Blog 5
Du Fay’s mass includes the Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei. The ones I understood the most that I will be analyzing are Gloria, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei, Gloria is supplicatory music. The music begins with one voice, clearly saying “Gloria”, then other voices start to take part in the song. The tension begins to slowly rise. The level of complexity the different chants reach creates a sense of communal occasion for all taking part in this mass. By immersing into the song, we become the people supplicating for God’s. Jennifer Bloxam describes very well how Du Fay’s Sanctus and Agnus Dei represent Christ overcoming evil. “Du Fay binds his polyphony to the ritual through both text and cantus firmus. Musical structure too captures the meaning of the ceremony: both the Agnus Dei and the motet present their chant tenors first forward and then in retrograde motion, a device widely used in fifteenth-century sacred music to symbolize Christ’s descent into Hell, his victory over Satan, and his triumphant return. (Bloxam, 523–524)”. Not only the literal words used in the music represent Christ’s descension and victory. The way the music is introduced and the way tension is created through time and eventually resolved also symbolizes Christ’s descension and victory.
Similarly, Missa de Sanctis includes liturgical songs such as Lord, Have Mercy, Holy, Holy, and Lamb of God. The holy, holy, which is the Sanctus is Latin, uses a much more stable style in the music. The stable pace of this song represents and gives a glimpse of the feeling of God’s eternality. Compared to the Sanctus of Du Fay, there is less tension in this version. The elements of the Sanctus of representing the concertation and praise to the Lord are emphasized in the words used in the Holy Holy. Lord, have mercy is a supplicatory song used for prayer. The key element in this song is the repetition of the words Lord, have mercy. The music has many moments of silence between each repetition, those silent moments can be interpreted as when God is hearing our prayers and responding to us. Finally, the Lamb of God also has many moments of silence when God hears and responds. This song united people in communion to pray together for peace and remove all sins. The song makes us enter into a relationship with God and Christ and creates a desire for us to be like the Lamb of God.
These masses use the different elements of its music to make us understand and immerse in worship. These masses also help us understand our relationship with God’s time. All these masses have in common is that they prompt us to immerse more deeply into God’s eternal time, rather than escape time. God’s eternal nature is felt when one contemplates and takes part in these masses. Time is also used to create the tensions in the songs that are then are resolved. During these masses, we also understand that past, present, and future become together.
