Missa La sol fa re mi

The Missa La sol fa re mi is a musical setting of the mass by Josquin des Prez, first published in 1502.

"Lascia fare mi" ("leave it to me", or possibly in a more idiomatic translation, "let me do it") was supposedly a common phrase used by an unknown aristocrat to get people to stop pestering him with requests or complaints.

'"[1] The musical syllables La-Sol-Fa-Re-Mi correspond to A-G-F-D-E in the "natural" hexachord, the six notes starting on C. There have been several attempts to date the mass, and opinions of Josquin scholars differ, placing it variously between the late 1470s and the 1490s.

Cem apparently made endless impossible promises and was singularly irritating; this in addition to the vogue in Italy in the 1490s for Turkish fashion (as seen in the turban Josquin wears in his woodcut portrait) has suggested that Josquin may have been poking fun at Cem with the mass – who also steadfastly refused to convert to Christianity.

[4][5] As is the case with most mass settings in the middle Renaissance, it consists of the following parts: It is mainly in Phrygian mode, although with numerous shifts to Aeolian and Dorian.

Woodcut of Josquin des Prez; the turban he is wearing is indicative of a fashion in 1490s Italy, possibly related to the circumstances of composition of the *Missa La sol fa re mi.* ^{[

1

]}