The Missa Hercules dux Ferrariae is a setting of the Ordinary of the Mass composed by Josquin des Prez, and dedicated to Ercole d'Este I, Duke of Ferrara.
The interest of the Missa Hercules Dux Ferrariae lies in Josquin's association with the court of Ferrara.
However, there are no records of an explicit or formal relationship between Josquin des Prez and the Duke of Ferrara.
The revival of classical drama at the court opened the way to a "lively tradition of secular theatre that lasted through the sixteenth century and is significant for the pre-history of opera."
Ercole negotiated advantageous marriages for all his children to other dynasties and maintained a strategic political alliance with France.
"What we may call the politics of culture at Ferrara under Ercole emerges in part from his carefully calculated dealings with the Papacy on the one hand and the court of France on the other.
When we look at the development of music at Ferrara in his time, the effects of this dual diplomacy are obvious, and it becomes clear why Ferrara, as a virtual client state of French political interests in Italy, should have been able to rise to the level of a musical center of international significance during the thirty-five years of Ercole's reign."
Although not officially documented, it is probable that the Missa Hercules Dux Ferrariae was written during this time.
"Ercole evidently sought a way of securing his worldly fame that would compete with that of Borso but avoid direct comparison, and this ... may be the basis for the glorification of his name and rank that is conveyed in an unprecedented way in Josquin's Missa Hercules Dux Ferrara."
Part of the success of Josquin's Hercules Mass is due to the pitch pattern that was derived from his text.
The compositional style is exclusively polyphonic unlike some of his other pieces which incorporate homophonic passages.
The cantus firmus is almost exclusively in the tenor with four exceptions, once at the beginning of the mass in the Kyrie in the soprano, once in the Sanctus in the alto and twice in the superius in the last section of the Agnus Dei.
However, for climatic purposes, Josquin does write the final section of the Agnus Dei for six voices.