r t
37. Fayrfax
38. Josquin
C O M P O S I T I O N
Missa Petrus Apostolus
Missa Graecorum
Missa Salve diva parens
Missa N'arai je jamais
J'ai pris amours
De tous bien plains
Missa Albanus
Missa Hercules dux
Ferrara
R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S O U R C E
(M S O R P R I N T )
Hicronymus Graphei , Novem
el in sign e opus missarum
\'orinbergae (1539)
Petrucci, Misse Obreht
(1503)
Petrucci, Misse Obreht
(1503)
Berlin, Stiftung Preussicher
Kulturbesitz Mus. MS
40021, f. 138
Petrucci, Canti B (1502)
Petrucci, Canti C (1504)
London, Lambeth PalaceMS 1, f. 33
Petrucci, Missarum Josquin
Liber Secundus (1505)
C. F.
T E C H N I Q U E
retrograde-
inversion
ret rograde;
inversion;
retrograde-
inversion
inversion
inversion
ret rograde
inversion
inversion;ret rograde
ret rograde
R E F E R E N C E
Obrecht-Wolf,
Missen, Deel 3,
189-228
Obrecht-Smijers,
69-112
Obrecht-Smijers,
228-84
Just, 297-338
Hewitt 2, 174-76
Gombosi , Noten-
anhang, 34-35
Fayrfax, 33-63
|nsquin, Missen,
Deel 2, 19-38
TMiac(̂
e
b y g u e s t
on J an u ar y 5 ,2 0 1 1
m q. ox f or d j o ur n al s . or g
nl o a d e d f r om
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C O M P O S E R
89 . Josquin
40 . Josquin
41 . Mathur in
Forestier
42 . Mouton
43 . Mouton
44 . Mouton
45 . Pierre de
la Rue
46 . JohannesBeausseron
47 . Matthiae
Gascongne
(See
C O M P O S I T I O N
Missa Fortuna desperata
Missa L'homme artni super
voces musicales
Missa quinque vocum
supra baise moy
Ave Maria gratia plena
De beata virgine
Salve mater satuatoris
Misse Alleluia
Regina caeli
Missa Mon mary ma
diffamee
T A B L E I ( C o n t )
Table 2 for Abbreviations)
R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S O U R C E
(M S O R P R I N T )
Petrucci, Misse Josquin
(1502)
Petrucci, Misse Josquin
Jena, Universiteitsbibliothek.
Chorbuch 4, f . 102'
Bologna, Bib. del Cons. Mus.
G. B. Martini R 141
( b ) , f . 6
C. Heussler, Erotemata musicis
practicae (1568)
Glareanus, Dodecachordon
(1547)
Rome, Capp. Sis. 36, f . 34'
Rom e, C app . Sis. 13, f. 169'
Rome, Capp. Sis. 26, f . 78'
C. F.
T E C H N I Q U E
inversion
ret rograde
ret rograde
inversion
inversion
inversion
retrograde
inversion
ret rograde
R E F E R E N C E
Josquin, Missen,
Deel 1,81-108
Josquin , Missen,
Deel 1, 1-34
Josephson
Shine, 309
Shine, 309
Glareanus I I ,
538-40
Llorens, 73
Llorens, 17
Llorens, 55
T
q nhMa
or-M
<—i
ft)
r>
3Obe
< j
b y g u e s t o
n J an u ar y 5 ,2 0 1 1
m q. ox f or d j o ur n al s . or g
l o a d e d f r om
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TA BL E I (Corn.)
(See Table 2 for Abbreviations)
C O M P O S E R C O M P O S I T I O N R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S O U RC E C . F . R E F E R E N C E
•18. Isaac Office No . 10, Et agni
49 . Isaac Office No . 20, Alleluia
50 . Isaac Credo on Tmciskin was
jonck51 . Isaac Missa de Martyribus a 5
52 . Senfl Fortuna ad voces musicales
(MS OR PRINT)
Choralis Constantinus II
(1555)
Clioralis Constantinus II
(1555)
Vienna, Staatsbib. MS 1783,
f . 191'
Munich, Bay. Staatsbib. MS
3 f. 148'
Glareanus, Dodecachordon
(1547)
T E C H N I Q U E
retrograde
ret rograde
ret rograde
ret rograde
inversion
DT O XVI, 80
DTO XVI, 153-54
Dixon, 112
Isaac III, 23-63
Glareanus I I ,
222-23
HC D
§Sc
iOce
b y g u e s t o
n J an u ar y 5 ,2 0 1 1
m q. ox f or d j o ur n al s . or g
l o a d e d f r om
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Te ch niqu es in the Masses of Jaco bus O brech t 77
T A B L E 2
Ape l Apel, W illi, ed., French Secular Com positions of the Fourteenth
Century, Vol. I ll (1972).
Brooks Brooks, C. V., "A ntoine Busnois as a Com poser of Cha nsons ," 3
vols., (Ph. D. diss. New York University, 1951).
Bukofzer Bukofzer, M anfred , Studies in Med ieval a nd Renaissance Music,
(New York, 1950).
Caron Caron , Philippe (?), Les oeuvres completes, ed. James Thom-
son (New York, 1971), pp . 67-99.
Dixon Dixon, H . M., "T he M anuscript Vienna, Na tional Library
1783," Musica Discipline, X X II I (1969), 105-16.
DTO VII Adler, G., and Roller, O., eds., Sechs Trienter Codices, erste
Auswahl, in Denkm dler der Tonkunst in Osterreich, VII Jg. ,
Vol. XIV (Vienna, 1900).
DTO XVI Isaac, Heinrich , Choralis Constantinus, Zweiter Teil, ed. Anton
von Webern, in Denkm aler der Tonkunst in Osterreich, XVI
Jg., Vol. X X X II (Vienna , 1905).
Dufay Dufay, Gu illaum e, Opera omnia, ed. Heinrich Besseler, Vols. Ill
and IV (Rom e, 1951, 1962).
Dunstable Dunstable , John , Complete Works, ed. M. Bukofzer, 2nd ed.
(London, 1970).
Feininge r 1 Anonym ous, Missa L'homme armi, ed. L. Feininge r (T ren t,
1964).
Feininger 2 Busnois, An toine, Missa super L'homme armi, ed. L. Feininger
(Rome, 1948).
Feininger 3 Anonym ous, Missae super L'homm e armi I-VI, ed. L. Feininger
(Rome, 1957-1974).
Fayrfax Fayrfax, Ro ber t, Collected Works, ed. E. B. Warren, Vol. I
(Rome, 1959).
Florence Fircnze, Biblioteca Mediceo-Laurcnuana, Pluteo 29, 1, ed.
Lu the r Dittmer (Brooklyn, n. d.).
Glarea nus Glareanus, Heinrich, Dodecachordon, ed. and trans. C. A.
Miller (Rome, 1965).
Gombosi Gombosi, Otto , Jacob Obrecht, eine stilkritische Studie (Leip-zig, 1925).
Giin ther Giinther, Ursula, The Mo tets of the Ma nuscript Chantilly
Music Condi 564 (olim 1047) and Mod ena Biblioteca estense
a. M. T . 24 (olim lat. 568) (Rome, 1965).
b y g u e s t on J an u ar y 5
,2 0 1 1
m q. ox f or d j o u
r n al s . or g
D ownl o a d e d f r om
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78 The Musical Quarterly
Hew itt 1 Petr ucti , Ottavia no, Harm onice musices odhecaton, ed. Helen
He witt and Isabel Pope (Cam bridge, Mass., 1942).
Hew itt 2 Petrucci, Ottaviano. Canli B numero cinquanta, ed. HelenHewitt (Chicago, 1967).
Hughes-Be nt Hug hes, A., and Bent, M., edj., The O ld Hall Manuscript
(Rome, 1969).
Isaac Isaac, Hein rich, Opera omnia, ed. E. R. Lerner, Vol. Il l
(Rome, 1974).
Josephson Josephson , N. S., "K anon un d Par odie : zu einigen Josqu in
Nachahmungen ," TVNM, XX V (1975), 24-26.
Josquin Josq uin des Pres, Werhen, ed. A. Smijers (A mste rdam , 1926-1951).
Just Just, M artin, Der Mensitralkodex Mus. ms. 40021 der Stoats-
bibliothek Preu ssischer Kulturbesitz Berlin, 2 vols. (T utzin g,
1975).
Lloren s Llorens, J. M., Capellae Sixlinae Codices Musicis Notis Instructi
(Rome, 1960).
Obre cht- Obre cht, Jacobus, Opera omnia, ed. A. Smijers (Amsterdam,
Smijers 1953).
Obrecht- O bre dn , Jacobus, Werken, ed. Joha nnes Wolf (Amsterdam,
Wolf n. d.).
Ockegheni Ockeghem, Johannes, Collected Works, ed. Dragan Plamenac,
2 vols. (New York, 1947).
Rean ey Rean ey, Gilbert, ed., Early Fifteenth-Century Music, Vol. Il l
(Rome, 1966).
Schrade Schrade, Leo, ed., Polyphonic Music of the Fourteenth Cen-
tury, Vol. I l l (M onaco , 1956).
Seay Seay, Albe rt, "T he Conditor Alme Siderum by Busnois," Quad-
rivium X II (1971), 225-34.
Shine Shine, J. M., "T he Motets of Jea n M ou ton " (Ph. D. diss., Ne w
York. University, 1953).
Stain er Staine r, J. F. R., ed., Dufay and His Contemporaries (London,
1898).
W righ t W right, Craig, "An Exa mp le of Musical Invers ion from the
Circle of Dufay," Papers read at the Dufay Quincentenary Con-ference, ed. A. W- Atlas (Brooklyn, 197 6), pp . 144-48.
b y g u e s t on J an u ar y 5
,2 0 1 1
m q. ox f or d j o u
r n al s . or g
D ownl o a d e d f r om