J. S. Bach's arrangement of Palestrina's Missa sine nomine reflects many of the practices of the eighteenth century. Instruments were added, playing colla parte, and a basso continuo realized for the lowest part. Sometimes a new basso continuo part was created, independent of the voice parts. The use of the breve as tactus was not understood. The original notation was not halved to retain the tactus; rather, the measures themselves were cut in half. Text underlay was altered to keep melismas to a minimum and to make declamation conform to the meter, especially in the bass. The use of accidentals and leading tones emphasized tonality but destroyed the cross-relations and major-minor shifts characteristic of 16th-century music. Bach, however, did not always alter the older model, but tried as much as he could to internalize the old Palestrina style.

Works: Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, arr. Johann Sebastian Bach: Missa sine nomine.

Index Classifications: 1700s

Contributed by: Felix Cox