49
bellowing, and stammering, they
more closely resemble cats in
January than flowers in May.”
The reform of notation in the
14th century had, for the first time,
given composers the ability to set
down almost any musical idea with
precision. Since then, the Catholic
Church had at times encouraged,
and at other times censured, their
tendency to embellish music and
add ever-increasing degrees of
complexity and subtlety.
At the end of the 15th century,
the daily Mass was usually sung
to plainchant. However, if the
institution hosting the service had
the resources, the Ordinary of the
Mass (the Ky rie, Gloria, Credo,
Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus
Dei) might be treated to many
varieties of embellishment. In the
1490s, several writers noted the
presence of a cornett player at
High Mass as part of the chapel
of Philip IV of Burgundy. They do
not mention what he played; his
mere presence, as a wind player
in the chapel, was enough to be
remarkable. Wind players, who had
previously improvised, began to
hone their skills in reading music
and accompanying such choirs,so that by the 1530s their presence
at a polyphonic High Mass became
less unusual to congregants.
While the contribution of wind
players to church music would have
been impressive, the resonance of
a brass ensemble, if badly handled,
might hinder the clear delivery of
the text. The Spanish composer
Francisco Guerrero encouraged his
cornett players to improvise florid
ornaments but to take turns, as
“when they ornament together it
makes such absurdities as would
stop up the ears.”Little thought for the text
Even when a Mass was sung as
unaccompanied polyphony, the
clarity of expression favored byCirillo was not always uppermost
in a composer’s mind. Franco-
Flemish musicians often paraded
their skill in handling complex
polyphonic structures in
compositions of extraordinary
virtuosity. In a Mass in four parts,
for instance, certain sections might
be written in the manuscript
with only three parts notated, so
that the singer had to “find” the
fourth part by following the logic of
the other three parts—effectively
solving a riddle. The composer
might make the singers’ job even ❯❯See also: Messe de Notre Dame 36–37 ■ Missa l’homme armé 42 ■ Missa Pange lingua 43 ■ Spem in alium 44 ■
Great Service 52–53 ■ Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott 78–79RENAISSANCE 1400–1600
The Council of Trent met 25 times
in 18 years to discuss its response to
the “heresies” of Protestantism and
to clarify Catholic doctrine and liturgy.[Palestrina’s] Stabat
Mater ... captivates the
human soul.
Franz LisztUS_046-051_Giovanni_da_Palestrina.indd 49 27/03/18 4:49 PM