Chapter 3: Critical Edition

3.1 Previous editions of Missa Inviolata

There are three available editions of Missa Inviolata. The first one is included in the study and transcription of E-Bbc 1967 by José Climent Barber³⁸, which is part of his series focusing on the musical sources of the region of Valencia. In the introduction, the manuscript and its context are described. The names of Pedro de Pastrana and Bartolomé Cárceres are suggested as possible authors of the piece. The mass is transcribed at the original pitch with halved note values and includes some editorial notes as footnotes to the score.

The second edition of Missa Inviolata was published by Bernadette Nelson in the Series B of Mapa Mundi³⁹. This is a performing edition, with note values halved and transposed up one tone, a common procedure given the relatively low nominal pitch of much 16^th century repertoire by modern mixed choir standards. The introduction connects the mass to its model and describes the context of the Valencian court, mentioning San Miguel de los Reyes as its possible destination. A separate section includes editorial comments, with further details given as footnotes to the score. In this edition, the mass is tentatively attributed to Philippe Verdelot on stylistic grounds.

The third available edition was published by Jorge Martín for Ars Subtilior Editions⁴⁰. This is also a performing edition, in digital format (PDF). Unlike Nelson’s edition, it is untransposed, but note values are also halved. No editorial notes or introduction are provided. The mass is attributed to Maistre Jhan, but given the lack of further information, it is not possible to ascertain whether this attribution is based on the documentation mentioned in the previous chapter or some other method.

3.2 A new edition of Missa Inviolata

As part of the present research, a new critical edition of Missa Inviolata has been prepared and is available as Annex 1. Besides the fact that a critical edition featuring original values and clefs was not previously available, two other reasons justify undertaking this process: first, the intimate knowledge of the piece gained by addressing the multiple issues that arise when transcribing it from the manuscript cannot be overstated. Additionally, preparing a new edition offers the opportunity to approach and resolve some of the problematic passages differently, supplying additional accidentals, and providing a detailed text underlay. This might be especially valuable when the editor is also a performer with extensive experience leading ensembles that perform from original sources.

3.3 General notes to the critical edition

The piece has been transcribed using original pitches, i.e., it is untransposed. Clefs are as in the original, with the exception that the few clef changes for some short sections of the Supranus and Bassus parts have been normalized to maintain the same clef used for the majority of these parts. Note values are as in the original (not halved). The mensuration sign is tempus imperfectum diminutum (cut C) throughout the entire piece; this has been represented with 2/1 (two semibreves per measure). Ligatures and coloration are marked with brackets (a continuous bracket for ligatures, a discontinuous one for coloration). For the final notes in each section, breves and longae are used inconsistently in the source; they have been normalized to fill the last measure and extended as necessary when one or more voices do not finish simultaneously.

A few passages of Missa Inviolata feature unidiomatic clashes or parallelisms; these have been emended in the edition (see Table 3). For the benefit of those using the score and the manuscript simultaneously, folio information has been introduced in the edition (e.g. “7v-8r”) above the relevant measure, enclosed in square brackets. Rehearsal marks have been provided at relevant cadential points in the form of numbers enclosed in squares: these can easily be added to a facsimile of the manuscript.

3.4 Accidentals in the edition

Two main roles can be distinguished for accidentals in Renaissance polyphony: ensuring perfect consonances are truly perfect (not augmented or diminished) and altering imperfect consonances (from minor to major and vice-versa) in specific progressions, especially in cadences. Both aspects were part of musicians’ training, enabling them to supply these accidentals during performance. Original notation is therefore underprescriptive by modern standards⁴¹. Only seven accidentals appear in the whole of Missa Inviolata (see Table 4). In the annexed edition, editorial accidentals appear on top of the affected note.

For some cadential processes, no editorial accidental has been provided because it would introduce a clash with some other part. Since such clashes were not unheard of⁴², a list of these places is provided here for the adventurous (see Table 5). Two of these potentially problematic passages (one in the Qui tollis and one in the Sanctus) correspond to a specific section in the motet by Josquin that serves as the model for the mass. This section plays with a certain ambiguity between B-flat and B-natural in the passage around the text dulcisona (“sweet-sounding”), as noted by several scholars⁴³.

3.5 Text underlay in the edition

The appropriate delivery of the text was also a skill developed by Renaissance singers to the point that sources feature a variable level of precision in text underlay. Additionally, while syllabic sections (where the text is mostly enunciated with one note per syllable) present little or no difficulty, those including melismatic passages and/or a small quantity of text to be repeated several times offer many possibilities. The edition included in the present research must, therefore, be, considered just as one possibility, based on historical information⁴⁴ as well as on 15 years of experience singing from the sources.

Abbreviations are written in full, and spelling has been normalized. Additional text necessary for repetitions has been provided and differentiated with italics. Extensive textual editing departing from the source is also marked in italics and documented (see Table 6). Not every ligature has been preserved; for example, see the Tenor II passage in measure 33-36 of Et in Spiritum. Conversely, in a couple of instances, the proposed text setting requires joining two contiguous notes of the same pitch for one syllable; these cases are marked with a discontinuous tie in the edition.

Notes to chapter 3

38. Climent Barber 1995. See also the footnotes to section 2.1.

39. Verdelot? 2001.

40. Maistre 2014.

41. On this topic, see Berger 1987, Toft 1992, and Bent 2002. The term musica ficta is often used to refer to unnotated accidentals, although it is not entirely accurate; semitonia subintellecta is a better alternative.

42. See, for example, Toft 1992 (pp. 79-82).

43. Two articles discussing Josquin’s motet with special emphasis on this passage are Elders 2009 and Rees 2010.

44. Historical information on text underlay is not extremely abundant or definitively conclusive, but it does exist. Some of the main theoretical sources of the 1500s (such as Lanfranco 1533,Vicentino 1555, Zarlino 1558) treat the subject, even if briefly. The most complete set of underlay rules is by a Gaspar Stoquerus (probably Caspar Stocker) ca. 1570. See Harrán 1973, Atlas 1982, Lewis 1985, Towne 1990, Towne 1991, Harrán 1997.