Masses on Plainsong Cantus Firmi

Abstract Introduction Contemporary sources attribute five masses based upon plainsongs to Josquin des Prez: Gaudeamus, Ave maris stella, De beata Vi’1;gine, Da pacem, and Pange lingua. The first three were published by Ottaviano Petrucci, one each in his Misse Josquin (Venice, 1502), Missarum Josquin fiber secundus (Venice 1505), andMissarum Josquin fiber tertius (Fossombrone, 1514). Da pacem was pub lished in 1539 by Johannes Ott with an ascription to Josquin, but the earliest source (Munich 7) ascribes it to Noel Bauldeweyn, and Edgar Sparks showed that it is a work of Bauldeweyn. Pange lingua is ascribed consistently to Josquin. Gaudeamus appears to be the earliest of these masses. It looks back to the style of a previous generation, although its earliest source is Petrucci’s publication of 1502, followed closely by the copy in Vatican CS 23, copied between 1503 and 1512.Ave maris stellais probably a later work; it was published in 1505 and the early manuscript sources date from approximately the same time.