Missa ¨Sine Nomine¨, for Three Voices and Three Trombones
00:00 Kyrie
03:50 Gloria
10:14 Credo
14:20 Sanctus - Benedictus
20:06 Agnus Dei

Vocal Ensemble Philippe Caillard - Conductor: Philippe Caillard
Trombones: Henri Arque, Stanislas Boutry, Fernand Marin

The composer of this astonishing work, still very little known in our days, appears as one of the greatest musicians of the 15th century. He probably studied with Nicolas Grenon and Robert Loqueville. It is known that he was in Italy in 1428 at the Cappella Pontificia, and that he died in Cambrai where he had become canon in 1474. His more important works include ballads, rondos, masses and numerous hymns and motets.

With the exception of Guillaume de Machault, the musicians of the 14th century usually composed fragments of masses; Dufay too tried his hand at them before writing his seven complete masses of which the "Missa Sine Nomine" is the first.

Composed before 1440, in the style of the mass-fragments of the 14th century, this work consists of a succession of pieces which are not connected by any thematic element; but a close melodic and rhythmic relationship unites the Kyrie, Sanctus and Agnus Dei on one hand and the Gloria and Credo on the other. Toward the end an instrumental tenor lends thematic unity to the five parts of the Ordinary.

The Gloria and the Credo of the Missa Sine Nomine are written for one voice and two instruments. The text figures only in the upper voice in an entirely Gregorian manner. The suppleness and the nature of the vocal line are in curious contrast to the abrupt rhythms of the accompaniment.

The style of the Kyrie, Sanctus and Agnus Dei seems sometimes to be more instrumental than vocal; the rhythmic complexity, the constant shifting of the voices, the repetition of the notes and the use of “hockets” clearly require the participation of the instruments.

The three voices being written in the style of the period, it seemed right to double each with a brass instrument since traditionally this instrument mixed with the chorus, a fact confirmed by old engravings.

Furthermore, this allows to alternate voices and instruments according to the manner in which the various passages were written. Those uninitiated to the music previous to Ockeghem and Josquin de Prés will need some acclimatizing, for the harmony that emerges from the melodic encounters is rather rugged. Cadences with a double leading tone from the remote predecessors of Dufay are used along with the cadences with an escape tone (echappée) of the 15th century, the later already approaching our authentic cadence.

However, neither the ruggedness of the harmony, nor the intricacies of the rhythm can detract from the richness of the melody, so characteristic for Dufay’s art.

Philippe Caillard

Enregistrement réalisé à l'église Saint-Roch à Paris le 7 mars 1955

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