#senfl

Wann ich des Morgens früh aufsteh

Mein'n Fleiß und Müeh'

there’s a lot of neat anticipatory entrances with voices not carrying the cantus firmus. i think the main melody the soprano carries moves up in some sort of fashion throughout the mass ... possibly systematically by step? the tenor cantus firmus is frequently written in patterns that don’t align to the predominant meter or whatever ... despite being written with the same mensuration symbol as the other voices. the tenor only ever carries the cantus firmus and never any other material until the agnus dei where the soprano and tenor trade roles and music. 

a lot of more traditional, more typical conventions of earlier masses, especially lhomme masses, are completely absent in this mass setting- like, there are no complex canons, no extended passages for reduced forces, no augmented forces at the end, ... no reworking of the cantus firmus etc.

que interesante. 

i’ve admittedly been using a guide to help me through senfl’s mass, but i’ve been going through the pipelare on my own; i gave up on using a guide and want this to be a goal that i finish once i better understand all the old mensural notation so i can make my own fresh transcription. i plan on getting through that one not too long after i finish my copy of the senfl mass. i’ve got OODLES of digital copies of manuscripts to copy out over summer break.