Editing Josquin des Prez (section)

==== Canonic masses ====
[[File:Missa Sine Nomine - Kyrie I - Incipit.svg|thumb|upright=1.9|Opening of Josquin's ''[[Missa sine nomine (Josquin)|Missa sine nomine]]''[[File:Missa Sine Nomine - Kyrie I - Incipit Midi.midi]]]]

Josquin's predecessors and contemporaries wrote masses based on canonic imitation. The canonic voices in these masses derive from pre-existing melodies such as the "L'homme armé" song ([[Guillaume Faugues|Faugues]], Compère and [[Mathurin Forestier|Forestier]]), or chant ([[Antoine de Févin|Fevin]] and [[Pierre de la Rue|La Rue]]'s ''Missae de feria'').{{sfn|Bloxam|2000|p=196}} Josquin's two canonic masses are not based on existing tunes, and so stand apart from the mainstream. They are closer to the ''[[Missa prolationum]]'' written by Ockeghem, and ''Missa ad fugam'' by [[Marbrianus de Orto|de Orto]], both of which use original melodies in all the voices.{{sfn|Bloxam|2000|p=196}}

Josquin's two canonic masses were published in Petrucci's third book of Josquin masses in 1514; the ''[[Missa ad fugam]]'' is the earlier of the two. It has a head-motif consisting of the whole first Kyrie which is repeated in the beginning of all five movements.{{sfn|Bloxam|2000|p=197}} The canon is restricted to the highest voice, and the [[pitch interval]] between the voices is fixed while the temporal interval varies between only two values; the two free voices generally do not participate in the imitation.{{sfn|Bloxam|2000|pp=197–198}} The precise relationship of Josquin's mass to de Orto's is uncertain, as is Josquin's authorship of the mass.{{sfn|Bloxam|2000|pp=198, 202}}{{sfn|Urquhart|2012}}

No questions of authenticity cloud the ''[[Missa sine nomine (Josquin)|Missa sine nomine]]'', written during Josquin's final years in Condé.{{sfn|Bloxam|2000|p=204}} In contrast to the inflexibility of the canonic scheme in the ''Missa ad fugam'', the temporal and pitch interval of the canon, along with the voices that participate in it, are varied throughout.{{sfn|Bloxam|2000|p=204}} The free voices are more fully integrated into the texture, and frequently participate in imitation with the canonic voices, sometimes preemptively.{{sfn|Bloxam|2000|p=206}}