ABSTRACT
The setting of the Marian sequence Inviolata integra et casta es Maria by Josquin Desprez is one of the monuments of Renaissance polyphony. 1 Its canonic treatment of the cantus firmus, its division of the text into three partes, and its decreasing of the time interval between the canonic dux and comes in each of the partes simply confirm that this work is a masterpiece of archetectonic construction. It stands to reason, then, that when another work appears bearing these same traits and setting the same text, the commonality demands some explanation. Costanzo Festa’s setting of Inviolata, like Josquin’s, also divides the text into three sections (unlike all other contemporary settings). 2 It is also canonic and gradually reduces the time interval between the written and realized voices.
