extant sections of the Mass, without the slightest modification. This, of course, is the isorhythmic
principle (though in somewhat simplified form, since the color and talea match up one to one), extended
over a multipartite span that unifies the whole worship service. “Higher” than that one could hardly aim.
The beginnings of Leonel’s Gloria and Sanctus are given for comparison in Ex. 12-3. The only
difference between them, so far as the tenor is concerned, consists of the little “introitus” that precedes
the first tenor entrance in the Sanctus. This, too, is arbitrary and counter-intuitive, since the Gloria has by
far the longer text, and could benefit practically from the use of an introitus to take up some of the
verbiage. Clearly, the introitus to the Sanctus serves an ornamental rather than a functional purpose,
possibly in keeping with the fact, often exploited by composers of Masses, that the Sanctus is supposed to
be an imitation of the heavenly choirs.
More important than the small difference is the overall uniformity. Two liturgical texts, with inherent
shapes that have practically nothing in common, have been forced into a musical conformity. Owing to the
uniform tenor, moreover, the two sections take the same amount of time. It means, of course, that the
Sanctus text is stretched out in luxurious melismas and the Gloria text is crammed in as if with a shoehorn.
But the fixed bipartite musical format prevails, and became standardized over time, both for Mass
sections and for many motets.
EX. 12-3A Leonel Power, Missa Alma Redemptoris Mater, Gloria, beginningEX. 12-3B Leonel Power, Missa Alma Redemptoris Mater, Sanctus, beginning