In the year 1563 Orlando di Lasso succeeded Ludwig Daser as Kapellmeister at the court of Albrecht V in Munich. From the evidence presented in a small group of choir books written around this time and now held in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich, the composition of parody masses by members of the chapel itself had taken on increased importance for the group of composers who worked with the new director. Whereas most manuscripts from the early 1560s still contained masses written either by Daser himself (e.g. Mus. Ms. 18) or by other well-known contemporaries, such as Clemens non Papa or Cipriano de Rore or even Palestrina (e.g. Mus. Mss. 40, 45 and 46), four choir books, all written around 1565, are devoted principally to parody masses by Lasso and the new circle of composers around him (Mus. Mss. 17, 51, 54, and 2746). These include minor figures, such as Johannes Lockenburg, Gottfried Palmarts and Johannes Flori, as well as the better-known Ivo de Vento and Anton Gosswin, but two names stand out in particular, namely Lasso himself and Andrea Gabrieli, the latter represented by no fewer than four masses.

Within this group of choir books, Mus. Ms. 17 stands out both by virtue of its external features and the uniformity of its contents. It seems to have held a special place of honor.