Parody mass

Aparody massis a musical setting of themass,typically from the 16th century, that uses multiple voices of a pre-existing piece of music, such as a fragment of amotetor a secularchanson,as part of its melodic material. It is distinguished from the two other most prominent types of mass composition during theRenaissance,thecantus firmusand theparaphrase mass.

Etymology

In the sense considered here, the termparody massapplies to masses where apolyphonicfragment from another work is used as the basis of a new composition. The termimitation masshas been suggested instead ofparody mass,as being both more precise and closer to the original usage, since the termparodyis based on a misreading of a late 16th-century text.In contradistinction, masses which incorporated only a single voice of the polyphonic source, treated not as acantus firmus('Tenor Mass') but elaborated and moving between different parts, are referred to by writers on musical theory asparaphrase masses.Other compositional techniques provided the basis for thecyclic mass,canonmass, andsoggetto cavato.

The modern English word 'parody' derives fromLatin:parodia'parody', fromAncient Greek:parōidia,'burlesque song or poem', frompara-'beside, parallel to' (in this case, "mock-" ) +ōidē'song, orode". See also A.Gr:parode,the first ode sung by thechorusafter its entrance in the ancient Greek drama.

In the case of masses, "parody" has almost nothing to do with humor or ridicule, as understood in the modern definition of the word; while in some cases bawdy secular songs were indeed used in composition of masses, equally often non-liturgical sacred music such as motets formed the basis for parody masses.

History

The parody or imitation mass was a very popular model during theRenaissance:Palestrinaalone wrote some 50-odd examples, and by the first half of the 16th century this style was the dominant form. TheCouncil of Trent,in a document dated 10 September 1562, banned the use of secular material, "...let nothing profane be intermingled... banish from church all music which contains, whether in the singing or the organ playing, things that are lascivious or impure."The proposed reforms were most carefully followed only in Italy; in France, a change in taste had already brought about many of the wishes of the members of the council, and in Germany they were largely ignored.

Parody techniques include adding or removing voices from the original piece, adding fragments of new material, or only using the fragment at the beginning of every part of the mass. In his colossal 22-volumeEl melopeo y maestroof 1613, Italian music theoristPietro Ceronegave some general guidelines for writing a parody mass: each of the main sections of the mass should start with the beginning of the source; the interior section of the Kyrie should use a secondary motive; and some portions, for example the second and third Agnus Dei, should not be chained to the model but be freely composed. He also recommended using as many subsidiary musical ideas from the model as possible.

Some examples of early parody masses include theMissa Mater Patris,Missa Malheur me bat,andMissa Fortuna desperataofJosquin des Prez,and theMissa de DringhsbyAntoine Brumel.TheMissa Mater Patrisby des Prez is considered to be the first true parody mass as it does not include a structuralcantus firmus.By the middle of the 16th century, a high percentage of all masses composed used the parody technique.

References

Bibliography

• Cummins, Melissa (2017).Use of Parody Techniques in Jacques Offenbach's "Opérettes" and Germaine Tailleferre's "Du Style Galant au Style Méchant"(PhD thesis). University of Kansas.hdl:1808/25233.
• Gleason, Harold;Becker, Warren (1981).Music in the Middle Ages and Renaissance.Music Literature Outlines – Series I (3rd ed.). Bloomington, Indiana: Frangipani Press.ISBN978-0-89917-034-3.
• Lockwood, Lewis(1980). "Mass".The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.London: Macmillan Publishers.ISBN978-1-56159-174-9.
• Randel, Don Michael,ed. (1986).The New Harvard Dictionary of Music.Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.ISBN978-0-674-61525-0.
• Reese, Gustave(1954).Music in the Renaissance.New York: W.W. Norton & Co.ISBN978-0-393-09530-2.