Cantus firmus masses with multiple borrowings were written by both contemporaries and precursors of Johannes Martini, a point J. Peter Burkholder failed to stress in his article on Martini (1985). In particular, Okegehm constitutes an important pre-Martini example of a composer writing cantus firmus masses with multiple borrowings. A chronology of borrowing practices may be established by examining who emulated whom. Regardless of the terminology chosen, the fundamental difference between masses with cantus firmi derived from chant and those derived from polyphonic pieces is that the latter preserve, literally or proportionally, the rhythm of the borrowed material, while the former do not. It is better on the whole, however, to use the term cantus firmus mass for all those works built around a borrowed melody.

Works: Févin: Missa Ave Maria; Martini: Missa Ma bouche rit; Obrecht: Missa Caput, Missa Fors seulement; Okegehm: Missa Fors seulement.

Index Classifications: 1400s

Contributed by: Edward D. Latham