Tournai Mass
Encyclopedia
The Tournai Mass is a polyphonic
setting of the mass
from 14th-century France
. It is preserved in a manuscript
from the library of the Tournai Cathedral
.
were grouped according to movement. For instance, the Ivrea Codex
and Apt Codex both contain mass movements, and these movements are grouped so that all of the Kyrie
s are together, all of the Glorias
are together, and so on. A priest
selecting the music for the service would choose one from each group to be sung, and so any setting of a movement could be used in combination with any other. The Tournai Mass is the first known mass to have been written in a manuscript as if it were a single unified setting of the entire Ordinary. Three other similarly compiled masses from the 13th and early 14th century survive: the Toulouse Mass
, Barcelona Mass
, and Sorbonne Mass (also known as the Besançon Mass). All of these masses are anonymous, and musicological
scholarship indicates that all of them are compilations of the works of several composer
s.
Because of the wide disparities in style and notation, and because no underlying musical structure (such as a common cantus firmus
or parody procedure
) has been noted between the mass movements, the Tournai Mass is believed to have been composed independently by several musicians over a period of fifty or more years, and was later compiled by a scribe to be performed as a whole. The first known mass to have been conceived of and composed as a single unified work is the Messe de Nostre Dame
by Guillaume de Machaut
, who probably knew the Tournai Mass and may have used it as a model.
The Tournai Mass was first described by Edmund Coussemaker in his 1869 report Une Messe du XIIIe Siecle (his 13th century designation is now considered erroneous). Anne Walters Robertson has proposed that the mass was not used for the liturgy, but was instead compiled for an "Annunciation drama" to celebrate the Virgin.
Polyphony
In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
setting of the mass
Mass (music)
The Mass, a form of sacred musical composition, is a choral composition that sets the invariable portions of the Eucharistic liturgy to music...
from 14th-century France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. It is preserved in a manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
from the library of the Tournai Cathedral
Tournai Cathedral
The Cathedral of Our Lady is Roman Catholic church, see of the Diocese of Tournai in Tournai, Belgium. It has been classified both as a Wallonia's major heritage since 1936 and as a World Heritage Site since 2000.-History:...
.
Background
Before the 15th century, most musical settings of the Ordinary of the MassOrdinary of the Mass
The ordinary, in Roman Catholic and other Western Christian liturgies, refers to the part of the Eucharist or of the canonical hours that is reasonably constant without regard to the date on which the service is performed...
were grouped according to movement. For instance, the Ivrea Codex
Ivrea Codex
The Ivrea Codex is a parchment manuscript containing a significant body of 14th century French polyphonic music....
and Apt Codex both contain mass movements, and these movements are grouped so that all of the Kyrie
Kyrie
Kyrie, a transliteration of Greek κύριε , vocative case of κύριος , meaning "Lord", is the common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, which is also called the Kýrie, eléison ....
s are together, all of the Glorias
Gloria in Excelsis Deo
"Gloria in excelsis Deo" is the title and beginning of a hymn known also as the Greater Doxology and the Angelic Hymn. The name is often abbreviated to Gloria in Excelsis or simply Gloria.It is an example of the psalmi idiotici "Gloria in excelsis Deo" (Latin for "Glory to God in the highest")...
are together, and so on. A priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
selecting the music for the service would choose one from each group to be sung, and so any setting of a movement could be used in combination with any other. The Tournai Mass is the first known mass to have been written in a manuscript as if it were a single unified setting of the entire Ordinary. Three other similarly compiled masses from the 13th and early 14th century survive: the Toulouse Mass
Toulouse Mass
The Toulouse Mass is a polyphonic 14th-century musical setting of the Mass found in a manuscript in the municipal library of Toulouse. It was not composed by a single individual, but is presumed to have been compiled and performed as a unit...
, Barcelona Mass
Barcelona Mass
The Barcelona Mass is a polyphonic mass written around 1360. Together with the Messe de Nostre Dame by Guillaume de Machaut and those of Toulouse, Tournai and the Sorbonne, it is one of the earliest preserved complete polyphonic musical settings of the Ordinary of the Mass...
, and Sorbonne Mass (also known as the Besançon Mass). All of these masses are anonymous, and musicological
Musicology
Musicology is the scholarly study of music. The word is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses. In the narrow sense, musicology is confined to the music history of Western culture...
scholarship indicates that all of them are compilations of the works of several composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
s.
The Mass
The Tournai Mass comprises six movements, each of which is for three voices.- The KyrieKyrieKyrie, a transliteration of Greek κύριε , vocative case of κύριος , meaning "Lord", is the common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, which is also called the Kýrie, eléison ....
is written in FranconianFranco of CologneFranco of Cologne was a German music theorist and possibly composer. He was one of the most influential theorists of the late Medieval era, and was the first to propose an idea which was to transform musical notation permanently: that the duration of any note should be determined by its...
notation, and is stylistically typical of mid-to-late 13th century practice. - The GloriaGloria in Excelsis Deo"Gloria in excelsis Deo" is the title and beginning of a hymn known also as the Greater Doxology and the Angelic Hymn. The name is often abbreviated to Gloria in Excelsis or simply Gloria.It is an example of the psalmi idiotici "Gloria in excelsis Deo" (Latin for "Glory to God in the highest")...
has freer rhythmic interplay than the Kyrie, characteristic of Ars NovaArs novaArs nova refers to a musical style which flourished in France and the Burgundian Low Countries in the Late Middle Ages: more particularly, in the period between the preparation of the Roman de Fauvel and the death of the composer Guillaume de Machaut in 1377...
developments. It is concluded by a huge amen which makes use of the hoquet technique. It probably dates from the period 1325-1350. - The CredoCredoA credo |Latin]] for "I Believe") is a statement of belief, commonly used for religious belief, such as the Apostles' Creed. The term especially refers to the use of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed in the Mass, either as text, Gregorian chant, or other musical settings of the...
is in a simple contrapuntalCounterpointIn music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
style, and must have been a popular setting, because it is found in three other extant manuscripts, including the Apt Codex. - The SanctusSanctusThe Sanctus is a hymn from Christian liturgy, forming part of the Order of Mass. In Western Christianity, the Sanctus is sung as the final words of the Preface of the Eucharistic Prayer, the prayer of consecration of the bread and wine...
, like the Kyrie, is Franconian in style and notation. - The Agnus Dei is also Franconian.
- The motetMotetIn classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.-Etymology:The name comes either from the Latin movere, or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is motectum, and the Italian...
to the text Ite, Missa EstIte missa estIte, missa est are the concluding words addressed to the people in the Mass of the Roman Rite, as well as the Lutheran Divine Service. The exact meaning of the words is disputed, it has the effect of "Go", or "It is Sent", but the term "Mass" derives from this phrase...
ends the mass. This motet is also found in the Ivrea CodexIvrea CodexThe Ivrea Codex is a parchment manuscript containing a significant body of 14th century French polyphonic music....
.
Because of the wide disparities in style and notation, and because no underlying musical structure (such as a common cantus firmus
Cantus firmus
In music, a cantus firmus is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition.The plural of this Latin term is , though the corrupt form canti firmi is also attested...
or parody procedure
Parody mass
A parody mass is a musical setting of the mass, typically from the 16th century, that uses multiple voices of another pre-existing piece of music, such as a fragment of a motet or a secular chanson, as part of its melodic material. It is distinguished from the two other most prominent types of...
) has been noted between the mass movements, the Tournai Mass is believed to have been composed independently by several musicians over a period of fifty or more years, and was later compiled by a scribe to be performed as a whole. The first known mass to have been conceived of and composed as a single unified work is the Messe de Nostre Dame
Messe de Nostre Dame
Messe de Nostre Dame is a polyphonic mass composed before 1365 by the French poet, composer and cleric Guillaume de Machaut...
by Guillaume de Machaut
Guillaume de Machaut
Guillaume de Machaut was a Medieval French poet and composer. He is one of the earliest composers on whom significant biographical information is available....
, who probably knew the Tournai Mass and may have used it as a model.
The Tournai Mass was first described by Edmund Coussemaker in his 1869 report Une Messe du XIIIe Siecle (his 13th century designation is now considered erroneous). Anne Walters Robertson has proposed that the mass was not used for the liturgy, but was instead compiled for an "Annunciation drama" to celebrate the Virgin.
Recordings
- Tournai Mass (13th-14th Century). Marc Honegger (dir.). Christophorus.
- Musica Viva München, Vol. 4. La Messe de Tournai (arr. Hans Blümer, prepared by Pierre Boulez). rec. 1960. Col Legno, 2000.
- Capella Antiqua München. Missa Tournai um 1330. Motetten um 1320. Telefunken, 1967.
- Schola Cantorum of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin: Charpentier, Messe pour le Samedy de Pasques; Delalande; Messe de Tournai; Messe de Toulouse. Musical Heritage Society, 1979.
- Pro Cantione Antiqua. Missa Tournai. Missa Barcelona. Harmonia Mundi IC 065-99-870, 1980.
- Ensemble Vocal Guillaume Dufay. Anonyme du XIVe Siècle: Messe de Tournai; Guillaume de Machaut: Messe de Nostre Dame. Erato STU 71303, 1981.
- Ensemble Organum. Messe de Tournai. Harmonia MundiHarmonia MundiHarmonia Mundi is an independent music record label founded in 1958 by Bernard Coutaz in Arles . The Latin phrase means "world harmony"....
7901353, 1991. - Trio Mediaeval. Words of the Angel. ECM, 2001.
- Tonus PeregrinusTonus PeregrinusTonus Peregrinus is a vocal ensemble specialising in early music and contemporary sacred music, especially that of founder and director, Antony Pitts...
. The Mass of Tournai/St. Luke Passion. Naxos, 2003. - Clemencic Consort, Choralschola der Wiener Hofburgkapelle. La Messe de Tournai. Codex Musical de las Huelgas. Oehms, 2005,
- Ensemble De Caelis. Missa Tournai. Ricercar, 2008.
External links
- Mass of Tournai at La Trobe University Medieval Music Database
- Tournai Mass - Kyrie
- Tournai Mass - Gloria
- Tournai Mass - Credo
- Tournai Mass - Sanctus
- Tournai Mass - Agnus Dei
- Tournai Mass - Ite Missa Est