Over 40 settings of the
Ordinary of the Mass
The ordinary, in Catholic liturgy, Catholic liturgies, refers to the part of the Mass (liturgy), Mass or of the canonical hours that is reasonably constant without regard to the date on which the service is performed. It is contrasted with the ' ...
using the tune ''
L'homme armé
"L'homme armé" () is a secular song from the Late Middle Ages, of the Burgundian School. According to Allan W. Atlas, "the tune circulated in both the Mixolydian mode and Dorian mode (transposed to G)." It was the most popular tune used for mus ...
'' survive from the period between 1450 and the end of the 17th century, making the tune the most popular single source from the period on which to base an
imitation mass.
Some of the ''Missae L'homme armé'' are as follows:
Probably dating from the 1450s:
* ''
Missa L'homme armé'' (
Antoine Busnois
Antoine Busnois (also Busnoys; – before 6 November 1492) was a French composer, singer and poet of early Renaissance music. Busnois and colleague Johannes Ockeghem were the leading European composers of the second half the 15th century, and ...
)
* ''
Missa L'homme armé'' (
Guillaume Dufay
Guillaume Du Fay ( , ; also Dufay, Du Fayt; 5 August 1397 – 27 November 1474) was a composer and music theorist of early Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered the leading European composer of h ...
)
* ''
Missa L'homme armé'' (
Johannes Regis
Johannes Regis (French: ''Jehan Leroy''; – ) was a Netherlandish composer of the Renaissance. He was a well-known composer at the close of the 15th century, was a principal contributor to the Chigi Codex, and was secretary to Guillaume Dufay. ...
) (two: one lost)
* ''
Missa L'homme armé'' (
Johannes Ockeghem
Johannes Ockeghem ( – 6 February 1497) was a Franco-Flemish composer and singer of early Renaissance music. Ockeghem was a significant European composer in the period between Guillaume Du Fay and Josquin des Prez, and he was—with his colle ...
)
* ''
Missa L'homme armé'' (
Guillaume Faugues
Guillaume Faugues (fl. c. 1460–1475) was a French composer of Renaissance music.
Life and career
Very little is known of his life, however, a significant representation of his work survives in the form of five mass settings (a large surviving ...
) (two)
Probably written before 1475:
* ''
Missa L'homme armé'' (
Johannes Tinctoris
Jehan le Taintenier or Jean Teinturier (Latinised as Johannes Tinctoris; also Jean de Vaerwere; – 1511) was a Renaissance music, Renaissance music theory, music theorist and composer from the Franco-Flemish School, Low Countries. Up to his ...
)
* ''
Missa L'homme armé'' (
Firminus Caron)
* ''
Missa L'homme armé'' (Cycle of six masses, from an anonymous manuscript from
Naples
Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
)
Probably written before 1500:
* ''
Missa L'homme armé'' (
Mathurin Forestier)
* ''
Missa L'homme armé'' (
)
* ''
Missa L'homme armé super voces musicales
The ''Missa L'homme armé super voces musicales'' is the first of two settings of the Ordinary of the Mass by Josquin des Prez using the famous ''L'homme armé'' tune as his cantus firmus source material (for the other, presumed later, setting see ...
'' (
Josquin des Prez
Josquin Lebloitte dit des Prez ( – 27 August 1521) was a composer of High Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he was a central figure of the ...
)
* ''
Missa L'homme armé sexti toni
''Missa L'homme armé sexti toni'' is probably the latter of two '' L'homme arme'' masses by Josquin des Prez, both published in 1502. " sexti toni" refers to the use of the sixth Gregorian mode. It uses Paraphrase technique in which the ''L'ho ...
'' (Josquin des Prez)
* ''
Missa L'homme armé'' (
Loyset Compère
Loyset Compère ( – 16 August 1518) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. Of the same generation as Josquin des Prez, he was one of the most significant composers of motets and chansons of that era, and one of the first musicia ...
)
* ''
Missa L'homme armé'' (
Bertrandus Vaqueras)
* ''
Missa L'homme armé'' (
Philippe Basiron)
* ''
Missa L'homme armé'' (
Antoine Brumel
Antoine Brumel (c. 1460 – 1512 or 1513) was a French composer. He was one of the first renowned French members of the Franco-Flemish School, Franco-Flemish school of the Renaissance music, Renaissance, and, after Josquin des Prez, was one of t ...
)
* ''
Missa L'homme armé'' (
Marbrianus de Orto
Marbrianus de Orto (Dujardin; also Marbriano, Marbrianus; – January or February 1529) was a Dutch composer of the Renaissance (Franco-Flemish school). He was a contemporary, close associate, and possible friend of Josquin des Prez, and was on ...
)
Written after 1500:
* ''
Missa L'homme armé'' (
Robert Carver)
* ''
Missa L'homme armé'' (
Matthaeus Pipelare
Matthaeus Pipelare ( – ) was a Dutch School (music), Netherlandish composer, choir director, and possibly wind instrument player of the Renaissance music, Renaissance.
He was from Leuven, Louvain, and spent part of his early life in Antwerp. U ...
)
* ''
Missa L'homme armé'' (
Pierre de la Rue
Pierre de la Rue ( – 20 November 1518) was a Franco-Flemish composer and singer of the Renaissance. His name also appears as Piersson or variants of Pierchon and his toponymic, when present, as various forms of de Platea, de Robore, or de Vic ...
) (two)
* ''
Missa L'homme armé'' (
Cristóbal Morales) (two)
* ''
Missa L'homme armé'' (
Francisco de Peñalosa
Francisco de Peñalosa (c. 1470 – April 1, 1528) was a Spanish composer of the middle Renaissance.
Life
He was born in Talavera de la Reina in the province of Toledo. He spent most of his career in Seville, serving as the ''maestro di capi ...
)
* ''
Missa L'homme armé'' (
Andreas de Silva)
* ''
Missa L'homme armé'' (
Vitalis Venedier)
* ''
Missa L'homme armé'' (
Francisco Guerrero) (two)
* ''
Missa L'homme armé'' (
Ludwig Senfl
Ludwig Senfl (born around 1486, died between December 2, 1542 and August 10, 1543) was a Swiss composer of the Renaissance, active in Germany. He was the most famous pupil of Heinrich Isaac, was music director to the court of Maximilian I, Holy ...
)
* ''
Missa L'homme armé'' (
Palestrina
Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; , ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Prenestina. It is built upon ...
) (two)
* ''
Missa L'homme armé'' (
Giacomo Carissimi
(Gian) Giacomo Carissimi (; baptized 18 April 160512 January 1674) was an Italian composer and music teacher. He is one of the most celebrated masters of the early Baroque or, more accurately, the Roman School of music. Carissimi established the ...
)
More recent ''L'homme armé'' works
*
Peter Maxwell Davies
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music.
As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Music ...
who wrote ''Missa super l'homme armé'' (1968, rev. 1971; for male or female speaker or singer and ensemble)
* ''
The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace'' by
Karl Jenkins
Sir Karl William Pamp Jenkins, , Honorary Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, HonFLSW (born 17 February 1944) is a Welsh multi-instrumentalist and composer. His best known works include the song "Adiemus (song), Adiemus" (1995, from the Adi ...
*
Helmut Eder
Helmut Eder (December 26, 1916, Linz – February 8, 2005, Salzburg) was an Austrian composer.
Eder studied until 1948 at the Linz Conservatory, later studying with Johann Nepomuk David in Stuttgart and Carl Orff in Munich. Returning to Linz, ...
Organ Concerto on ''L'homme armé''
*
Paulo Costa Lima
Paulo Costa Lima (born 1954 in Salvador, Bahia) is a senior Brazilian composer and music theorist, which has won more than 20 national and international Prizes and Commissions along his career. A member of the Brazilian Academy of Music, Costa Li ...
who wrote ''Atotô do L'homme armé para Orquestra de Câmara'' op. 39 (1993)
*
Christopher Marshall (composer)
Christopher Marshall (born 1956 in Paris, France) is a New Zealand classical music composer who resides in Orlando, Florida, United States.
His works include choral works, works for chamber ensemble, orchestral music and works for concert band, ...
''L'homme armé'': Variations for Wind Ensemble
*
Margaret Sandresky Organ Mass "L'homme armé" (1979)
*Joel Thompson, ''
The Seven Last Words of the Unarmed
''Seven Last Words of the Unarmed'' is a choral composition by Atlanta-based composer Joel Thompson (composer), Joel Thompson.
The piece contains seven movements, each of which quotes the last words of an unarmed Black man before he was killed. ...
''
References
* David Fallows: "L'homme armé." Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed April 8, 2007)
(subscription access)* A comprehensive survey of l'homme armé masses, other (including contemporary) pieces that use the theme, and all sorts of other things around it can be found at https://lhommearmemissen.blogspot.com/.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Missa L'homme arme
Anonymous musical compositions
Songs in French
Masses (music)
Renaissance chansons