The Counterpoint of Allusion in Fifteenth-Century Masses

Abstract

This study examines the likelihood that the contrapuntal voices of fifteenth-century Masses quoted or alluded to chansons unrelated to the chanson cited in the tenor. Often these melodic quotations or allusions in turn alluded to the unsung chanson text, in order to offer modern interpretive commentary on the sung Mass text or an elaboration of the textual idea expressed in the tenor. Examples come from works of Dufay, Ockeghem, Busnois, Caron, and others. The relationship of this technique to the rhetorical practices of the time is examined. A comparison to earlier musical and rhetorical techniques suggests that northern composers were aware of the rhetorical theories and practices of Italian humanists.