Patterns for Sixteenth- to Early-Seventeenth-Century Portuguese Polyphonic Settings of the Requiem Mass

Because of the relatively late date of their sources, it is difficult to ascertain when most of the surviving 16th- and early-17th-century Portuguese polyphonic settings of the Mass for the Dead were probably composed. Undoubtedly two, per haps three of them predate the acceptance of the reformed Roman liturgy but all the other are later than 1570. Like with the Spanish settings, an intimate relation to chant and its performance practices characterize Portuguese Requiem masses. These determine for each movement which segments are to be set polyphonically, which are to be varied in texture, and which are to be performed monophonically. Also, use of chant as a structural cantus firmus usually with little elaboration and presented in full as a distinct element of the polyphonic texture and chant paraphrase give Portuguese and Spanish settings the appearance of a uniform repertory. Structural and stylistic models for Portuguese polyphonic settings of the Requiem mass are thus likely to be found in Spain. After a brief overview of the extant repertory and its features, this essay will seek to show how the earliest Portuguese polyphonic settings of the Mass for the Dead are closer to examples presumably of Castilian origin while later settings follow Andalusian-related trends for the genre.