Toulouse Mass

The Toulouse Mass is a polyphonic 14th-century musical setting of the Mass found in a manuscript in the municipal library of Toulouse. It was not composed by a single individual, but is presumed to have been compiled and performed as a unit. The present location of Toulouse does not necessarily mean it was composed there.

It is not completely clear whether the Mass portions included in the manuscript were intended as a complete polyphonic setting of the Mass, or merely represent isolated movements. They were inscribed in empty spaces in a manuscript that otherwise contains plainchants and texts. The manuscript is also missing a polyphonic Gloria in excelsis Deo and Credo. However, it does include a note identifying a motet on Ite, missa est following the Sanctus and Agnus Dei (which appear adjacently in the manuscript). The manuscript also has part of a tenor line from a Credo that appears in both the Ivrea Codex and Apt Codex, as well as the Barcelona Mass, so perhaps that movement was used as well. It is also possible there never were supposed to be a Gloria or Credo with the Mass; some plainchant Masses omit them.

The Mass was composed somewhat after the Tournai Mass, the earliest known such Mass. It is in "song style," where only one voice has a text, and has three voices; as opposed to the "simultaneous style" of the Tournai Mass. Some of the pieces seem to have been adapted from motets, however.

Recordings

References

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