This chapter introduces the first of the fifteenth-century teacher Johannes Tinctoris’ three ‘registers’ of polyphony: the music for the Mass, beginning with the Mass cycle (setting the Ordinary of the Mass, in liturgical terms) and its development during the Renaissance, then the Propers of the Mass, then finally the Requiem. Whereas the setting of Propers and their chants is a practice as old as polyphony itself, the Mass cycle and the Requiem were more recent phenomena. Guillaume Du Fay’s ‘Missa L’Homme armé’ appears as a case-study, showing how the Mass cycle builds on the work of previous composers of Mass-music in England and aspects of the isorhythmic tradition (which in a sense it supersedes), whilst introducing new elements that condition the form’s later history through to the end of the Renaissance. The end of the chapter highlights the porousness of practice sketched earlier with regard to the boundary between mass-music and motets, discussed in the following chapter.

This chapter examines the use of borrowed material; that is, basing polyphony on existing music, whether plainchant or polyphony previously composed. The techniques described have intentionality in common: cantus firmus treatment of varying degrees of strictness, including paraphrase, ‘imitation’ technique (formerly known as ‘parody’), and more allusive forms. Special consideration is given to the different motivations for the practice (dating back to the origins of polyphony itself), ranging from symbolic or allegorical representation to emulation and competition between composers. Picking up from Chapter 8, the family of ‘L’Homme armé’ Masses offers a case-study of these relationships, but the practice of musical borrowing transcends any single genre, type, or destination. Equally remarkable is the possible range, scale, and scope of allusion, from overt quotation over an entire work to passing reference or evocation of a given technical parameter in ways that may not be directly audible. Finally, different types of borrowing reconfigure the relationship between composer, performer, and audience; these changing dynamics are closely considered.