Repertoire

Question 1

Proper of the Mass

Answer 1

Chants whose texts change each day to suit the religious theme or to honor a particular saint on just that one day:
Introit
Gradual
Alleluia or Tract
Sequence
Offertory
Communion

Question 2

Ordinary of the Mass

Answer 2

Chants with unvarying texts that can be sung almost every day of the year:
Kyrie
Gloria
Credo
Sanctus
Agnus Dei
Ite, missa est

Question 3

Dies irae (Day of Wrath)

Answer 3

written during the 13 century

Most famous of all medieval sequences. Serves as the sequence for the Requiem Mass.

Question 4

Mass of Notre Dame

Answer 4

Composed by Machaut in the 1360’s for the Mass Ordinary.

First cyclic mass: all movements are linked by a common musical theme.

Uses four voice harmony with expanded ranges (two octaves instead of one).

Question 5

Mass of our Lady

Answer 5

1360’s - composed by Machaut.

First cyclic Mass.

First treatment of polyphony to the Mass Ordinary.

Composed for four voices with expanded ranges (approx. two octaves.) Each vocal part stays within a set range, creating a truer four-part texture.

Question 6

Old Hall Manuscript

Answer 6

Compiled during the 1420s. Contains 147 compositions of mostly Mass movements and motets from composers serving the royal household.

Largest collection of English polyphony from the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries and contains a style that would soon influence music in France and Italy.

Question 7

L’Homme arme

Answer 7

Armed Man tune

Melody used in thirty-five polyphonic Masses, many written by Burgundian composers. ABA form.

Text is a secular song, call to arms. When used in a Mass setting it becomes about Christian soldiers.

Question 8

Missa Prolationum

Answer 8

Composed by Ockeghem, mid 15th century.

Four voices simultaneously sing two two-voice mensuration canons.