In the absence of a prefabricated tenor to guide his fashioning hand, the composer proceeds instead in
short spurts of chace or caccia -like writing. The superius, at the beginning of the Christe eleison (Ex. 12-
14 ), guides the altus strictly for the duration of the first phrase. But the imitation remains strict only as far
as the cadence, when it gives way to a conventional close. Then the bassus, entering, guides the superius
strictly as far as the next cadence. Finally, all three voices come together for the third phrase: the altus,
rejoining the texture, imitates the “headmotive” of the preceding duo, still functioning as a (would-be)
guide. But the other voices pile in for a “free” discant, significantly the shortest of the sections because it
is the one least guided. It culminates in another conventional close, this one borrowed from the chanson
style: the altus plays the part of the tenor, and the bassus that of the “octave-leaping” contratenor. The
Agnus Dei II follows the same format, but less strictly. Its duos begin with brief voice exchanges, then
proceed in free discant. The final section begins with a duo for the outer pair that proceeds in a sequential
fashion reminiscent of Obrecht as we have come to know him (but Busnoys was the earlier composer and
provided the model for Obrecht, who was possibly his pupil).
EX. 12-14 Antoine Busnoys, Missa L’Homme Armé, Christe