Taverner, John: Four And Five Part Masses

Taverner’s 4 & 5part masses are shorter & simpler than his elaborately festal 6-part settings of the Ordinary. The 4part Plainsong Mass is, for its time, unusually limited in its range of note values. The 5-part Mean Mass shows a continental unity of texture, rather than the marked differentiation between melody & rhythm that is more typical of early Tudor style. The Mass The Western Wind employs a secular cantus firmus and a resourceful variation technique. Quemadmodum are also included.