The Paraphrase Technique of Palestrina in His Masses Based on Hymns

Abstract

T HE MASSES OF PALESTRINA based on plainsong hymns form a unique category in the polyphonic Mass repertory of the i6th century. Among these nine Masses are represented the principal I6th-century techniques of polyphonic construction based on pre-existent monodic material: cantus firmus, canon, and paraphrase. While there are certainly many examples of each of these procedures among other Masses of the century, the Palestrina Hymn-Masses are singular in affording an opportunity to observe and compare the operations of these techniques upon a particular, indeed special, plainsong genre within the work of a single composer.' The compositional procedures demonstrated in these compositions invite chronological speculation. The canonic and tenor constructions recall the methods of the earlier Franco-Flemish periods and appear quite conservative in the works of a composer of Palestrina's generation. The canonic Missa Ad coenam agni providi, in fact, is published in Palestrina's first book of Masses (1554), a volume that reflects the composer's early interest in the traditional methods of the Netherlanders. The two tenor