Which composition is recognized as the first complete Mass by a known composer?

• A. Messa da Requiem by Verdi
• B. Palestrina's Pope Marcellus Mass
• C. Messe de Notre Dame by Machaut
• D. Mass in B Minor by Bach

Answer: (C)

The idea being tested is identifying the earliest complete Mass setting created by a known composer. Guillaume de Machaut’s Messe de Notre Dame, from the 14th century, is recognized as the first surviving Mass Ordinary that is treated as a single, cohesive work rather than a set of unrelated pieces. It brings together the five standard sections—Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei—into one complete cycle for multiple voices, marking a milestone in how composers began tying the Mass into a unified musical structure.

Verdi’s Messa da Requiem is a 19th-century Requiem mass written for concert performance, not the earliest complete liturgical Mass. Palestrina’s Pope Marcellus Mass is a landmark Renaissance work, but it comes later and is not the first complete Mass by a known composer. Bach’s Mass in B Minor is an extraordinary Baroque synthesis, but again it is not the earliest complete Mass setting.