“Missae Parodiae”—masses which take their sources in polyphonic works—are misleadingly named, as their sources are not parodied, but used as points of departure for the mass. Burgundian composers of Ockeghem’s generation began using secular sources such as the chanson rather than other masses as the sources for their own elaborative masses. By the 1500s, the liturgical motet became the primary source for elaborative masses, a practice which was also taken up by French composers.

Works: Ockeghem: Fors seullement (7); Heinrich Isaac: O Praeclara (7); Antonine Févin: Ave Maria (8), Sancta Trinitas (8); Pierre de la Rue: Ave Sanctissima Maria (8).

Sources: Ockheghem: Fors seullement (7); Agricola: Si dedero (7); Busnois: Le Serviteur (7); Heinrich Issac: Rogamus te (7); Josquin: Mente tota (8).

Index Classifications: 1400s, 1500s

Contributed by: Maria Fokina