A Missa De tous biens plaines, one of six mass settings based on Hayne's chanson of the same name, is found in five sources with conflicting attributions. The cantus firmus is quoted almost literally throughout, varying only at approaches to a cadence, and phrases taken from the chanson are frequently split in the middle of a phrase, rather than at a cadence. While this technique is unusual in fifteenth-century practice, it can be found in several masses by Compère. A comparison of this work to Compère's masses, and specifically to his Missa Ominum bonorum plena, reveals additional similarities in compositional approach. Besides being based on the same chanson, both the Missa De tous biens plaines and the Missa Ominum bonorum plena feature a simplicity of cantus firmus setting not found in Compère's other masses, and both have distinctly Marian associations. These similarities suggest that the two masses were composed at approximately the same time, and that both can be convincingly attributed to Compère.

Works: Compère: Missa De tous biens plaine (437-54), Missa Alles regrets (448-50), Missa L'homme armé (448-49), Missa Ominum bonorum plena (448-54).

Sources: Hayne van Ghizeghem: De tous biens plaine (438).

Index Classifications: 1400s

Contributed by: Sherri Winks