The L'Homme armé Masses were probably written by Caron, not Busnoys as Richard Taruskin suggests (1984). This conclusion is based upon an accumulation of melodic similarities between Caron's music and the Naples Masses, a criterion that is far more persuasive than the structural relationships Taruskin uses to support his argument. Melodic features are the distinctive signature of a composer, while structural relationships are a form of intellectual exercise, useful only in terms of determining a composer's level of musical education.

Index Classifications: 1400s

Contributed by: Edward D. Latham