L.L. John Dunstable Veni Sancte Spiritus

John Dunstable was perhaps the earliest master of contrapuntal technique. This piece sounds as if it were one of the slower fugues out of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier. The harmonies are generally modal, however, there are occasional passages in the movement when it is almost possible to hear functional tonality. Landini cadences are abound. The vocal parts are extremely expressive, and criss-cross over one another to create an extremely rich sound. This music seems to be very forward looking considering that Dunstable was one of the earliest composers of the Renaissance.

There are no instruments accompanying the SATB vocals. A very open sort of sound pervades the music. Each voice performs its own function, and no isorhythms are apparent. Areas of chordal structure occur as coincidence of the moving lines.