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Missa Prolationum (Ockeghem)

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description Missa Prolationum (Ockeghem) Overview

Johannes Ockeghem's Missa Prolationum is a Renaissance polyphonic setting of the Mass Ordinary, probably composed in the fifteenth century. Each principal movement is constructed from mensuration canons, in which pairs of voices derive different rhythmic realizations from the same written material. Written for unaccompanied voices, the work is studied by performers and music scholars for its systematic contrapuntal design and changing proportional relationships.

help Missa Prolationum (Ockeghem) FAQ

How do the canons in Ockeghem's Missa Prolationum work?

Each principal movement is constructed from pairs of voices singing the same written material under different mensuration signs. Those signs cause the voices to proceed at different proportional speeds, creating a canon without separately notating every part.

Why is the Missa Prolationum considered technically extraordinary?

Ockeghem sustains systematic mensuration canons across nearly the entire Ordinary of the Mass. He also changes the intervals of imitation from movement to movement while preserving coherent musical phrases.

What movements are included in the Missa Prolationum?

The mass sets the standard Ordinary sections: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei. Each section applies Ockeghem's canonic plan to a different liturgical text.

Is Missa Prolationum based on a borrowed melody?

Unlike many 15th-century masses, it is not principally organized around a clearly identified pre-existing cantus firmus. Its unifying idea is the progression of mensuration canons themselves.

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