Reception and Symbolism in Obrecht's Missa De Sancto Johanne Baptista

Michael Alan Anderson ‘His name will be called John’: reception and symbolism in Obrecht’s Missa de Sancto

Johanne Baptista Downloaded from

he Missa de Sancto Johanne Baptista (hereafter, Johanne Mass. Obrecht’s selective use of elements from Tthe Sancto Johanne Mass) was long considered Busnoys’s well-known L’homme armé Mass illumi- to be an anonymous Mass for the early 16th-century nates some heretofore unnoticed symbolic struc- http://em.oxfordjournals.org/ papal chapel, owing to its lack of attribution and its tures within the Sancto Johanne Mass. These features survival in only one Vatican source (Vatican City, combine to reorientate the L’homme armé template Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Ms. Cappella Sistina towards one for John the Baptist. 160 (hereafter, cs160)).1 It is well known that this If the survival in no fewer than seven manuscripts manuscript was prepared at the Alamire scrip- is any indication, Busnoys’s Missa L’homme armé torium along with two related sources (cs34 and had considerable appeal. It became the basis not only cs36) and sent to Pope Leo X, probably between 1516 for the Sancto Johanne Mass but also for Obrecht’s and 1519.2 Based on its multiple cantus firmi and on own L’homme armé Mass from the late 1480s, all at University of Rochester on January 18, 2012 other stylistic grounds, the Sancto Johanne Mass is three works sharing a common mensural scheme. now attributed to Jacob Obrecht between c.1485 and Moreover, the tenor in Obrecht’s Sancto Johanne c.1491; it has also come to light that this Mass is Mass assumes the precise rhythmic layout of that extensively modelled on Antoine Busnoys’s Missa found in Busnoys’s unfolding of the L’homme armé L’homme armé from the later 1460s. Rob Wegman melody.4 Most striking in the Sancto Johanne Mass, has suggested that the Sancto Johanne Mass might however, is the fact the composer supplanted the have been commissioned by a private endowment L’homme armé tune with eight antiphons from the in the city of Bruges, where the composer wrote at nativity feast of John the Baptist (24 June), which least two other Masses with multiple cantus firmi.3 are fitted masterfully into the rhythmic design of Although numerous churches in the Low Countries Busnoys’s cantus firmus. As Wegman has explained, had altars dedicated to John the Baptist, a definitive this full-scale modelling on a pre-existent Mass— endowment or other precise context for Obrecht’s from the perspective of rhythm alone—is rare for Mass awaits discovery. the 15th century and provides us with a new dimension For all the attention that has been paid to the of intertextuality to consider with late 15th-century origins of Obrecht’s Sancto Johanne Mass, little has compositions.5 Each of the eight antiphons is fully been said about the reception of the work by Leo X. texted, possibly to be articulated by the singers. This article brings to light the special meaning of Several antiphon texts among the eight stitched John the Baptist for the recipient of this Mass, who into the fabric of Obrecht’s Sancto Johanne Mass was not simply devoted to the forerunner saint, bring together strands of the first chapter of Luke’s but embodied the role of a ‘precursor’ himself in gospel describing events around the life of John the the early 16th-century papacy. In addition, this Baptist, especially his conception (Luke i.13–15) and study revisits the distinct borrowings of the Sancto circumcision (Luke i.60–7).6 The emphasis in the

Early Music, Vol. xxxix, No. 4 © The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. 547 doi:10.1093/em/car083, available online at www.em.oxfordjournals.org Advance Access published on November 9, 2011 antiphon texts is not simply on the early life of the Sancto Johanne Mass. In fact, five of the eight anti- Baptist but, more importantly, on the name and phons contain a form of the word ‘Johannes’ in their naming of John.7 One of the antiphons—Johannes texts, and, significantly, these five John-naming vocabitur nomen eius (‘His name will be called antiphons are heard in seven of the ten subsections John’)—is marked for importance, as it is repeated of the Mass that contain the cantus firmus. One of three times in the Mass (Table 1). Not only did Obrecht the antiphons from the Credo, Innuebant Patri eius, arrange this antiphon symmetrically in bookend conveniently contains the text ‘Johannes est nomen positions in the Mass (first Kyrie and last Agnus), but eius’ as part of the Baptist’s narrative, providing not he also bisected the Mass with this antiphon in the only increased aural emphasis on the name of John very middle of the work (the ‘Et incarnatus’ of the but also unmistakable reference to the ‘governing’ Credo), a moment that has produced much discus- antiphon of the Mass (Johannes vocabitur nomen sion in the parallel case of Busnoys’s Mass.8 eius). Also, in a striking case of compositional as-

In addition to the dominant antiphon Johannes sertiveness, Obrecht overrode the traditional text Downloaded from vocabitur nomen eius, other antiphon texts partici- at the end of the antiphon Apertum est os Zachariae pate in the emphatic naming of John in Obrecht’s in the first Agnus Dei setting, substituting the mantric

Table 1 Cantus firmus identification and distribution in Obrecht,Missa de Sancto Johanne Baptista http://em.oxfordjournals.org/ Mass section Antiphon as cantus firmus Translation Scriptural source

Kyrie Ia [Johannes vocabitur ‘His name will be called John, and Luke i.13–14, 60 nomen eius] many will rejoice in his nativity’ Kyrie II Inter natos mulierum ‘Among those born of women, none has Matthew xi.11 arisen greater than John the Baptist’ Gloria (‘Et in terra’) Iste puer magnus ‘This boy will be great in the sight of the Luke i.15 (sung twice) Lord, for His hand is with him’ at University of Rochester on January 18, 2012 ‘Tu solus Dominus’ Reges videbunt ‘The kings shall see and the princes will Isaiah xlix.7 rise up and adore the Lord your God, who has chosen you. Alleluia.’ Credo (‘Patrem’) Elisabeth Zacharie ‘Elizabeth of Zechariah bore a great man, [Luke i.13]b John the Baptist, Precursor of the Lord’ ‘Et incarnatus’ Johannes vocabitur ‘His name will be called John, and many Luke i.13–14, 60 nomen eius will rejoice in his nativity’ ‘Confiteor’ Innuebant Patri eius ‘They signalled to his father, to find out Luke i.62–3 what he would like to name him. He wrote saying: His name is John.’ Sanctus Puer qui natus est /Inter ‘This boy who was born, is greater than [Matthew xi.9 or Luke natos mulierumc a prophet: this is the one, about which vii.26]d / Matthew xi.11 the Saviour said, “Among those born of women. . .”’ Agnus Dei I–II Apertum est os Zachariae ‘The mouth of Zachary was opened Luke i.64, 67 and he prophesied saying, “John is his name”’ Agnus Dei III Johannes vocabitur ‘His name will be called John, and Luke i.13–14, 60 nomen eius many will rejoice in his nativity’ aThe opening folio of the Mass is missing, so the superius and tenor (cantus firmus) are lacking. bThe antiphon text only loosely resembles the first part of Luke i.13: ‘Elisabeth pariet tibi filium. . .’ c The first part of the antiphon Puer qui natus is heard at the opening of the Sanctus. The ‘Pleni sunt’ has no cantus firmus, but the remainder of antiphon (beginning with ‘Inter natos’) resumes at the ‘Hosanna’. d The scriptural concordance only occurs with the second part of the antiphon ‘plus quam prophetam’.

548 e a�� m�u�s�ic�� nov��e�m�b�e�r� �2011�� text ‘Johannes est nomen eius’, a point taken up followed a long papal tradition of assuming a new below. name as pontiff. In doing so, he selected one sym- Despite being saddled with setting eight anti- bolic of his native city: the heraldic lion—leo, known phons in the Sancto Johanne Mass, Obrecht was in Florence as the Marzocco.11 Reigning from 1513 obviously eager to imprint the name of John across until 1521, Leo X was best known for his excom- the work. The frequent and overt naming of the munication of Martin Luther at the dawn of the Baptist in the Mass on the whole suggests that the Reformation. His other deeds and qualities have person who provided the endowment for the work received less attention but form a more complete was named ‘John’ (Jean, Jan, Jehan, Johannes, etc.). biographical picture. The second son of Lorenzo Wegman has put forward two possible candidtates— the Magnificent, the new pope revitalized the city Jean Cordier (singer and friend of the composer) and of Rome through his ardent promotion of litera- Jan Obrecht (Obrecht’s relative and guardian)— ture, science and the fine arts. The centrality of artistic who could have reasonably commissioned such patronage in Leo’s entourage will surprise no one, Downloaded from a Mass. Both would appear to have the necessary given that his father spared no expense in sur- personal connection to the composer (and financial rounding himself with the most reputable musical means) to establish a privately endowed Mass and talent available. While poets showered the pope move the composer to such an impressive compos- with verses for exorbitant sums, musicians were also itional undertaking.9 Unfortunately, the documen- among those treated lavishly in the papal curia. Leo http://em.oxfordjournals.org/ tary evidence is lacking to support further speculation attracted the finest musical practitioners and compensated them so well as to bankrupt the papal about the patron of the Sancto Johanne Mass. 12 While the scholarly community has been stalled coffers at the time of his death. on questions about the original context of this His extravagant habits and insatiable human- elaborate but enigmatic Mass, little has been writ- istic pursuits notwithstanding, Leo X was a devout ten about the reception history of the work. As the Christian, attending daily Mass and fasting regu- larly. A Florentine at heart, he was especially dedi-

mysterious ‘John’ dedicatee of Obrecht’s Sancto at University of Rochester on January 18, 2012 cated to the John the Baptist, the protector of his Johanne Mass remains uncertain, no less important native city and patron saint of the famous Florence is the ‘John’ who received the lone surviving manu- Baptistery. The Baptist’s nativity feast in June, a day script with this Mass almost three decades after its associated with the summer solstice, was as signifi- composition—Giovanni de’ Medici (Pope Leo X). cant a day in the pope’s calendar in Rome as it was Whether it was part of a Habsburg–Burgundian gift in Florence.13 On this day, Florentines in Rome— of thanksgiving for the Golden Rose bestowed on the new pope notably among them—gathered both Archduke Charles (late 1515) or a strategic offering to dine festively and to be entertained by horse to influence the election of Charles as Holy Roman and buffalo races. A first-hand account even sur- Emperor (1519), cs160 was tailor-made for the pope. vives from Leo’s chronicler Marcantonio Michiel, With its multiple depictions of the coat of arms for indicating that the pontiff specially hosted cardinals Leo’s papacy throughout the manuscript and retro- and ambassadors on St John’s Day for lunch and spective works from a past age of polyphony, cs160 in dinner in the Castel Sant’ Angelo, followed by an particular represents a critical document that alluded 14 10 evening filled with music and fireworks. to the past with an eye towards the future. In this The name Giovanni, the Florentine heritage, manuscript, the celebrated Precursor in the Sancto and the elaborate festivities on John the Baptist’s Johanne Mass in this case would have been understood nativity day in Rome are seemingly mild connec- as none other than Leo himself, who, as scholars have tions to the saint and do little to establish Leo’s shown, was often compared to John the Baptist. embodiment of the Precursor. John, after all, was one of the most common names in the Christian world. Leo X: precursor and reformer But art historians have recently demonstrated that Elected at the young age of 37 and the last non- contemporaries went to some lengths to establish priest to ascend to the papacy, Giovanni de’ Medici an explicit connection between Giovanni and his

eu�a�� m��s��ic �nov��e�mb��e�r� ��2011 549 namesake patron saint: for many, the pope exempli- Medici and Luigi de’ Rossi were also the desired fied various attributes of Christ’s forerunner. When successors to the Medici pope, not to mention his Giovanni was named a cardinal in 1489, the great cousins, which is not unlike the consanguine rela- Neoplatonic humanist and founder of the Florentine tionship between John and Jesus. Further, attention Academy Marsilio Ficino (1433–99) used the dedi- has been drawn to the peculiar use of light in catory letter of his Latin translation of Jamblichus’s Raphael’s well-known portrait, which allows the verses De Mysteriis Aegyptiorum to laud the future pope from the gospel of John to emerge prominently at with an unmistakable reference to John the Baptist the visual surface. The chamber is noticeably dark, from Scripture (John i.6–8): ‘This is a man of Flor- but a light, which comes only from above, is strictly ence sent by God, whose name is John, born of the thrown on the arms and hands of Leo and Luigi, heroic stock of Medici. This man has come for testi- as well as the evangelist’s prophetic verses. Leo was a mony that he might bear witness about the greatest beacon for greater things to come in the papacy, just authority among us of his father, the magnanimous as John the Baptist gave testimony to the Light of the Downloaded from Lorenzo’.15 Also, upon Leo’s 1515 entrata into Florence, World ahead of Christ’s advent.19 the pope travelled past a temporary structure with The ‘Johannine’ qualities of Leo X in Raphael’s an inscription noting that the city was at once under portrait may be expanded to include the role of re- the protection of two lions (Pope Leo and the former that is exemplified in both the pope and

Marzocco) and two Johns (Giovanni de’ Medici and the Precursor. While the Medici family had re- http://em.oxfordjournals.org/ John the Baptist).16 established itself as a formidable dynasty in Florence, Striking evidence from the visual arts further Leo’s election to the papacy represented a foray intertwines Leo X and Christ’s forerunner. In into the ecclesiastical realm where another dynasty Raphael’s well-known portrait Leo X with Cardinals could be constructed.20 Though history has shown Giulio de’ Medici and Luigi de’ Rossi from 1517 or him to be somewhat indecisive when it came to 1518 (illus.1), scholars have already noted a strong the plight surrounding Luther, the Medicean pope ‘Johannine’ subtext to the scene, which subtly con- took other notably bold actions of reform. Leo X fers qualities of the Precursor saint onto the pope. In issued several transformative decrees during the at University of Rochester on January 18, 2012 this painting, whose function has been the subject of Fifth Lateran Council and even made advances intense debate, a few critical details trigger the over- towards the unification of Eastern and Western tones of John the Baptist within the full image. Most Christendom with his confirmation of the patri- obvious is that fact that the Bible is open at the first archs of the Ethiopian and Maronite churches in chapter of John’s gospel, which reveals God’s salva- 1514 and 1515 respectively.21 Even within his own tional plan beginning with the Baptist: ‘There was pontifical duties, he broke with tradition. In the a man sent from God, whose name was John. He annual mandatum foot-washing ceremony, he came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that reportedly told his master of ceremonies that he did all might believe through him . . . The true light that not want to wear the silk and velvet vestments of his enlightens every man was coming in to the world’ predecessors, arguing that ‘he wished above all to (John i.6–7, 9).17 Ficino’s letter parodied these very reform himself within and without so that he could verses from the gospel of John when describing also the better reform others’.22 A comparison with Giovanni de’ Medici. In addition to this discernible John the Baptist is again hard to resist. The Fore- textual connection to John the Baptist, others have runner saint was not only a ‘wild man’ of the New pointed to additional features from Raphael’s Testament, ruggedly dressed in coarse clothing made portrait that establish a clearer relationship between of camel hair and sustaining a diet of locusts and Leo and the Precursor saint. The pope’s obvious wild honey (Matthew iii.4 and Mark i.6), he was also gaze to his right suggests that the focus should be sent to reform his people and ‘prepare the way’ for on another figure, a possible metaphor for the pope the Messiah (Mark i.2–3). searching for either one who is greater than him (i.e. The trio of manuscripts delivered to Leo from a Messiah) or a new age with him as the church’s the Alamire workshop contained various cues to appointed pastor.18 The two cardinals Giulio de’ honour the recipient’s Medicean heritage and papal

550 e a�� m�u�s�ic�� nov��e�m�b�e�r� �2011�� Downloaded from http://em.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Rochester on January 18, 2012

1 Raphael Sanzio, Leo X with Cardinals Giulio de’ Medici and Luigi de’ Rossi, 1517–18 (Florence, Uffizi / Bridgeman Art Library)

eu�a�� m��s��ic �nov��e�mb��e�r� ��2011 551 status;23 cs160 in particular opens with a donor por- The Sancto Johanne Mass was also arguably one trait of Leo attended by a cardinal holding the papal of the most musically ornate of the Masses among crown (illus.2)—a validation of the legitimacy of his the trio of manuscripts sent by the Habsburg– election.24 Burgundian court. It is not the only Mass with mul- Obrecht’s Mass in particular makes cs160 the tiple cantus firmi sent to Leo, but the Mass does most ‘Johannine’ of the three manuscripts sent to employ more cantus firmi than any other of the the pope. While the Sancto Johanne Mass does not 20-odd Masses across the three manuscripts.25 As appear first in the manuscript and is now missing the structural ‘cousin’ of Busnoys’s well-known Mass, its first folio, which might have contained a telling it is also one of the boldest compositions to be mod- illuminated miniature, the Kyrie does contain elled on a pre-existent work. The texts of the eight the Medici coat of arms for Leo X within the initial antiphons were not hidden beneath the surface, but ‘C’ of the contratenor part on the recto of the Mass’s presumably sung by the voice carrying the cantus first opening (illus.3). Significantly, the Sancto Johanne firmus, making audible the overwhelming em- Downloaded from Mass is also the first non-Marian Mass in cs160 and phasis on the name John in performance. Beyond the falls ahead of Masses for Christ, the Trinity, and impact of the aural cues for the Baptist (and, by asso- even an additional Mass for Mary composed by ciation, the ‘John’ dedicatee), there remain more Obrecht (Missa Sicut spina rosam). subtle illustrations of the Precursor saint in the http://em.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Rochester on January 18, 2012

2 Leo X attended by a Cardinal. Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Ms. Cappella Sistina 160, f.3r (detail) (© 2011 Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, by permission of Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, with all rights reserved)

552 e a�� m�u�s�ic�� nov��e�m�b�e�r� �2011�� Downloaded from http://em.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Rochester on January 18, 2012

3 Opening of Obrecht, Missa de Sancto Johanne Baptista. Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Ms. Cappella Sistina 160, f.49r. (f.48 has been pilfered) (© 2011 Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, by permission of Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, with all rights reserved)

eu�a�� m��s��ic �nov��e�m�b�e�r� ��2011 553 musical construction of the Mass. In his studies of entirely in the bass range in his Caput Mass. Obrecht’s Sancto Johanne Mass, Rob Wegman has Specifically, the relegation of the melody to the bass called for an interpretation of this work not as an in the Caput tradition illustrates in music the act of instance of ‘musical imitatio’, but one in symbolic Christ’s (or even Mary’s) ‘downing’ of the head of terms that acknowledges the dissolution of the the serpent (caput draconis).27 We can only guess military or Christological symbolism associated why Busnoys placed the cantus firmus in the bassus with the L’homme armé melody.26 The remainder of his L’homme armé Mass. Presumably, the simul- of this article highlights two key structural prop- taneous repositioning and inversion of the melody erties of the work that are well known to scholars strengthened the L’homme armé or Christological but have not occasioned comment when considered connection to the defeat of a wicked perpetrator in light of the Johannine reorientation of Busnoys’s (whether Satan or the Turk). original setting. Unlike Busnoys, Obrecht set the cantus firmus in the bassus with some frequency.28 But this Downloaded from Musical decollation and the voice of Zechariah fact should not preclude a symbolic interpretation of the technique as applied in the Sancto In his Sancto Johanne Mass, Obrecht preserved Johanne Mass, since it is so heavily modelled on the mensural plan (i.e. the same mensuration in all the work of Busnoys. Of course in the case of voices at all times), the rhythm of the cantus firmus, Obrecht’s Mass, there is no reason to suspect any http://em.oxfordjournals.org/ and the sectional divisions of Busnoys’s Missa symbolic stamping out of an evildoer. The use of L’homme armé. He further retained the descent of eight antiphons from the feast of John’s nativity the cantus firmus to the bassus in the Agnus Dei, a firmly situates this Mass in the Johannine realm. point that has been overlooked in the literature on However, the notion of the Baptist’s decollation the Mass. In the Agnus Dei of Busnoys’s Mass, the might well explain Obrecht’s preservation of the composer gave the L’homme armé tune to the descending cantus firmus to the bass register for bassus but presented the melody in inversion. At the Agnus Dei, and it may be no accident that the this moment in Obrecht’s Mass, the composer simi- Caput tradition springs to mind, given that the at University of Rochester on January 18, 2012 larly sent one of his eight cantus firmus melodies decollation of John the Baptist involved a blow to to the bassus, beginning the new melody precisely his head (caput).29 While John’s nativity was an 14 breves into the first Agnus, true to Busnoys’s important celebration, his decollation was also L’homme armé model. Obrecht’s migrant cantus firmus especially notable among Christian martyrs, and declaims the antiphon Apertum est os Zachariae—an the details of his dreadful beheading might have encapsulation of Luke i.64, 67 (Table 1)—in ‘prime formed an image that rationalized this compos- form’ (not inverted, or retrograded). In sustaining itional technique in the Agnus Dei of Obrecht’s this important structural element with modifica- Sancto Johanne Mass. tions, Obrecht not only continued to demonstrate Before confining speculation to the subject of the the extent of the interconnectedness between these decollation, we might inspect the text of the anti- Masses but also began to expose the theological phon in the first Agnus of the Sancto Johanne Mass. symbolism in the new work. When the descended The substance of this antiphon points us in a more cantus firmus is viewed through a Johannine lens, fruitful interpretive direction, which I suspect was as one finds a clearer compositional dialogue between attractive to Obrecht for its practicality as it was for the two Masses. its symbolism. Examination of the antiphon Aper- The migration of a cantus firmus and the explor- tum est os Zachariae reveals that the composer took ation of lower registers for the cantus firmus were liberties as he set the text in the bassus. The altered not unheard of in Masses from the second half of text was no small change—Obrecht supplanted the 15th century, but neither could these treatments the words where the famous Canticle of Zechariah be called conventional in composition. Anne (‘Benedictus Deus Israel’) would begin both in the Robertson has suggested a theological motivation antiphon and in Luke i.68–79 with another naming for Ockeghem’s placement of the cantus firmus of John.

554 e a�� m�u�s�ic�� nov��e�m�b�e�r� �2011�� Durational symbolism Antiphon text: Obrecht’s text: Apertum est os Apertum est os A closer look at the rhythmic template of Obrecht’s Zachariae Zachariae Mass reveals that the composer also did not strictly et prophetavit dicens et prophetavit dicens follow his model at all turns, the effect of which may Benedictus deus Johannes est nomen also invoke the Precursor saint in a symbolic way. Israel. eius. Busnoys’s penchant for rationalist ‘floor plans’ and methodical rhythmic schemes—reminiscent of the (The mouth of Zechariah was opened and he prophesied, isoryhthmic tradition—has long been known to saying: ‘Blessed be the God of Israel’ (Obrecht: ‘John is his name’).) scholars. The rigorous mathematical construction of the L’homme armé Mass in particular was recog- What has escaped scholarly attention is that this nized by Richard Taruskin, who hypothesized that antiphon describes the critical moment in the narra- the lengths of the interior Mass sections generate tive when the Baptist’s father Zechariah is cured of his mathematical ratios that correspond to key Pythag- Downloaded from muteness. As Zechariah regains his speech to deliver orean proportions.30 For all of its rigid proportion- the Benedictus, the antiphon finds itself in a typical ality, the composer’s L’homme armé Mass contains singing range for a male elder—the bassus. The trans- a single ‘egregious anomaly’ (as Taruskin called it) ported cantus firmus thus dramatically embodies that interrupts the scrupulous harmonic ratios the role of John’s father in the story, confirmed by of the work—the prime number 31. This number http://em.oxfordjournals.org/ his ‘speaking role’ later in the antiphon. The shift of corresponds both to the number of tempora in register for the cantus firmus is quite audible, particu- the ‘Et incarnatus’ section of Busnoys’s Credo and larly at the outset where the rhythmic activity of the incidentally to the number of semibreves in the ori- upper voices is minimized, presumably in response to ginal L’homme armé melody (to say nothing of the the first phrase of the antiphon in the bassus (ex.1). In number’s importance in the Naples Masses, likely both text and music, then, Obrecht draws attention by Busnoys). Many have toiled over the meaning of to this transformative moment of the narrative. the symbolism in the number 31 at the centre of at University of Rochester on January 18, 2012 Beyond the changes of register and text, Obrecht Busnoys’s Mass; the prevailing view acknowledges further altered the first Agnus by recasting the both its Christological significance and its possible G-mode antiphon Apertum est os Zachariae into reference to the number of chevaliers in the Order an E-mode profile. The revisions to both the text of the Golden Fleece (plus their master) during the (‘Johannes est nomen eius’) and the music in this time of Charles the Bold.31 simple antiphon should at least cause us briefly to No less a number symbolist in his compositions, question the generally accepted premise of Obrecht’s Obrecht seems to have taken notice of Busnoys’s strict fidelity to models as a signature feature of his ‘egregious anomaly’ and articulated his ‘Et incar- work. Apertum est os Zachariae is then followed in natus’ section with a slight modification. It will be the second Agnus by the final antiphon Johannes remembered that this section was also a key moment vocabitur nomen eius (still in the bassus), which in the Sancto Johanne Mass because of the repeat of represents a return to the ‘governing’ antiphon of the governing antiphon Johannes vocabitur nomen Obrecht’s Mass and establishes the remarkable eius. While the layout of Obrecht’s cantus firmus symmetry of this antiphon throughout the Mass. matches that of Busnoys, Obrecht truncated the The heightened naming of John at the end of this total duration of the ‘Et incarnatus’ section to yield Mass and the symbolic relocation of the antiphons 30 tempora instead of 31, with the elimination of any to the bassus reinforce the Johannine transform- activity in the surrounding three voices after the ation of the L’homme armé model. And can it be by final long is reached. (Busnoys’s setting indeed does chance that these audible aspects of the Mass took not rest during or after the 31st tempus is reached.) place in the Agnus Dei, the most ‘Johannine’ of the Obrecht’s re-reading of Busnoys’s Mass ironically Mass movements? Indeed, it was John who delivered unleashed another rational rhythmic ground plan most of the words of the Agnus Dei, as he famously for the entire Sancto Johanne Mass and further dis- ‘pointed out’ the Lamb of God (John i.29). solved any numerical and L’homme armé symbolism

eu�a�� m��s��ic �nov��e�mb��e�r� ��2011 555 Ex.1 Obrecht, Agnus Dei (I) from Missa de Sancto Johanne Baptista Downloaded from http://em.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Rochester on January 18, 2012

556 e a�� m�u�s�ic�� nov��e�m�b�e�r� �2011�� related to Christ in Obrecht’s work. The composer terms through music.33 Often cited on this topic is instead struck yet another profound durational Obrecht’s Missa Sub tuum praesidium, a Mass that balance within the work, one that has also not not only uses seven cantus firmi and builds from gone unrecognized. Nors S. Josephson, who edited three voices in the Kyrie to seven voices at the Agnus Obrecht’s Sancto Johanne Mass in 1982 yet was Dei (seven being the traditional number for the unaware of the connection to Busnoys’s Mass, sorrows of Mary), but also has a conspicuous total illuminated the high degree of proportionality in duration of 888 breves—a symbolic number for Obrecht’s design, charting the durations across Christ.34 If Busnoy’s 31 tempora drew the attention the Mass sections that contain the cantus firmus, of number symbolists, what of the unfolding of pro- as has become customary in identifying Obrecht’s portional 180-breve sections in the Sancto Johanne proportional schemes (Table 2).32 Mass? Josephson’s simplification of these numbers Josephson did not comment on the possible reveals a large-scale view of the symmetry and bal- meaning behind the striking symmetry in the cantus Downloaded from ance in the duration of the movements of the Mass firmus-bearing sections. It may be asked then if template achieved by Obrecht though rooted in there is something theological, perhaps Johannine, Busnoys’s model. On this very high level of tem- about the number 180. Indeed, the number was an poral planning, Obrecht’s structure unfolds in three exceptional and pliable one in Pythagorean math- large sections of 180 breves each, leaving an obvious ematical theory and another remnant of the iso- http://em.oxfordjournals.org/ proportion of 1:1:1 (Kyrie/Gloria; Credo; Sanctus/ rhythmic tradition, which might explain Obrecht’s Agnus). That Obrecht seems to have slightly altered attraction to it.35 Importantly, however, the number Busnoys’s durational template while still holding his 180 has significant meaning for John the Baptist. cantus firmi to the rhythms of the model brings this It was well known in the late Middle Ages, though temporal detail to the analytical foreground. all but lost on Christians today, that the nativity of On the question of the total length of Obrecht’s John the Baptist on 24 June is separated from that Mass, it is useful to keep in mind earlier studies that of Christ (25 December) by exactly six months, an illustrate how theology was expressed in numerical interval which historically would be regarded as 180 at University of Rochester on January 18, 2012 days in length.36 This six-month separation, indeed Table 2 Durational design of Obrecht’s Missa de Sancto the polar opposition, between the births of John and Johanne Baptista Jesus and an analogy specifically with the seasonal solstices in the calendar year was recognized in trea- Section length Mvt. length Higher level tises and by medieval theologians from Augustine to Mass section (breves) (breves) sum (breves) Durandus.37 The number 180 itself is mentioned only once in Kyrie I 18 36 = 180 Scripture, tellingly in connection with the days of Kyrie II 18 ‘Et in terra’ 54 144 the year. Esther i.4 reads: ‘For a full hundred and ‘Qui tollis’ 72 eighty days, he [King Ahasuerus] displayed the ‘Tu solus 18 vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendour and ‘Dominus’ glory of his majesty’. This verse prepares the story ‘Patrem’ 54 180 = 180 of the deposal of Queen Vashti and the making of ‘Et incarnatus’ 90* the Jewish heroine Esther as Ahasuerus’s queen. It ‘Confiteor’ 36 so happens that the king’s opulence and display Sanctus 36 90 = 180 of power in the Book of Esther also has an analogue ‘Osanna’ 54 with the feast of John’s nativity, a relationship that Agnus Dei I–II 36 90 has been noted in Judaic commentary on Esther.38 Agnus Dei III 54 It is well chronicled that in the summer months, TOTAL = 540 = 540 = 540 framed by the nativity celebration on 24 June and *Busnoys’s Missa L’homme armé has 31 tempora (in the feast of John’s beheading on 29 August, people augmentation, 93 breves as read in diminution) seized the moment to publicly criticize temporal

eu�a�� m��s��ic �nov��e�mb��e�r� ��2011 557 rulers, reminding kings and nobles of their vulner- compositions.40 Let us hope that the Sancto Johanne ability as sovereigns.39 This period of solar reversal Mass will continue to garner the attention it deserves at the summer solstice and the rebuke of Herod at now that it has shaken off its label of anonymity the scene of the Beheading validated this summer and is increasingly recognized as the work of Obrecht. custom. The popular tradition of admonishing More specifically, the exegetical capacity of this Mass rulers in connection with the life of John the Baptist should not be overlooked when dealing with this may even be echoed in Obrecht’s Mass by the choice composer and may produce further insight into his of the antiphon Reges videbunt (‘Kings shall see [and other Masses. Given Obrecht’s university training princes will rise up and adore the Lord]’), which is and contrapuntal command, he could have realis- the only cantus firmus text in Obrecht’s Mass from tically imbued this composition with the attendant the Old Testament. theology concerning Christ’s Precursor as he made The number 180, then, has more than one point of subtle adjustments within an otherwise rigid model. resonance with the Precursor saint, and it is not unrea- Not only did Obrecht saturate his Mass for John the Downloaded from sonable to consider that, in the proportionate unfold- Baptist with an astonishing number of symbolic ing of 180-breve macro-sections, the astute Obrecht cantus firmi from the well of antiphons for the saint, saw exegetical potential in the durational design of but he also confronted Busnoys’s model, altering it Busnoys’s model. Adhering to select parameters of the to reveal Johannine conceits. As the L’homme armé

L’homme armé template, Obrecht subtly transformed topos was exchanged for that of John the Baptist, http://em.oxfordjournals.org/ Busnoys’s Christological Mass to reflect a Johannine Obrecht enhanced the level of intertextuality between character, both in the formal background and the the two works, producing in the process a brilliant cantus firmi sounding the name of John at the surface. encapsulation of theology in musical design of the That Obrecht was capable of projecting theology late 15th century. It seems entirely possible that the in musical design is without doubt. We know that inaudible and audible aspects of this artificial Mass he received a master’s degree in the arts with sig- for some ‘John’ could have resonated with Leo X nificant theological content and did not hesi- and his entourage just as they did with its original tate to draw on theological images to embed in his dedicatee. at University of Rochester on January 18, 2012

Michael Alan Anderson has been Assistant Professor of Musicology at the Eastman School of Music (University of Rochester) since 2008. He also serves as Artistic Director of the ensemble Schola Antiqua of Chicago and as a member of the editorial board for the American Choral Review. manderson@ esm.rochester.edu

Portions of this article were read at the The most recent edition, which music could be used, see H. Meconi, Medieval and Renaissance Conference at reconstructs the two missing parts and ‘The function of the Habsburg– Royal Holloway, University of London, sets the cantus firmus as the antiphon Burgundian court manuscripts’, in 5–8 July 2010 and at the Forum on Johannes vocabitur nomen eius, is The Burgundian–Habsburg court Music and Christian Scholarship, found in Early sixteenth-century sacred complex of music manuscripts University of Notre Dame, Indiana, music from the papal chapel, ed. (1500–35) and the workshop of Petrus 27–8 February 2009. I would like to N. S. Josephson, 2 vols., Corpus Alamire, colloquium proceedings: express special gratitude to Alexander Mensurabilis Musicae 95 (Neuhausen- Leuven 25–28 November 1999, ed. Blachly, Patrick Macey, Hannah Stuttgart, 1982), i, pp.1–39. B. Bouckaert and E. Schreurs Mowrey and Anne Walters Robertson 2 See F. Warmington, ‘Vatican City, (Leuven, 2003), pp.120–1. for comments that have improved this Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana Ms. 3 In her 1987 dissertation, Jennifer study. Cappella Sistina 160’, in The treasury Bloxam was the first to suggest that 1 Ff.49r–63r. The opening folio in of Petrus Alamire: music and arts in this Mass might be attributed to Jacob cs160 has been pilfered, making the Flemish court manuscripts 1500–1535, Obrecht, on account of its multiple superius and tenor of the initial Kyrie ed. H. Kellman (Ghent, 1999), cantus firmi, a striking aspect of (and possibly an illuminated pp.133–6. On the wide range of Obrecht’s work in this period. See miniature) unavailable for study. liturgical occasions for which this Bloxam, ‘A survey of late medieval

558 e a�� m�u�s�ic�� nov��e�m�b�e�r� �2011�� service books from the Low Countries’ Martinus adhuc cathecuminus and Renaissance Florence (New York, 1980), (PhD diss., Yale University, 1987), O beate pater Donatiane in Obrecht’s pp.240–63. pp.443–51. Wegman more recently Masses for St Martin and St Donatian, 14 Venice, Biblioteca Correr, Ms. 2848, asserted Obrecht’s authorship on respectively. ff.335v–336r, cited in Blackburn, ‘Music stylistic grounds: R. Wegman, ‘Another 9 On Cordier’s biography, see R. and festivities’, pp.33–4. “imitation” of Busnoys’s Missa Strohm, Music in late medieval Bruges 15 See Marsilio Ficino, Opera omnia, L’homme armé: some observations on (Oxford, 1990), pp.37–8. For the life ed. P. Kristeller (Turin, 1959), ii, bk. 2, imitatio in Renaissance music’, Journal and influence of Jan Obrecht, see p.897: ‘Est homo Florentiae missus a of the Royal Musical Association, cxiv Wegman, Born for the Muses, pp.29–31 Deo, cui nomen est Ioannes, heroica (1989), pp.189–202, at p.200, and Born and 37–43. Yet another possible Medicum stripe natus, hic venit in for the Muses: the life and Masses of candidate proposed by Wegman (Born testimonium, ut de summa Patris sui Jacob Obrecht (Oxford, 1994), for the Muses, p.217) is Obrecht’s father magnanimi Laurentij, apud omnes, pp.213–17. and famous Ghent trumpeter Willem authoritate testimonium perhiberet’. 4 For a rhythmic comparison of the Obrecht. His father was the first to The papal master of ceremonies, tenors of the respective Masses, see introduce the composer to Busnoys in Paride de Grassi (1470–1528), further Wegman, ‘Another “imitation”’, the late 1460s and therefore might have connected Leo X with his namesake Downloaded from pp.195–6. The tenor in both Masses prompted Obrecht to engage with John the Baptist. On the Baptist’s generally adheres to a different Busnoys’s Missa L’homme armé as a nativity feast day in 1513, Grassi mensuration than the surrounding model for the Sancto Johanne Mass. specifically noted in his diary that the three voices. For an alternative view of the Mass as pope’s name was John (Giovanni), 5 Wegman, ‘Mensural intertextuality a dedication for the birth of the son of neglecting to do so on the feast of John in the sacred music of Antoine a knight from the Golden Fleece, see the Evangelist (27 December). See http://em.oxfordjournals.org/ Busnoys’, in Antoine Busnoys: method, K. van der Heide, ‘Polytekstuele Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. meaning and context in late medieval religieuze muziek aan het Lat. 12275, ff.53r and 95v. Bourgondisch-Habsburgse hof als music, ed. P. Higgins (Oxford, 1999), 16 J. Shearman, ‘The Florentine entrata spiegel van het laat-middeleeuwse pp.175–214. of Leo X, 1515’, Journal of the Warburg wereldbeeld’ (PhD diss., University of 6 Several of the antiphons can be and Courtauld Institutes, xxxviii (1975), Utrecht, 1998), pp.153–5. found in the service of Lauds for pp.136–54, at p.140. On the symbolism John’s nativity feast. For the typical 10 Warmington, ‘Vatican City’, connecting Florence with Rome, see liturgical positions of these antiphons, pp.135–6. A. M. Cummings, The politicized muse: see M. A. Anderson, ‘Symbols of 11 Only three popes since the year 1010 music for Medici festivals, 1512–1537 at University of Rochester on January 18, 2012 saints: theology, ritual, and kinship in have selected their baptismal name, or (Princeton, 1992), p.67, and M. music for John the Baptist and St. variant thereof, as their papal name Tacconi, ‘Appropriating the Anne (1175–1563)’, 3 vols. (PhD diss., (Julius II, Hadrian VI, Marcellus II). instruments of worship: the 1512 University of Chicago, 2008), ii, See A. Gurugé and M. Kirkland, The Medici restoration and the Florentine p.288. Although the organization of next Pope (Alton, 2010), pp. 211–12. Cathedral choirbooks’, Renaissance antiphons differed by geographic 12 On the pontificate of Leo X, see Quarterly, lvi (2003), pp.333–76, at location, the high rank of the feast of H. M. Vaughan, The Medici popes: Leo pp.349–51. the nativity of John the Baptist ensured X and Clement VII (London, 1908), 17 ‘Fuit homo missus a Deo cui many of the antiphons a relatively pp.100–284, and E. Duffy, Saints and nomen erat Iohannes. Hic venit in stable liturgical position in usages sinners: a history of the popes (New testimonium ut testimonium throughout Western Europe. Haven, 1997), pp.201–5. For studies perhiberet de lumine ut omnes 7 In the story of the conception, the specific to music at the court of Leo X, crederent per illum . . . erat lux vera angel Gabriel delivers the news to see A. Pirro, ‘Leo X and music’, quae inluminat omnem hominem Zechariah that not only will Elizabeth Musical Quarterly, xxi (1935), pp.1–16, venientem in mundum.’ On this conceive, but that his name will be John and B. Blackburn, ‘Music and detail in the portrait, see, for example, (Luke i.13). By the time of the festivities at the court of Leo X: a R. Sherr, ‘Lorenzo de’ Medici, Duke of circumcision of the Baptist on the eighth Venetian view’, Early Music History, xi Urbino, as a patron of music’, in day following his birth (Luke i.59–66), (1992), pp.1–37. Renaissance studies in honor of Craig there is some disagreement about what 13 For a description of these activities Hugh Smyth, ed. P. Morselli et al. name the child should be called. With after the return of the Medici from (Florence, 1985), pp.627–38, at p.632, his father intending to name the child exile in 1513 and after the election of and B. F. Davidson, Raphael’s bible: a Zechariah, according to the tradition, Leo X in 1513, see B. Masi, Ricordanze study of the Vatican Logge (University Elizabeth corrects him and fulfills the di Bartolommeo Masi, Calderaio Park, PA, 1985), pp.12–13. angel’s announcement, declaring that fiorentino dal 1478 al 1526, ed. 18 J. Jungić, ‘Prophecies of the angelic her son will be called John. O. Corazzini (Florence, 1906), pp.141–4. pastor in Sebastiano del Piombo’s 8 ( Wegman Born for the muses, p.216, More generally, on the celebration of portrait of Cardinal Bandinello Sauli n.16) has noted the parallel the feast of St John the Baptist in and three companions’, in Prophetic prominence given to the antiphons Florence, see R. Trexler, Public life in Rome in the high Renaissance period:

eu�a�� m��s��ic nov��e�m�b�e�r� ��2011 559 essays, ed. M. Reeves (Oxford, 1992), 28 Obrecht places the cantus firmus, through the music of Josquin. See, for pp.345–70, at pp.368–70. wholly or in part, in the bassus in half example, W. Arlt, ‘“Triginta 19 N. Minnich, ‘Raphael’s portrait of his 30 Masses. Only five Masses have denariis”—Musik und Text in einer “Leo X with cardinals Giulio de’ the cantus firmus in the bass for the Motette des Roman de Fauvel über Medici and Luigi de’ Rossi”: a entire Agnus Dei (Sancto Johanne dem Tenor Victimae paschali laudes’, religious interpretation’, Renaissance Baptista, L’homme armé, Caput, Ave in Pax et sapientia: studies in text and Quarterly, lvi (2003), pp.1005–52, at regina caelorum and Plurimorum music of liturgical tropes and sequences, p.1041. carminum II). In three Masses (Maria in memory of Gordon Anderson, Acta zart, Pfawenschwantz and Malheur me Universitatis Stockholmensis, Studia 20 Ibid., p.1031. bat), the composer sets the cantus Latina Stockholmensis 29 (1986), 21 On the papal decrees and other firmus in the bassus for part of the pp.97–113; B. Trowell, ‘Proportion in goals of this Council, see N. Tanner, Agnus Dei only to move it to a the music of Dunstable’, Proceedings of Decrees of the ecumenical councils, different voice for the final Agnus. the Royal Musical Association, cv trans. W. Pearsall (Washington, 1990), 29 In the two gospels that do offer (1978/79), pp.100–41; C. Wright, i, pp.606–25 and pp.650–5. details on the decollation (Matthew ‘Dufay’s Nuper rosarum flores, King 22 ‘velle se imprimis reformare intus xiv.8–11, Mark vi.24–8), John’s head Solomon’s temple, and the veneration Downloaded from et extra ut sic etiam melius possit (caput) is naturally an important of the Virgin’, Journal of the American reliquos reformare.’ This statement can component in the unfolding of this Musicological Society, xlvii (1994), be found in de Grassi’s diary of Leo X famous scene. Even antiphons from pp.395–441; and W. Elders, ‘Symbolism (Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. the Feast of the Decollation of John in the sacred music of Josquin’, in The Lat. 12275, f.36r). the Baptist emphasize the indelible Josquin Companion, ed. R. Sherr

23 cs36 contains the Medici coat of image of the Precursor’s severed head (Oxford, 2000). http://em.oxfordjournals.org/ arms on f.66v at the beginning of La on a platter. Two widespread 34 The discovery of the ‘secret Rue’s Missa de virginibus. The antiphons from the Office of the structure’, which includes not only the manuscript also uses apostolic keys Baptist’s decollation directly speak of symbolic number of breves but also throughout the music to indicate the severed head of John: Da mihi in more extensive computations and continuation signs. disco caput (cao 2088) and Petiit claims, was made by Van Crevel in his 24 The cardinal is misidentified, puella caput Joannis (cao 4277). calculations for the Missa Sub tuum ironically, as John the Baptist in 30 R. Taruskin, ‘Antoine Busnoys and praesidium. See M. van Crevel, Warmington, ‘Vatican City’, p.135. the L’homme armé tradition’, Journal Introduction to Jacob Obrecht: opera Donning a red garment trimmed in of the American Musicological Society, omnia, editio altera (Amsterdam, ermine with broad-brimmed hat, this xxxix (1986), pp.255–93, at p.269. A 1959–64), vi, pp.xvii–xxv. On the at University of Rochester on January 18, 2012 figure is almost certainly a cardinal. rebuttal of Taruskin’s hypothesis and Gnostic tradition of relating the 25 In cs160, there are two Masses that methodology was issued by Wegman, number 888 to Christ, see V. Hopper, each contain five cantus firmi drawn ‘Letter from Rob C. Wegman’, Journal Medieval number symbolism: its sources, from Ordinary chants (Isaac’s Missa of the American Musicological Society, meaning and influence on thought and Paschalis a6 and Josquin’s Missa de xlii (1989), pp.437–43 (Taruskin’s expression (New York, 1938), p.63. Beata Virgine). In cs34 and cs36, rejoinder follows on pp.443–52). On 35 The number 180 was called an which are dominated by Pierre de La Busnoys’s numerical proportioning ‘abundant’ number in Pythagorean Rue’s Masses, the only Mass that has a more generally, see E. Sparks, Cantus mathematical theory because the sum significant number of cantus firmi is La firmus in Mass and motet, 1420–1520 of its factors was greater than the Rue’s Missa Pascale, which employs (Berkeley, 1963, r/New York, 1975), number itself. One would factor out seven plainchants from the Easter pp.236–7, and T. Brothers, ‘Vestiges of the number 10 from 180, as was liturgy. the isorhythmic tradition in Mass and customary, leaving the number 18. In motet, ca. 1450–1475’, Journal of the 26 Wegman, ‘Another “Imitation”’, the number 18, the sum of its factors American Musicological Society, xliv p.201. (1+2+3+6+9 or 21 [excluding 18]) is (1991), pp.1–56, at p.15. more than the number 18 itself. 27 A. W. Robertson, ‘The Savior, the 31 A. E. Planchart, ‘The origins and early woman, and the head of the dragon in 36 Several places in the Bible, including history of L’homme armé’, Journal of the Caput Masses and motet’, Journal the Book of Revelation, reveal that a Musicology, xx (2003), pp.305–57, at p.312. of the American Musicological Society, month must equal 30 days, thereby lix (2006), pp.537–630, at pp.584–95. 32 Early sixteenth-century sacred music making the twelve-month year 360 Robertson has proposed this same from the papal chapel, i, p.xiii, incl. days long and the six-month exegetical conceit for Obrecht’s own n.31. Any section of the Mass without separation of nativities 180 days in Caput Mass, with its predetermined the cantus firmus (Christe, Pleni sunt length. See, for example, Genesis ‘serpentine’ migration of the cantus and Benedictus) is not counted in this vii.11–viii.4 and Revelation xi.2–3. firmus through the voice parts in the design, nor is the final long of the 37 Augustine of Hippo, ‘De diversis Mass movements until its final tenor counted. quaestionibus’, Patrologiae cursus descent to the bass voice for the 33 Important studies of number completus: series latina [PL], ed. Agnus Dei. symbolism span the Roman de Fauvel J. P. Migne (Paris, 1844–79), xl, p.42,

560 e a�� m�u�s�ic�� nov��e�m�b�e�r� �2011�� and Guillaume Durand, Rationale divinorum officiorum, ed. A. Davril and T. M. Thibodeau (Turnhout, 1995– Advertisers! 2000), iii, p.58. On the six-month 'EQFVMHKI separation in particular, see the anonymous ‘Expositio evangeliorum’, Contact PL, xxx, p.568a; Anonymous, ‘De ortu Jane Beeson et obitu Patrum’, PL, lxxxiii, p.1284d; )EVP]1YWMG and Walafridus Strabo, ‘Expositio in on 6XPPHUVFKRROVRIIHULQJLQWHQVLYHO\UHZDUGLQJ quatuor Evangelia’, PL, cxiv, p.895c. WXLWLRQ´VHFRQGWRQRQHµIRUDPDWHXUVWXGHQWDQG 38 The haggadic traditions on Esther +44 (0) 1652 678230 SURIHVVLRQDOPXVLFLDQV,QVSLULQJWXWRUV i directly influenced the unusually FRQJHQLDOFRPSDQ\SURIHVVLRQDOFRQFHUWV explicit detail of John’s decollation in or at ZRQGHUIXOUHSHUWRLUHDQGPXVLFPDNLQJLQWKH Mark vi.14–29. Events as specific as the [email protected] EHDXWLIXOKLVWRULFVHWWLQJRI(PPDQXHO&ROOHJH

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