The Polyphonic Mass in Early Lutheran Central Europe

Investigates the reception and performance history of the polyphonic mass in Lutheran Central Europe from ca. 1540—1600.

The five—movement polyphonic Mass Ordinary emerged from the cultural and liturgical practices of medieval Roman Catholicism and became the pre—eminent large—scale musical genre of early modern Europe. By the end of the sixteenth century, the polyphonic mass remained a core musical genre among Catholics despite gaining widespread popularity within a new institution fundamen...