Liturgical Music, History of

views updated

LITURGICAL MUSIC, HISTORY OF

PART 1: EARLY CHRISTIAN MUSIC

The historical development of music in Christian worship is intimately connected with the history of liturgy on the one hand and with the general history of music on the other. Until the late Middle Ages there is no history of music except that related to the liturgy. After that time, in addition to liturgical music, religious music that was not intended primarily for public worship can also be found. Such music, then, is a part of the history of church music, although it does not form part of the history of liturgical music.

Music in Apostolic Times . There is no doubt that the early Christian communities simply continued the musical practices of the Jewish synagogues that they had been accustomed to attend. For the Synaxis (Liturgy of the Word) the synagogue practice served as the model. Readings from Scripture were followed by Psalm singing. At least the differentiation between the roles of the Cantor and congregation was a clear one. The cantor was also permitted a kind of improvised, charismatic song of joy. It is difficult to determine whether in Ephesians 5.19 St. Paul is referring to three different types of musical pieces in the Christian community or using three terms to describe the same phenomenon: ψαλμοîς κα μνοις κα δα[symbol omitted]ς πνευματικαîς. In Colossians 3.16, however, he uses the same division. It must be remembered that the Jewish synagogues in the diaspora had already adopted the Greek language, and Hellenistic musical practices could also have made inroads into the traditional chants.

Theories of Jewish Origins of Gregorian Chant. All critics agree that the descriptions of musical practice in the Jewish temple have nothing in common with the Christian chant. The most difficult problem is to ascertain the degree to which the Gregorian chant as known today has been influenced by Jewish chants, specifically from the synagogue practices of the time of Christ. In answering this question, certain facts must be considered: the first notated sources for the Gregorian chant come from the ninth century (before that time only literary references to music exist); there is no way of finding out the exact nature of Hebrew chants in the early Christian centuries. Even if one assumes that the Gregorian melodies, as written down for the first time in the ninth century, go back in basic form for several centuries as an oral tradition, there is no exact parallel in the Hebrew chant with which to compare it. The assumption that several Jewish groups have retained an oral tradition untampered by Western practice for almost two millennia seems difficult to accept. The Hebrew literary forms, especially the antithetical structure of the Psalms, were carried into early Christian practice. Beyond this, all one can say is that the general musical system common to the Jewish, Syriac and Hellenized communities became the musical system for early Christianity. The fragment of the Oxyrhynchos papyrus (third century), which contains the fragment of a hymn written in classical Greek notation, shows that the musical practice was of the type associated with the Near East basin, i.e., diatonic and based on modal formulas related to the octoechos, and had nothing in common with the descriptions and few musical fragments of classical Greek music that have survived.

Descriptions of Musical Practices in the Early Patristic Period. The improvised, charismatic song associated especially with the Alleluiacontinued in Christian worship, although the dangers of pride and theatricality are often alluded to. A distinction in this regard between the roles of cantor, lector and deacon is often difficult. In the West, it was Gregory who took the melismatic song from the deacon. The general musical practice, however, was of the litany or refrain type (see responsorial psalm). After verses of the Psalms sung by a cantor, the congregation sang a simple refrain. In addition to this practice, there is an allusion in St. Basil to the practice of dividing the congregation into two groups for alternating verses of the Psalms; Basil maintains that this practice was not unique to his region. Various sources for the origin of this practice are given, with Ambrose being cited as the originator of the practice in the West (Augustine, Conf. 9.7). Although the Eastern Church had developed free hymnody and poetry as a part of the liturgical service (especially St. Ephrem), the West was slower to adopt such a practice. After the time of Ambrose, hymnody became a structural part of the Divine Office in addition to Psalms and Biblical lessons. The first allusion in the West to the manner of Psalm singing, which was to become the standard medieval practice, namely the taking over of the responsorial refrain into the antiphonal or alternating style, is found in Cassian (early fifth century). From the fifth century on, less is known of the manner in which the people participated at services; the reason for this lack of knowledge is that the purpose of the surviving descriptions was to recount monastic and basilical practices.

Attitudes toward Music among the Fathers . The rejection of all musical instruments from Christian worship is consistent among the Fathers. These were associated with pagan, orgiastic rites. For this reason the descriptions in the Old Testament of the temple worship with different kinds of instruments were interpreted allegorically. The heavy influence of Platonic musical aesthetics can be found in the Fathers, especially in Clement of Alexandria and Chrysostom (probably through the writings of Philo). Plato insisted on the need to control the music of the community in order to protect morals. Once the proper number for music was found, it should not be abandoned. The Psalms, thus argued Chrysostom, were divinely given to the Church and were the inspired word. They were the earthly reflection of the divine harmony. In general, the Fathers could be divided into two classes in their attitude toward music: those who accepted it and its beauty, provided the vox and mens were in agreement (Basil, Cassiodorus and Benedict); and those who feared the pleasures of music as contrary to the ascetical Christian ideal (Jerome is the supreme example).

Families of Chant . Concommitant with the rise of the various families of Western rites there arose families of Western chant: ambrosian, gallican, mozarabic and gregorian. They all show musical relationships to the contemporaneous byzantine chant and a certain interdependency among themselves that musicologists have not accurately determined.

Bibliography: h. hucke, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, eds., j. hofer and k. rahner, 10 v. (2d, new ed. Freiburg 195765) 4:429433. t. georgiades, Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 7 v. (3d ed. Tübingen 195765) 4:120717. h. leclercq, "Chant romain et grégorien," Dictionnaire d'archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie, eds., f. cabrol, h. leclercq and h. i. marrou, 15 v. (Paris 190753) 3.1:256311. b. stÄblein, "Choral," Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, ed. f. blume (Kassel-Basel 1949) 2:12651303; "Frühchristliche Musik," ibid. 4:103664. e. werner, The Sacred Bridge (New York 1959). t. gÉrold, Les Pères de l'Eacute; glise et la musique (Strasbourg 1931). e. wellesz, Eastern Elements in Western Chant (Oxford 1947). h. anglÈs, "Latin Chant before St. Gregory," New Oxford History of Music, ed. j. a. westrup, 11 v. (New York 1957) 2:5891. j. quasten Musik und Gesang in den Kulten der heidnischen Antike und christlichen Frühzeit (Münster 1930).

[r. g. weakland/eds.]

PART 2: MONOPHONIC MUSIC TO 1200

The oral traditions of the Christian communities and monasteries (until the invention of musical notation in the ninth century) must have varied greatly one from another. If Pope Gregory the Great at the beginning of the seventh century supposedly attempted to bring some order into the liturgical makeup, it is hardly conceivable, given the lack of means of communication of the times, that any uniformity could have been attained in music. The founding of the Roman schola cantorum and the erecting of monastic chapters at the major basilicas gave life to a Roman chant tradition that became more and more subtle and complex. Darkness still shrouds much of the story, as no musical manuscripts from the period are available. That the reign of the Byzantine popes in the seventh century also had an influence on music can only be surmised.

The Carolingian Period . Before the Carolingian period there was no attempt to keep a musical unity in Christendom, but the concept of Holy Roman Empire included liturgicaland thus musicalimitations of Roman usages. Cantors and liturgical books were brought up to the Carolingian court for diffusion of the Roman practice throughout the empire. The different Gallican usages were to be suppressed in favor of the cantilena romana, although Walafrid Strabo (b. 808), a generation later, mentions that those with an ear for music could still recognize the old Gallican tunes in the revised hymnody.

The first Western music that is written down and can be subjected to a critical analysis is gregorian chant. Manuscripts containing the chant appear all over the Empire beginning with the late ninth century. Whether it was the original Roman chant brought north, or a hybrid of Roman and local Gallican practices remains a disputed question, although more scholars favor the latter theory. From the theoretical treatises beginning with the midninth century, the actual fragments from the same century, and the full manuscripts of the tenth century, it is clear that the musical repertoire of that time was a vast and highly developed one. The Ordines romani show the numerous adaptations of Roman liturgical practice as well as the need for skilled cantors and leaders (called primicerius and secundicerius ). The music recorded is not that sung by the people, but by the trained scholae of clerics and monks. The antiphonale missarum or Graduale for the Mass chants and the antiphonale for the Office chants contained most of the music needed for the complete year. When the teaching of this standard repertoire resulted in considerable inconvenience, tonaria were developed. The chants were arranged by modal similarities in them for easier memorization and reading. The special chants reserved to the soloists were written in the cantatorium. The survival of many copies of these books from the tenth century onward makes possible an accurate history of liturgical music from that time. However, not only do we know nothing of the music of the people at this point of history, but we are also totally ignorant of nonliturgical or folk music before the 12th century.

Additions to the Standard Repertoire . The chant repertoire was soon augmented by freely composed additions of texts and melodies that gave birth to tropes and sequences. The need for new outlets for the creative imaginations of the post-Carolingian cantors must have come as a result of the rigidity of the standard repertoire. The tropes and sequences permitted the introduction on a given feast of more popular elements and more local allusions. Although there is some evidence that a basic repertoire of these new pieces somehow made its way across the Empire, the differences in the extant collections from various abbeys are large. It is clear that the lengthening of the services by long processions and incensations may have contributed to the need for more music not provided by the standard repertoire. St. Martial at Limoges, France, and Sankt Gallen in present Switzerland were renowned sources for this activity.

Liturgical Drama. Out of the dialogue trope, especially that which preceded the Introit, there arose the liturgical drama. Again, it permitted more popular and more didactic elements to enter the liturgy and provided opportunity for freer creativity on the part of the composer. These dramas became larger and larger until they separated entirely from the liturgy.

Other New Compositions. The special talents of the composer from the Carolingian period until the 12th century and beyond also found outlets in the composition of rimed offices. As new feasts were introduced, experimentation with verse texts and rhythmical patterns found its counterpart in music. The numerous processions connected with monastic services gave birth to a special book called the processionale. In it could be found new responsories and antiphons to be sung on special feasts as well as metrical conductus or processional hymns. The influence of the growing secular forms that culminated in the troubadours could also be seen in the Latin planctus or laments (reaching their peak in those by Abelard) and the new vernacular laudi, cantigas and Geisslerlieder. These new popular forms became especially prominent after the 13th century. During this entire period new compositions of the Ordinary of the Mass in chant continued, both troped and untroped.

Special Chant Traditions . Within the Gregorian tradition one cannot distinguish families as markedly different as were the Gregorian and Ambrosian, for example, but different religious orders and different localities did develop traits peculiar to themselves. Thus the Beneventan tradition in Italy differed from the German not only in notation but also in many particular usages. In England the early Gregorian practices merged with new elements after the Norman invasion to form a chant dialect called Sarum (see sarum use). The Cistercian reform also affected music and many of the more elaborate chants were brought into simple patterns. The Dominican chant also has its peculiar flavor.

Gregorian chant continued to be used in services long after the new elements listed above and the use of polyphonic music took over the major interests of composers. As it came down through the centuries, this chant was constantly affected by secular music of the times and by contemporary styles and idioms. Attempts to restore it to its pristine vigor have been constant. It can be said, however, that it reached its apogee in the Carolingian and post-Carolingian period and never regained the subtlety evidenced in the earliest manuscripts of that time. It was only natural that composers, after exhausting the musical means of one style, should have turned so avidly to the possibilities of the new polyphony.

Bibliography: w. apel, Gregorian Chant (Bloomington, Ind.1958). h. anglÈs, "Gregorian Chant," New Oxford History of Music, ed. j. a. westrup, 11 v. (New York 1957) 2:92127. j. handschin, "Trope, Sequence, and Conductus," ibid. 128174. s. corbin, L'Église à la conquête de sa musique (Paris 1960). a. gastouÉ, Les Origines du chant romain (Paris 1907). o. ursprung, Die katholische Kirchenmusik (Potsdam 1931). p. wagner, Einführung in die gregorianischen Melodien, 3 v. (Leipzig).

[r. g. weakland/eds.]

PART 3: POLYPHONIC MUSIC, ORIGINS TO 1450

The ninth century, the era of the carolingian renaissance, with its palace school and liturgical reforms, had also provided the first example of written counterpoint in the anonymous treatise Musica enchiriadis [M. Gerbert, Scriptores ecclesiastici de musica sacra potissimum, 3 v. (Milan 1931) 2:168]. There is no certain evidence as to what extent either written or unwritten part music may have existed before then.

Early Organum . The examples in Musica enchiriadis are all syllabic, note against note and very short. They are called organum, the name given until c. 1250 to all the various styles of polyphony that involve a liturgical melody and added voice parts. Some, called "strict," proceed in simple parallel motion at the fourth or fifth; others, called "free," have oblique motion as well.

A gap of more than 100 years occurred before the next important treatise, a chapter in guido of arezzo's Micrologus (c. 1040), where counterpoint is more firmly established by introducing the concept of planned contrary motion at the cadences (occursus ): major second or third to unison. Examples reveal also the crossing of parts; and free organum is preferred to strict. Outside the theoretical treatises, the largest number of examples of polyphonyabout 164 organais found in the 11th-century manuscript Corpus Christi College 473, called the Winchester Troper.

The music of Winchester confirms the theorists' statements on contrary motion, but the pitches cannot be transcribed accurately since the example are written with staffless (cheironomic) neums. Two other manuscripts, Lucca 603 and Chartres 109, are written with neums on staves; hence their music can be transcribed accurately with regard to pitch but not to rhythm. The striking example from the Chartres manuscript ignores the theorists' rules of perfect consonances in order to build lines with color and strength.

Toward the year 1080, the start of a renaissance that was to last through the 12th century made its appearance with some of the finest Romanesque buildings, the Chanson de Roland, the earliest troubadours, and the first substantial growth in polyphony. Four manuscripts from the Limoges district, probably from the monastery of St. Martial [Bibliothèque Nationale lat. 1.1139 (late 11th century), BN 1.3459, 3749 (12th century), and British Museum add. 36881 (early 13th century)] contain poly-phonic works. Most are written with neums that are heighted or on a staff (diastematic), so that the pitches are clear. Transcription of rhythm, however, involves so much guesswork that scholars differ widely in their interpretation. The most striking device is the lengthening of the chant, or tenor, notes to sometimes as long as 26 notes of the added voice (as in Jubilemus exultemus, BN1.1139, fol. 41), so that actual perception as melody is excluded. It sounds more like a series of drones at various levels, a method later developed by the Notre Dame school. On fol. 60' of BN 1.1139, the upper voice of the Benedicamus Domino is troped, i.e., has its own separate text added to the melody and text of the liturgical tenor (see trope). This device qualifies it as an example of the early motet, a polyphonic form that was to become prominent during the 13th century. In the melismatic passages of many pieces the beginnings of masterful contrapuntal technique appear. These passages alternate sensitively with the note-against-note passages and lose the angularity of more primitive counterpoint. The quality of melody, however, differs from chant, with many melodic sequences and sweeping descents. Extraordinary passages like those below contain some of the earliest examples of exchanged voices, called Stimmtausch, as well as imitation.

Another manuscript, copied c. 1140, the Codex Calixtinus in the cathedral library in Compostela, Spain, has 20 two-part organa and the oldest known three-part piece, Congaudeant catholici. The middle voice appears to have been interpolated later; some parts of it function as a filler, being without melodic interest.

The Ars Antiqua (The Old Art) . The first contrapuntal school to produce music of international acclaim was that of Notre Dame, which flourished in and near Paris during the late 12th and early 13th centuries. Its music may be found in three 13th-century manuscripts: Florence Biblioteca Laurenziana Pl. 29.1 (F), Wolfenbüttel Bibliothek 677 (W1) and 1206 (W2), each containing over 190 closely written pages of polyphony. As this music was performed in monasteries and cathedrals throughout Europe, large and small collections may be found in 60 or more other manuscripts copied as far away as Spain, England and Bavaria. Although not all the rhythmic problems have been worked out, most of the transcriptions done recently are faithful enough to convey the poetical aspects of the music and warrant performance in church, concert, or recording.

The original Notre Dame collection was called the Magnus liber organi (Great Book of Organa), and, according to the English theorist known to musicologists as Anonymous IV [H. Coussemaker, Scriptorum de musica medii aevi nova series, 4 v. (Paris 186476) 1:342], it included settings for the feast days of the entire ecclesiastical year written by the composer lÉonin and partly rewritten by his successor, pÉrotin. Anonymous IV stated that the Magnus liber was in use at the cathedral of Paris until his own day (c. 1280); this, however, is not proof that it originated there. The Magnus liber has not survived, but the organa common to all three Notre Dame manuscripts, as well as those common to F and W2, are considered by Husmann to have belonged to that original collection [Musical Quarterly (New York 1915) 49:311330]. Léonin and his successors set the Proper rather than the Ordinary of the Mass, together with the solo parts of the Gradual and Alleluia and some responsorial sections of the Office, leaving the choral parts of the service to be sung in unison as on the nonfestive days of the year.

The chief difference between a Saint-Martial and a Notre Dame organum was that the latter was organized according to one of six repeated patterns of rhythm called modi. These patterns were varied at irregular intervals by omitting a weak beat (fusio modi ), inserting a rest (pausatio ), or by breaking a note into several quick ornaments (fractio modi ); these variations, however, never obscured the patterns. The syllabic sections of the tenor could stretch out beneath the upper melisma in even longer drones than at Saint-Martial, sometimes lasting 40 measures. The added voice or voices crossed and recrossed one another as in the earlier styles of organum, though by Pérotin's time the phrases had become short and clearcut. Phrases usually began and ended on perfect consonances, touching unisons midway. The perfect consonances appeared, too, on most accented beats, the other beats carrying any of the other intervals.

New in Notre Dame was the treatment of the melismatic sections of the chant tenor, reshaped rhythmically into one of the modi, often a slower modus than that of the added voice. These sections were called discantus or clausulae. The measuring of both or all voices, together with the heritage of unifying devices from Saint-Martial and Léonin, made possible the construction of really interesting works in three parts by Pérotin and his contemporaries. Before the turn of the century, Pérotin wrote the first four-part works, Viderunt (F, fol. 1) and Sederunt (W1 fol. 1). The clausulae form the link with the two later periods of the Ars antiqua, as many were transformed into motets by adding texts to the upper voices. Later, original motets were composed. Starting as a sacred form, the motet underwent secular influence, and love songs, often frivolous and imaginative, were added to the liturgical tenors or even combined with sacred verse in another voice. The counterpoint continued to gain its marvelous linear liberty, which combined with increasing vertical subtlety.

The rhythmic changes occurring during the 12th and 13th centuries kept the notational systems in an almost constant state of flux. Among the theorists were John of Garland, Walter Odington, Johannes de Grocheo, as well as the above mentioned Anonymous IV. Two theorists undertook important reforms of notation. In the mid-13th century, franco of cologne facilitated exactness in reading by assigning definite time values to the conventional note forms then in use (Ars cantus mensurabilis; Scriptorum de musica medii aevi nova series, 1:117). At the end of the century, petrus de cruce introduced further notational innovations to facilitate distinction among the smaller note values.

The Ars Nova (The New Art) . A new musical spirit appeared early in the 14th century. The six rhythmic patterns of the 12th-and 13th-century modi, which had long served as means of unification, now became a prison. The musical idea of the 14th century usually found expression in complicated rhythms, often with iambic and trochaic figures in the same phrase. Triple rhythm had been the norm during the time of the ars antiqua, with duple as the exception; now both were the norm, with the duple indicated at first by red notation (e.g., manuscript BN1.146, Le Roman de Fauvel ), later by time signatures. Sometimes one voice alternated rapidly with rests in the other (the "hocket"). The first musical canon had appeared in France in 1288 and was followed by many others.

The traditional employment of rhythmic figures as unifying devices continued, however, in a new way. The 13th-century patterns (ostinati ) were replaced by whole complicated phrases, sometimes as long as ten measures, which were repeated several times with fresh pitches (isorhythm). The working out of so much that was new in counterpoint and organization involved a temporary neglect in the setting of words, the latter becoming a mere pretext, sometimes, for the setting of multiple lines.

In a time of profound change it is inevitable that there be modernists and conservatives. Many of the innovations were condemned by the Docta sanctorum (1322) of Pope John XXII. Composers were accused of arbitrary interruptions in melody, addition of frivolous vernacular texts to the sacred chants, and, in general, of preferring modern to ancient music. The Docta sanctorum went so far as to regulate technical details, permitting only the Pythagorean fourth, fifth and eighth (octave) in counterpoint, over a chant tenor that must be rhythmically unaltered. Although parts of this letter are understandable in view of the bold procedures that were just beginning, it is unfortunate that it was written before the characteristic 14th-century works had appeared. Those who drafted it could not realize how the new style would be made to speak in a work as august as Guillaume de machaut's Mass (transcribed in 1949 by G. Van, in Corpus mensurabilis musicae, ed. American Institute of Musicology, 2). This great monument of the 14th century, the first known polyphonic Mass to be written by one person, combines solid tradition, in its isorhythmic foundation, with wild audacity, especially in its astounding rhythms and intervals. The Kyrie, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei have sections with isorhythm in all voices, some contrasting sharply with others in speed. The Gloria and Credo prolong the conductus tradition, alternating between marching block chords and held chords. The whole disconcerting and exalting work is united by five or more motifs, some appearing in each movement. Machaut brought high refinement, astonishing melodies, and unexpected chromatics to the other forms that he inherited the lai, complainte, virelai, rondeau, and ballade. His double ballade has two simultaneous texts. His motets, like the Mass, have the traditional base of isorhythm, though in extremely complex phrases, which are sometimes repeated in diminution. His works can be found in over 30 manuscripts, most of them transcribed by Friedrich Ludwig.

Among composer-theorists, two leaders of the new movement were Philippe de vitry and Johannes de Muris. Vitry introduced the term Ars nova (c. 1325) as the title to a treatise that, however, deals mainly with notational rather than musical innovations (see Scriptorum de musica medii aevi nova series ). In his compositions there are numerous complete chords, some tonal cadences and passages with consecutive thirds. Both composers frequently raised the seventh degree to function as leading tone (musica falsa ), and sometimes even the fourth degree in the same cadence, as leading tone to the dominant, forming a cadence with a strangely modern sound (Burgundian cadence). The tracts of Johannes de Muris are available in Scriptorum de musica medii aevi nova series by H. Coussemaker, Scriptores ecclesiastici de musica sacra potissimum by M. Gerbert and Source Readings in Music History edited by O. Strunk.

The period between Machaut and dufay, known as that of the mannerists [W. Apel, The Notation of Polyphonic Music (4th, rev. ed. Cambridge, Mass. 1949) 403435], produced much secular and some sacred music with even more complicated rhythms than before, with a tendency for recherché combinations and picturesqueness. Composers in France were Baude Caurdier (fl. c. 1400), Jean Tapissier, Cesaris, Grimace and many others.

Some music for religious dance, appearing in a manuscript at Sens, consists of a liturgical Gradual reshaped isorhythmically, with indications for the steps (J. Chailley, 21:18).

In Italy the first part of the 14th century saw French ars nova influence, with copies of French works in Italian manuscripts; later there was influence of French on Italian forms. This period is represented by Giovanni da Cascia (130050) and Jacopo da Bologna. Little sacred music has survived. Composition in the last part of the century was dominated by the blind organist of Florence, Francesco landini (132597), who astonished and moved everyone by the speed and delicacy of his playing on the portative organ and who won the laurel crown reserved for poets and emperors. He introduced some of the complexities of Machaut's style, to which he added an Italian sweetness of melody. His contemporaries were Partolino da Padua, Paolo Tenorista, Ghirardello da Firenze and Johannes ciconia, among many others. A typical style involved moving two voices together, the upper one with added ornaments, as in Bartolino's setting for the Credo (in G. de Van, Les Monuments de l'Ars Nova ). The consecutive thirds are noteworthy. For further examples of this music, see N. Pirrotta and L. Ellenwood (in bibliog.). Important manuscripts are manuscript Torino Bibl. Naz. J II 9 (ed. Hopper) and manuscript Firenze Bibl. Laur. Squarcialuppi Pal. 87 (ed. J. Wolf). The chief theorists were Marchettus of Padua, who wrote a comparison of French and Italian notation, Pomerium musica mensurata (Scriptores ecclesiastici de musica sacra potissimum, 3:121), Prosdocimo de Beidemandis (Scriptorum de musica medii aevi nova series, 3:218) and Ugolino of Orvieto (see F. X. Haberl, in bibliog.). Ugolino clarified some of the rules of musica falsa.

In 14th-century England, Worcester appears to have been the important center. The chief English contribution was the use of the sixth chord in parallel motion, with the liturgical chant in the lowest voice (discant). There was much reciprocal influence between England and France. The composer who dominated early 15th-century England was John dunstable (d.1453), musician and astronomer. His music, although essentially in the style of the French ars nova, avoided that school's artificial modernism, having a transparent beauty and naturalness destined later to characterize the works of the early Renaissance. Others of the early 15th-century English school were the insular composers Cooke, Damett and Sturgeon, and the Continental ones, Lionel power and Bedingham. A manuscript known as Old Hall, at the Catholic College of St. Edmonds, contains Mass parts and hymns by many of these composers (ed. A. Ramsbotham and H. Collins). Dunstable's complete works were edited by M. Bukofzer for Musica Britannica. Also in Musica Britannica (v.55) is a collection of 15th-century English carols in two and three parts, which were assembled from a number of manuscripts. Most are in English, the rest in Latin.

Bibliography: f. ludwig, Repertorium organorum et motetorum (Leipzig 1910), descriptive catalogue of the Notre Dame and allied manuscripts. f. gennrich, Bibliographie der ältesten Motetten (Darmstadt 1957). Polyphonia sacra, ed. c. van den borren (rev. ed. University Park, Pa. 1963). Music of Fourteenth-Century Italy, ed. n. pirrotta, [ Corpus mensurabilis musicae, ed. American Institute of Musicology, v.1 (Rome 1947) 8; 1954]; Early Fifteenth-Century Music, ed. g. reaney, (ibid. 11;1955). Les Monuments de l'Ars Nova, ed. g. de van, fasc. 1 (Paris 1938). The Earliest Motets, ed. h. tischler, Corpus mensurabilis musicae, ed. American Institute of Musicology, v.30 (in press), 12th-and early-13th-century motet collections. f. landino, Works, ed. l. ellinwood (Cambridge, Mass. 1939). j. chailley, Histoire musicale du moyen âge (Paris 1950); "Un Document nouveau sur la danse ecclésiastique," Acta musicological, 21 (1949) 1824. w.g. waite, The Rhythm of Twelfth-Century Polyphony (New Haven 1954), with transcriptions of two-part organa in W1. h. husmann, Die Dreiund vierstimmigen Notre-Dame-Organa (Leipzig 1940), with transcriptions of three-and four-part organa; "The Origin and Destination of the Magnus liber organi, " tr. g. reaney, Musical Quarterly, 49 (1963) 311330. e. thurston, The Conductus Compositions in Manuscript Wolfenbuttel 1206 (Doctoral diss. microfilm; N.Y.U. 1954), with transcriptions of conductus in W2. y. rokseth, Polyphonies du XIII e siècle, 4 v. (Paris 193539), with transcriptions of a large 13th-century motet collection. u. kornmÜller, "Musiklehre des Ugolino von Orvieto," Kirchenmusikalisches Jahrbuch, 10 (1895) 1940. f. x. haberl, "Biobibliographische Notizen über Ugolino von Orvieto," ibid. 4049. j. handschin, "The Two Winchester Tropers," Journal of Theological Studies, 37 (1936) 3449, 156172. l. treitler, "The Polyphony of St. Martial," Journal of the American Musicological Society, 17 (1964) 2942. g. reese, Music in the Middle Ages (New York 1940). New Oxford History of Music, ed. j. a. westrup, 11v. (New York 1957) v.2. w. apel, The Notation of Polyphonic Music (4th, rev. ed. Cambridge, Mass. 1949) 201202, list of medieval theorists who discussed notation. Source Readings in Music History, ed. o. strunk (New York 1950). h. coussemaker, Scriptorum de musica medii aevi nova series, 4 v. (Paris 186476). m. gerbert, Scriptores ecclesiastici de musica sacra potissimum, 3 v. (Milan 1931). h. hÜschen, Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, ed. f. blume (Kassel-Basel 1949) 1:679702. h. besseler, ibid. 702729.

[e. thurston/eds.]

PART 4: POLYPHONIC MUSIC, 14501600

The Middle Ages developed a strong organized and measured rhythm. The 15th and 16th centuries saw this trend enhanced by melodic as well as rhythmic fluidity into a contrapuntal art never surpassed.

Music of Northern France and the Low Countries . With the coming of the Guillaume dufay generation, paraphrasing of the chant in Mass compositions became widespread. Often, however, the chant melody was so extensively elaborated as to be hardly recognizable. Composition in the treble-dominated style continued. Complete Mass Ordinaries began to appear in profusion and the cantus-firmus treatment became a chief method of unification. In a cantus-firmus Mass of this period, the chosen melody, sacred or secular, was normally presented by the tenor in relatively long time-values, while the other voices wove constantly fresh polyphony about it.

One method of composition much utilized, especially in hymns, was fauxbourdon, in which the unwritten middle part moved in parallel fourths with the upper part. The result was largely a series of 6/3 and 8/5 chords, in contrast to later Italian falso bordone, which, commonly applied in 16th-century psalmody, employed mainly chords in root position but was similarly chordal (with florid cadences), recitativelike, and given to repetition. Common cadences in the period were the "under-third" (sometimes wrongly called the "Landini sixth"); the "octave-leap," in which the bass leaps up an octave while the tenor crosses below it, and the so-called "Burgundian cadence," which has two different, simultaneously sounding leading tones. The polyphonic flow might occasionally be interrupted by fermata-marked block-chords to emphasize words of special importance.

Sources. The most extensive sources for sacred polyphony dating from c. 1420 to c. 1480 are seven codices compiled at Trent, then under Germanic control. They contain over 1,800 compositions, most of them sacred. An example of a more accurate but smaller source (containing 339 works) is the famous manuscript Q 15 at Bologna.

Composers. Jean Brassart and Arnold de Lantins joined the papal choir in 1431. Arnold's three-voice Mass is among the early complete settings of the Ordinary after machaut. Guillaume Dufay was one of the greatest exponents of French music, regardless of period. He wrote in all the forms and used all the techniques of his day. His Mass on L'Homme armé may be the first in the long list of cantus-firmus Masses based on that celebrated tune. Cantus-firmus style gradually replaced the trebledominated in the Masses of Dufay. His compositions in sequenceand hymn-form illustrate the systematic alternation of plainsong and polyphony, a technique also applied in some of his separate Mass movements.

The tenors of a number of chansons of Gilles Binchois and Antoine Busnois were used as cantus firmi in Masses by later composers. Binchois's motets and Magnificats contain much fauxbourdon -like writing. Johannes Okeghem, who enjoyed a reputation for excellence among his contemporaries, is the acknowledged master of the latter part of the 15th century, as well as the composer of the earliest surviving polyphonic Requiem setting. Okeghem often conspicuously avoided the clear phrase formation found in compositions by Dufay and Busnois and preferred to keep the flow of polyphony constant. His style is characterized by grand, sweeping melodic lines.

Renaissance Style . The small total range that was typical of medieval polyphony, and abetted the frequent crossing of voices, went hand in hand with a sharp differentiation of the individual partswhether in rhythm, in melody, or in the timbres of the performing media. As a wider range came into use, crossing became less frequent and differentiation between the voices less sharp. The growing homogeneity of the voices eventually resulted in the establishment of imitation as the standard technique of the late Renaissance. As to form, the larger structures that were widely cultivated included not only the Mass but also the magnificat, of which whole cycles were written in all the modes (often two examples of each).

Mass Compositions. During the Renaissance, a tendency developed to write complete Mass Ordinaries. The cyclic Mass, in which the sections are related to each other, resulted from an effort to unify the Mass as a whole. Two main types, the cantus-firmus Mass and the "motto" Mass (which involves the use of a head motif), were already being used in the early 15th century. The parody Mass, which is based, not on a single melody, but on the several voices of a polyphonic model, came to be favored by 16th-century composers. The 15th and 16th centuries are notable also for the development of the organ Mass. Here, in certain movements, alternate verses were represented by music solely for organ, the other verses being sung in plainsong.

Theorists. The 12 treatises of Johannes Tinctoris (c. 14351511) form a summa that affords insight into the musical theory of the entire Renaissance. Other theorists active c. 1480 were Franchino Gaforio, whose important contributions include his eight rules of counterpoint and theory of proportions, the Spanish Bartolomé Ramos de Pareja and the German Adam of Fulda. Pietro Aaron, who wrote in the vernacular, desired consistent indication of accidentals and emphasized practical terminology. The Swiss Henricus Glareanus gave separate identity to the Ionian, the Aeolian and their plagals in the traditional system of ecclesiastical modes. Virtually all these provided equivalents for major and minor. Giuseppe Zarlino recognized the difference in effect of major and minor harmonies. He also gave ten rules for underlying words to polyphonic music. Among other important Renaissance theorists were Francisco de Salinas, Domenico Pietro Cerone and Adrianus Petit Coclico.

Music Printing. The first important printer of music other than plainsong was Ottaviano dei Petrucci of Venice. His sacred publications include some 15 collections of Masses and about 15 of motets and other sacred works, such as lamentations and laude.

Franco-Netherlandish Composers (c. 1490c.1560) . In the period of Josquin desprez practically every basic feature of Renaissance music that did not already exist made its appearance. A fusion of the art impulses of Italian and Franco-Netherlandish music was in process and produced the underlying musical style of the late Renaissance. The characteristic qualities of the new music were molded by a large group of singularly gifted composers, all vigorously active at about the same time. Of these, Jacob Obrecht, Alexander Agricola, Heinrich Isaak, Loyset Compère, Josquin Desprez, Antoine Brumel, Pierre de La Rue, Antoine de Févin, Jean Mouton and Carpentras were outstanding. One of the prominent features of Obrecht's Masses is his breaking of a cantus firmus into segments and employing each one repeatedly, reserving a complete consecutive presentation for the tenor or some other voice toward the end. Isaak's monumental Choralis Constantinus (Constantiensis ) is the first comprehensive polyphonic setting of Propers of the Mass spanning the whole Church year. It includes the Propers for all Sundays and for certain feast and saints' days. Of interest among the works of Compère are two "substitution" Masses. Such works consist of a series of motets, each intended to replace a liturgical Mass movement. Josquin Desprez was the foremost composer of the early Renaissance, serving also as a transition to the late Renaissance. Although he is at his very best as a motet composer, where he is not restricted to one text, Desprez is still a central figure in the field of the Mass. His works in this form collectively illustrate all the basic Mass techniques of the entire Renaissance. Here, as elsewhere, his technical virtuosity is such that contrapuntal complexity in no way interferes with apparent spontaneity.

Post-Josquin Period. After Josquin's death, his style was further developed and disseminated throughout Europe by Netherlandish composers. The Franco-Netherlandish style took root on foreign soil, producing masters such as Palestrina in Italy, Victoria in Spain, Senfl in Germany and Byrd in England. A general trend toward simplicity in French writing is evident in the post-Josquin period. A distinct tradition that developed in the French Mass showed a tendency toward chordal writing and a resulting clarity of text. "Word painting"an attempt to depict actual words through musical devices gained in popularity. All these trends were evident in the works of a group now known as the "Paris school," of which Claude de Sermisy and Pierre Certon, both of the Sainte-Chapelle, and Clément Jannequin were the leading representatives. The three most important composers of sacred polyphony in the period between Josquin and Lasso were Nicolas Gombert, Clemens non Papa and Adrian Willaert. In the sacred music of Gombert, pervading imitation is a pronounced trait. Clemens, a prolific writer of motets, composed three-part settings for the Souterliedekens, or "Little Psalter Songs," an extremely popular collection of monophonic settings of the 150 Psalms in Dutch rhymed verse, originally intended for Catholic use outside the church. Willaert spent his last 35 years at St. Mark's in Venice. His main contributions to sacred polyphony in Italy were: (1) the establishment of Franco-Netherlandish technique in church music; (2) the development of choral antiphony; and (3) the cultivation of a "modern" style emphasizing faultless declamation of the text. Other important composers of sacred music in Italy during this period were Costanzo Festa (who spent nearly 30 years in the papal service), Jakob Arcadelt, Nicolò Vicentino, Philippe Verdelot, Jachet Berchem, Jacques Buus and Cipriano de rore. Claude Goudimel, who remained for the most part in France, composed works for Catholic use prior to his becoming a Huguenot c. 1460.

Council of Trent and Church Music . In 1562 a canon was approved at the Council of Trent that banned from church music all seductive or impure melodies, all vain and worldly texts, all outcries and uproars, and decreed that the words be clearly understandable. A minority attempt to restrict the Mass to monophonic setting was rebuffed. Tendencies, already present, toward carefully observing Latin accentuation and curtailing melismas purely on artistic and humanistic grounds, were confirmed by the Commission of Cardinals, which sat following the Council. In response to a need for shorter and simpler polyphonic Masses, the Missa brevis, which happened to conform to the requirements of the Commission, became common. The prestige of plainsong temporarily declined, partly owing to a change in musical ideals to which Gregorian chant no longer conformed.

Late Renaissance Music in Italy (c. 1560c. 1600) . Probably one of the influences persuading the Council to retain polyphony in the Church was the frequent performance at its early sessions of the Preces speciales of Jacobus de Kerle. Kerle, Palestrina, Animuccia, Lasso and Rosselli contributed to the investigation by composing contrapuntal Masses. Among the works of Giovanni Animuccia are two collections of laude spirituali. Laude were canticles of praise to be sung in the evening before the image of the Virgin, a practice dating from the 13th century. The sacred works of Palestrina have long been regarded as embodying the ideal application of polyphony to music for the Catholic Church. They represent the last stage in the development of a style that systematized the handling of dissonance and the use of certain time values in particular rhythmic contexts. Palestrina's predilection for symmetrical structure and quiet harmonies is reminiscent of the Josquin style. Although Palestrina's 105 surviving Masses are, as a group, his greatest contribution, his numerous motets and related works include some of his finest compositions. Among other composers of sacred music active at Rome were the madrigalist Luca Marenzio, Giovanni Maria Nanino, Felice Anerio and Annibale Zoilo.

Other Italian centers made noteworthy contributions. At Modena, Orazio Vecchi wrote sacred works much affected by secular traits. Mantua fostered Giaches de Wert and Giovanni Gastoldi. At Milan, Vincenzo Ruffo, encouraged by Cardinal Borromeo, wrote much in a preponderantly choral style with the specific purpose of meeting the wishes of the Council of Trent, while Orfeo Vecchi, foreshadowing the 17th century, provided his Masses with basso continuo. Among other important composers were Marco Antonio Ingegneri at Cremona, Carlo Gesualdo (Prince of Venosa) at Naples and Giovanni Matteo Asola and Costanzo Porta in cities near Venice. The Venetian composers, as a group, dedicated their best efforts to the motet rather than to the Mass. Andrea Gabrieli and his nephew, Giovanni, both organists at St. Mark's, wrote distinguished polychoral motets.

Renaissance in Spain and Portugal . Spanish music in the 15th century was strongly influenced by that of France, and, increasingly, of Italy. The two greatest Spanish composers of sacred music in the late Renaissance were Cristóbal de Morales and Tomás Luis de Victoria. Although Morales based his work on Franco-Netherlandish models, he achieved an individual style marked at the same time by starkness and richness. Victoria belongs stylistically with the Roman school, though his writing tended more toward abrupt and vigorous lines and leaps uncharacteristic of the Palestrina style. Other composers of sacred music in 15th-and 16th-century Spain were Johannes Cornago, Johannes Urredo (actually Wreede, a Fleming), Juan del Encina, Diego Ortiz, Francisco Querrero and Juan Pablo Pujol.

In Middle Europe . German sacred music with Latin text shows, on the whole, extreme conservatism in the 15th century, while leaning heavily on Franco-Netherlandish precept. Three features characterize the sacred polyphony to about 1500: (1) a tendency to fall into closed, uneven periods, as opposed to the smooth, unceasing flow of Franco-Netherlandish music; (2) continuous activity of all four voices, as opposed to the Western preference for varying the texture by means of passages for two or three voices; and (3) awkwardness in the treatment of rhythm. The most important sacred composer in the early period was Heinrich Finck, who quite transcended the general run. German sacred composition of the 16th century continued to be strongly influenced by Franco-Netherlandish models, and later also by Italian. The leading native Germanic composers of the century were Ludwig Senfl and Hans Leo Hassler. More important and influential, however, was a Walloon at the court of Albert V of Bavaria, Orlando di Lasso. His motets for four or more voices display much chordal writing mingled with the polyphony (the breakdown of pervading imitation being well under way); a feeling for harmonic propriety, made evident by the many chord roots that progress by leaps of fourths and fifths; and the inclusion of the third or fifth of a chord much oftener than in Palestrina. Lasso, unlike Senfl, employed Gregorian chant in very few of his Masses, the great majority of them being parodies of works by himself and other composers. Among the Netherlanders active at the Hapsburg court were Kerle, Jacob Vaet, Philippe de Monte, Jacques Buus, Jacques Regnart and Carl Luython. The Slovene Jacob Händl (Jacobus Gallus), also in Hapsburg employ, was active principally in Bohemia. His Opus musicum is a collection of motets for the whole liturgical year. The German Thomas Stoltzer was active mainly in Hungary. By far the most brilliant native musical development in the East was that of the Poles, among whom Waclav of Szamotul, Nicholas Gomółka and Nicholas Zieleński are outstanding.

Music in England . England was one of the leading musical nations about 1450. After mid-century, however, the English tended increasingly toward an insular conservatism, culminating in the works of William Cornysh, Robert Fayrfax and others. Fayrfax, relying heavily on pure counterpoint, made much less use of imitation than Josquin. The greatest English composer in the early 16th century was John Taverner. The polyphonic lines in his Masses show greater freedom and complexity than those of his contemporaries, yet many of the same technical features are evidentfrequent changes in vocal registration, repetition of melodic fragments by varying voice groups, and instances of fermata -marked block chords. Important composers of the period after the formal break between England and the papacy in 1534 were Christopher Tye, Robert White, John Shepard and Thomas Tallis. All wrote works with both Latin as well as English texts, and it is not always possible to tell whether a piece of Tudor church music with Latin text was intended for the Roman Catholic Mass or the Anglican Communion Service, in its earlier stages. The finest Elizabethan composer of Latin Church music was William Byrd. His Gradualia is the last of the great Renaissance Proper cycles, the others being those of Isaak and Händl. Among other Elizabethan composers of Latin sacred polyphony were Alfonso Ferrabosco I, Thomas Morley, John Wilbye, Richard Deering and Peter Philips.

Bibliography: g. reese, Music in the Renaissance (rev. ed. New York 1959). New Oxford History of Music, ed. j. a. westrup, 11 v. (New York 1957) v.3. k. g. fellerer, The History of Catholic church Music, tr. f. a. brunner (Baltimore 1961).

[e. thurston/

g. reese/eds.]

PART 5: THE BAROQUE PERIOD

All the music of the baroque period is dominated by opera, which began with the early favole in musica of J. Peri (15611633), G. Caccini (c. 15461618) and especially monteverdi (15671643) and which, with the opening of the first public opera house in Venice in 1637, became the first music to appeal to large audiences and hence to be influenced by popular taste. Nothing in baroque music, from Monteverdi to J. S. bach, can be understood without knowing something of the overwhelming popularity of opera and the way in which all other music reflected its influence to a greater or less degree. Baroque style, in the words of W. Apel.

is characterized chiefly by the thorough-bass technique, leading to a texture of two principal contours, melody and bass, with the intervening space filled in by improvised harmony [on a keyboard instrumentorgan or harpsichord, the so-called 'continuo']. In Germany, however, the contrasting style of true polyphony not only persisted but reached, in Bach, its very acme of perfection and greatness. A third principle of Baroque [music] style is the stile concertante, that is, contrasting effects, a principle which expressed itself in the abrupt changes of the early canzona as well as in the solo-tutti alternation of the concerto grosso and in the echo-effects of vocal and of organ music. Other basic conceptions of Baroque music are improvisation and ornamentation. Lastly, mention must be made of the final establishment of tonic and dominant as the principal chords of harmony . [W. Apel, Harvard Dictionary of Music, 1950, 77]

In Italy . Composers of liturgical music in the first decades of the 17th century followed two methods of composition: the stile antico, which preserved features of the 16th-century style of choral writing and the stile moderno. All the leading composers of the 17th and 18th centuries, from Monteverdi to Antonio Lotti, wrote works in stile antico. The stile moderno first appeared in G. gabrieli's polychoral motets for St. Mark's, Venice, which blend and contrast solo, choral and instrumental groupslarge-scale motets containing many striking effects of chromatic harmony and instrumental color. A representative collection of liturgical music published by Monteverdi in 1610 includes a Mass in stile antico with organ continuo, Vespers of the Blessed Virgin (responsory, five psalms, hymn, and two settings of the Magnificat) and other pieces designed, according to the title page, "for princely halls and chapels." The Vesper items are much influenced by Gabrieli. In the psalms the musical treatment is changed for each verse, the verses being frequently separated by ritornelli. Generally the psalm tones are retained as canti firmi, accompanied by vocal and instrumental counterpoints; but they are also set in falso bordone, i.e., reiterated chords under the melody in the rhythm of the words. In the other pieces of the collection the new style of writing for solo voices is evident; virtuoso ornamental passages underlie the meaning and mood of the texts. The Sonata sopra Sancta Maria shows the growing importance of instrumental music for church use. Although it is not a liturgical work, the 11-fold repetition of a plainsong by a solo soprano gives it a quasiliturgical air almost completely belied by the independent music for two violins, viola, cornetti, trombones and organ.

Monteverdi's contemporaries and successors generally abandoned the use of the plainsong cantus firmus. They preferred two concertato styles: the one using only solo voices with or without instruments, which came to resemble the secular cantata in its forms and its use of instrumental ritornelli; and the "grand" concertato, employing one or more choirs and groups of instruments, mainly intended for the new baroque churches. André Maugars (c. 160040), a French viol player visiting Rome in 1624, has left descriptions of performances of such works with as many as eight lofts erected around the nave, each containing its own instrumental or vocal group, and all directed by the composer from the middle of the church. Despite their apparent complexity, these compositions were held together by a very simple, even banal, harmonic structure. The most extravagant work of this sort was the 53-part Mass of Orazio Benevoli (160572) for the consecration of Salzburg cathedral, requiring two eight-part choirs, two string ensembles, two of wind instruments, and two of brass.

By the end of the 17th century the operatic styles reigned supreme. The rise of Neopolitan opera saw the introduction of solo arias in the motet, which by this time could mean any piece of music set to a Latin text (other than those of the Mass Ordinary) and often denoted forms that were in fact cantata's of several movements. In the hands of Leo (16941744), Durante (16841755), Feo (16851745) and other 18th-century composers, the Mass was expanded into a huge cantata in which independent choruses and arias were combined with instrumental movements. An overture frequently served as an introduction. The liturgical consequences were disastrous. As J. A. Jungmann describes it:

The liturgy was not only submerged under this ever-growing art but actually suppressed, so that there were festive occasions which might best be described as 'church concerts with liturgical accompaniment'. Texts which could bechosen at randomas was permitted after the elevationwere transferred to other places in the Mass. On the other side, the celebrant often tried to continue with the offertory even while the choir was still singing the Credo, or to restrict the singing of the preface and Pater noster to the initial words so as to leave the rest for the music and the organ. [The Mass of the Roman Rite (New York 1951) 1:149]

The church music of the Austrian and south German composers of the baroque was deeply influenced by that of the Italians, many of whom visited or resided for long periods in the chief cities. The works of the Germans, however, and particularly those of J. J. fux, show a more strongly contrapuntal approach.

In France . The development of church music in France was much influenced by the requirements of the court, the artistic and cultural center of the nation. Louis XIV preferred to attend a low Mass, which did not allow time for elaborate settings of the Ordinary. Yet, since music was considered an essential part of a ritual performed in the King's presense, a compromise was made in the so-called Messe basse solonnelle: the performance of motets for voices and instruments during certain parts of the service. The influence of the Italian concertato may be seen in the motets of Henri Dumont (161084), director of the Chapelle Royale from 1663. From the mid-17th century, Italian styles and forms dominate French music. Marc Antoine charpentier (16341704), a pupil of carissimi and director of the Dauphin's chapel, wrote Masses, motets and Leçons des Ténèbres for soloists, chorus and instruments. The Tenebrae settings are a remarkable example of musical interference with the liturgy: texts intended to be chanted by a lector are set as cantatas and drawn out to ten times their length by constant verbal repetition. Jean Baptiste lully (163287) brought to the motet the pomp and brilliance of the French form of opera, of which he was virtually the sole creator: the tragédie-lyrique. His Miserere and Te Deum are scored for full operatic band including trumpets and drums. Operatic overture, double choirs, solo aria and recitative are blended with instrumental interludes to produce some of the most elaborately brilliant church music ever written. Michel de Lalande (16571726) extended the style of Lully's motets to the Mass Ordinary, of which he wrote 12 settings. Despite an almost Handelian grandeur, his music has a seriousness and a perception of the religious meaning of his texts and their relevance to the liturgy that Lully's works lack. François couperin (16681733) wrote in the highly ornamental style called rococo (or stile galante ); his chief works for liturgy are psalms (treated as cantatas, each verse having a separate movement) and Leçons des Ténèbres.

Protestant Music . The music for all Protestant churches in this period contrasts sharply with that composed for the Catholic liturgy in that it includes vernacular music for the congregation as an essential part of liturgical worship.

Lutheran Germany. The development of German Lutheran choral music was profoundly influenced by the congregational hymn, or chorale (as it came to be called when used in choral compositions). Michael praetorius (15711621) published nine volumes entitled Musae Sioniae containing 1,200 of his compositions based on chorales, using concertato styles, contrapuntal forms and simpler treatments such as duets and solo arias. Johann Schein (15861630) and Samuel Scheidt (15871654) continued the concertato treatment, emphasizing the textual meaning by melodic and harmonic features. The greatest figure before Bach, Heinrich schÜtz (15851672), seldom used chorale melodies (though he made a book of harmonizations for a metrical psalter), preferring, by reason of his Italian training under Gabrieli, a dramatic approach that, while indebted to both Gabrieli and Monteverdi, was profoundly personal and deeply felt. The works in Sacrae Symphoniae, published in three volumes (1628, 1647 and 1650), utilize all the techniques of the early Italian baroque, ranging from solo settings of Psalms to mighty polychoral motets.

The Lutheran Church had continued the older method of reciting the Passion narrative to a special chant while punctuating it by polyphonic settings of the "crowd" portions of the text. Later composers developed this into the "oratorio-Passion" by introducing orchestral and organ accompaniments and inserting sections with nonliturgical texts. Stages in this development are represented by the St. John Passion (1643) of Thomas Selle (15991663); St. Matthew Passion (1667) of Christian Flor (162697); and St. Matthew Passion (1673) of Johann Theile (16461724). Schütz's Passions stand apart: they have no instrumental accompaniment, and, apart from the opening and concluding movements, the chorus sings only "crowd" passages, the rest being sung to a quasi-Gregorian type of recitative.

By the end of the 17th century Italian opera was a strong influence on German church music. The blending of the various choral forms based on chorale tunes had produced a large composite type of composition that later came to be called cantata. A Hamburg pastor, Erdmann Neumeister (16711756), published texts for what he called "reformed" cantatas. Regarding the cantata as a "fragment of an opera," he discarded all Biblical passages and hymn texts in favor of poetical paraphrases that could be set as recitatives and da capo arias. His texts roused much opposition, and many composers mingled them with texts and musical forms from the older style; the cantatas of J. S. bach are the greatest representatives of this. The Passion story was also given "operatic" treatment and poetical paraphrased texts; such works, however, were no longer liturgical but concert hall music. Bach's Passions represent a compromise between the earlier and the new forms; he retained the complete Biblical text but added chorales, choruses, and arias that had non-Biblical texts.

Anglican Music. English composers were slow to incorporate the new vocal styles of the Continent. Up to the civil war, despite some experiments in music for the Chapel Royal by William Child (160697) and Monteverdi's pupil Walker Porter (15951659), the older polyphonic style continued in the "full" and "verse" forms of the anthem and service. At the Restoration (1660) Charles II imported music "in the French style," with instrumental sections for violins, and had Pelham Humfrey (164774), John Blow (16491708) and Henry purcell (165995) trained in up-to-date European techniques. The church music of these men and particularly of Purcell is equal to anything of its period on the Continent in technical expertise, while preserving a peculiarly English type of melody and harmony. After Purcell and with the appearance of Italian opera in London, Anglican church music speedily copied Italian models. handel's Chandos Anthems, while revealing acquaintance with Purcell's work, are wholly Italianate in style and form.

Bibliography: m. f. bukofzer, Music in the Baroque Era (New York 1947). s. clercx, Le Baroque et la musique (Brussels 1948). r. haas, Die Musik des Barocks (Handbuch der Musikwissenschaft 3; New York 1928). a. harman et al., Man and His Music (New York 1962). p. h. lÁng, Music in Western Civilization (New York 1941). w. apel, Harvard Dictionary of Music (Cambridge, Mass. 1958).

[a. milner/eds.]

PART 6: THE CLASSICAL STYLE

Characteristics peculiar to the classical period emerged around 1750, reached a high point of artistic expression in the works of Haydn and Mozart, and evolved into Romanticism in the works of Beethoven and Schubert.

New Style Sources . Sources of the style were the experiments of the Mannheim composers with new orchestral devices, the interest of the Viennese composers in formal structures, and the melodic and harmonic freedoms of the Italian composers of opera and cantata. The Church composer assimilated all of these stylesoften more instrumental and theatrical than religiousand applied them to liturgical texts. The style is basically dramatic, and is founded on a balanced formal structure that permits the tensions inherent in musical contrasts, both tonal and melodic, to evolve in a logical but emotionally moving way. Historically, the style is cast against the intellectual background of the enlightenment: it combines the rational temperament of that movement with its josephinism, and reflects both its strained Church-State relationships and its attempts at reform.

The Mannheim School. Musical activity reached tremendous heights throughout Europe. Composition, performance, and circulation of new music in general showed clearly the intense musical life Europe was experiencing at this time. The rise of the Mannheim School in the mid-18th century brought a new orchestral style and performance into music that would be as important as the Viennese interest in sonata form in building the Viennese classical style. Two leading composers of religious music in the Mannheim circle who attempted a combination of formal aspects and high expressiveness were Franz X. richter and George Vogler. The period around 1750 and shortly thereafter provides a transitional stage in Church music from the baroque contrapuntal style with thorough-bass accompaniment to a more expressive vocal and instrumental style that also emerged with national elements. The orchestral concept dominated the Masses, Vespers, litanies, Offertories and psalms written in the new style.

Southern Influences. The influence of Italian opera and cantata conventions moved north during the middle part of the 18th century. The Neapolitan use of simple harmonies with highly ornamented melodic lines rendered the liturgical texts dramatic and full of pathos. Niccolò jommelli, Baldassare galuppi, Domenico cimarosa and Giovanni paisiello wrote in this style. By building on the foundations of the cantata form and its sectional structure, these Italian composers lost sight of the unity of liturgical texts and imposed on them the concerto principle. Vivid orchestrations, the aria and bel canto all characteristic of the Neapolitan stagefound their way into liturgical music since the same composers who wrote for the theater wrote for the church. It was a simple process to combine this trend with Empfindsamkeit (highly expressive technique) of Germany to achieve a new style, neither baroque nor yet fully classical. Typical of the merging of the operatic with the instrumental idioms are the works of Johann Adolph hasse, a German composer who, like many others, lived and studied in Italy. He wrote his 100 operas in the same style as his many oratorios and Masses. But not all composers favored the new style. Many still wrote in the strict contrapuntal style of "stile antico." For example, Johann albrechtsberger and Georg Pasterwitz and others continued to write in the polyphonic idiom of previous generations. Their works show but slightly the influence of the new melodic concept.

The Viennese Classics . A reconciliation of the Italian operatic tendencies with Northern instrumental writing matured in the Viennese composers. Here, the element of balance in a logical form combined with expressionism in melody reached its peak. After 1770 religious music also was affected by these elements. For example, to give balance and unification, parts of the Mass received cyclic treatment, i.e., the music of the first Kyrie would be repeated for the third Kyrie and again for the Dona nobis pacem of the Agnus Dei. This created an A-B-A form in the Kyrie and made that Mass a rounded form. The first and final sections of the Gloria and the Credo were treated in similar fashion. Sonata and rondo forms were worked into the larger sections with a fugue acting as a coda. The cantata elements remained, however, and arias were standard fare for the Et incarnates est, and the Benedictus; the orchestral accompaniment knits the work into a homogeneous whole. All joined to form in the classical period a definite ecclesiastical style that was both religiously inspired and musically satisfying. These composers were writing church music in their own contemporary style and were using their talent and craft to produce artifacts that were consistent with the philosophy that surrounds the celebration of the liturgy during the Classical period. For this reason they were musically superior to the uninspired, academic compositions of those composers adhering to the old polyphonic style.

Mozart and Haydn. With the emphasis given to symphonic writing, it is not surprising that Classical sacred music found its zenith in Wolfgang Amadeus mozart and Franz Joseph haydn. In early works they were careful to express the general meaning of the text, repeating syllables, words and sections of the text when musical reasons demanded. Haydn experimented with techniques of form and even tapped the store of folk song. In the case of Mozart, one can discern a marked change in his style after he left Salzburg. His first compositions reflected the examples of Johann Eberlin and a stronger influence from chamber music and the Neapolitan style. The Masses he wrote from 1758 to 1782 show a unique ability to blend elements of German classicism and form with Italian lyricism. The unfinished C-Minor Mass (K.427) illustrates the new church style: it is a successful assimilation of the forementioned principles. His great Requiem is considered to be the epitome of his church style, if not of all Viennese sacred music. The vocal idiomatic writing that Mozart gave to his religious music can be compared with the symphonic and orchestral principles that Haydn contributed. The vocal solo did not interest Haydn as much as did the vocal quartet. Using remnants of the concertogrosso form, he contrasted the quartet against the tutti of the full choir. In his earlier works, he had used polyphony infrequently, with the exception of specific choral fugues. After a 14-year lapse, Haydn returned to writing sacred music, using a polyphony integrated into the expanded use of the orchestra. His six monumental Masses written between 1796 and 1802 make extensive use of sonata principles, canon and fugueall with a full participation of the orchestra. Unlike Mozart, Haydn wrote two oratorios. After his visit in England, he returned to write his Creation, a work that reflects the exuberance of Nature, an idea characteristic of the Enlightenment. Although the naïve representation of natural phenomena was criticized, the oratorio was tremendously successful as a combination of symphonic and choral elements. Because of its success, Haydn composed his second, The Seasons, that was equally well received. In these last works of Mozart and Haydn the pinnacle of classical sacred music was reached: the emergence of a style that united the polyphonic choir and the symphony orchestra is significant. If operatic traces can be detected, it is only because these elements were necessary parts of the composer's vocabulary.

Beethoven and Schubert. The Viennese classical style was carried on by Ludwig von beethoven and Franz schubert. Beethoven's C-Major Mass (1803) is so reminiscent of the Viennese style that it could be called a companion Mass to Haydn's works. It has all the fresh, heroic ideals of Beethoven's early creative period. Even in his Missa Solemnis one can see the influence of Haydn's symphonic cohesion. The large individual parts of this Mass are conceived with oratorio principles of grandness. Schubert, too, participated in this direct stylistic line with the Viennese church style. His early Masses exhibit the sectional treatment of the text, but show the lyrical quality peculiar to all of his works. In his last two Masses (A flat and E flat), the music tends to be Romantic because of the harmonic color and moving lyricism characteristic of Schubert's writing. Classical elements, however, can be seen in the balance and reserve inherent in the structural make-up of the works.

The Influence of Josephinism . The high classical Viennese church style was not without its opponents. The conservatives who favored the "stile antico" have already been mentioned. The restoration of liturgical propriety took place under the decrees of Joseph II of Austria (see josephinism). As a child of the Enlightenment's philosophy, he wanted to simplify the celebration of the liturgy in Austrian churches. Because of the large number of churches in Vienna, schedules were devised to regulate the hours of worship to avoid duplications. Vespers and Compline were curtailed considerably in diocesan churches together with many popular pious exercises. To establish a vernacular hymnody during the celebration of liturgical functions, a German hymnal was prepared by Johann Kohlbrenner in 1777; it was promulgated in all of Austria by 1783. The German sung mass (Singmesse ) can trace its origins to this decree. While instrumental church music was not totally restricted, the use of concerted music was regulated. The symphonic Mass was too well rooted to be easily discouraged and dispensations were occasionally granted for its performance. Archbishop Collaredo (see mozart) suppressed instrumental music in his see, but later (1787) permitted its performance on special feasts. It was under his direction that Michael haydn reinstituted the sung Gradual (1782). Haydn composed many Graduals in a simpler chordal style with instrumental accompaniment that replaced the "Epistle sonatas." The whole trend of Josephinism reform of church music was the simplification of the liturgy to encourage better communal worship. It did not deter, however, countless second-rate composers from imitating the Masses of Haydn and Mozart well into the middle of the 19th century.

Bibliography: d. j. grout, A History of Western Music (New York 1960). k. g. fellerer, The History of Catholic church Music, tr. f. a. brunner (Baltimore 1961). p. h. lÁng, Music in Western Civilization (New York 1941). r. g. pauly, "The Reforms of Church Music under Joseph II," Musical Quarterly, 43 (1957) 372382; Music in the Classic Period (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.1965). o. ursprung, Die katholische Kirchenmusik (Potsdam 1931).

[f. j. moleck/eds.]

PART 7: ROMANTICISM AND ITS AFTERMATH

The revival of religious interest that took place during the opening years of the 19th century is mirrored in the music of the period. The most important romanticist trend was the use of all musical devices to project a subjective attitude toward religion in sacred music. Especially among French and Italian composers opera was the most popular means of musical expression, and the line between what was appropriate for the stage and what for the choir loft was not sharply drawn. The new harmonic resources developed by C. P. E. Bach and Mozart, most clearly evident in Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus and Requiem, widened the range of emotional expression but also led to secular and sentimental styles. The romanticist interest in exoticism found religion an "effect," as is shown by inclusion of church scenes on the operatic stage or the use of the Dies Irae in secular instrumental compositions by Berlioz, Liszt and Rachmaninoff. Although "national styles" in church music were discernible, nationalism as such played a minor role in Catholic church music during this century.

Concerted Mass . The aesthetic of symphonic church music, dominant in the later 18th century, remained in force during most of the 19th. In the typical concerted Mass of these periods, liturgical considerations were subordinated to musical exigencies: the chorus sang to orchestral accompaniment; passages of text were excised, troped, or repeated for subjective emphasis or to round out musical forms; and sections were allocated to soloists whose parts sounded like operatic arias or ensembles. The degree of romanticist content in concerted church music varied from composer to composer. Latent in Mozart's later works, it was developed by Cherubini, Lesueur and Hummel, continued in the music of Schubert and Weber, and reached its peak in the works of Thomas, Gounod and Rossini. Later composers such as Liszt, Franck and especially Bruckner, Dvořák and Fauré, treated the musical devices of the time with more restraint and better taste.

Concerted Masses are objectionable on liturgical grounds because of text repetition, settings of the priest's intonations, virtuoso demands on the musicians, orchestral accompaniment and lengthall of which distract the congregation from the action of the Mass; yet the works in this genre by Schubert, Bruckner, Dvorřák and Fauré are an integral part of the musical treasure of Catholicinspired music and are eminently suitable for concert performance. The merits of concerted Masses should be judged by comparison with the Masses of Maillart and Farmer, early editions of St. Basil Hymnal, and the Tantum Ergo derived from the Sextet in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor. The Missa Solemnis of beethoven and the rediscovery of J. S. Bach's B-minor Mass inspired the composition of large concerted Masses and similar works for the concert hall rather than for the church. The Requiems of Cherubini, Berlioz, Schumann, Verdi and Dvořák, despite their liturgical texts, should be classed as oratorios.

Oratorio . The rise of choral societies and music festivals during the 19th century provided a steady demand for new oratorios. The founders of the romantic Protestant oratorio were Spohr and Mendelssohn. The sentimental chromaticism of Spohr and the "Victorian" complacency of Mendelssohn's religious music permeates most of these later works. Brahms, with his roots in the older German contrapuntal tradition, created in his German Requiem the best Protestant successor to the great works of Schütz, J. S. Bach and Handel. Oratorio was less popular in Catholic countries. Deserving of study are the oratorios of Lesueur, which anticipate those of Dubois, Saint-Saëns, and Massenet. Fauré's Requiem is a virtual transfiguration of these intimate oratorios. Gounod's Rédemption and Mors et Vita (written for England) and Franck's Les Béatitudes are the leading largescale French oratorios. The greatest Catholic oratorios of the period are those by Elgar. Also of interest are "religious" operas such as Saint-Saëns' Samson et Dalila, Massenet's Le Jongleur de Notre Dame, and d'Indy's monumental La Légende de Saint Christophe.

Organ . The rediscovery of J. S. Bach's organ works served to rescue organ music from the virtual desuetude into which it had lapsed during the classical period. Protestant organ music is best represented by the sonatas of Mendelssohn, the late chorale preludes of Brahms and the works of Reger and Karg-Elert. Liszt's organ works are significant among those by Catholic composers. During the latter part of the 19th century, France was the center of organ playing. Though Franck's works stand at the peak, many excellent organ compositions were written by Guilmant, Widor and Vierne. Subsidiary centers of organ composition and performance were in Brussels (Lemmens), Munich (Rheinberger) and Rome (Bossi).

Other Forms . Concerted Masses were generally restricted to court and cathedral churches with professional singers and musicians. In smaller parishes the principal music consisted of the simple Landmessen and Masses in the style of Michael Haydn and Hummel of the Viennese classical school. Though Catholic hymns continued to be written during the 19th century, little of enduring value was created. Most of them contain sentimental chromatic harmonies, are operatic in style, or resemble salon romances (e.g., Lambillotte's hymns with pianostyle accompaniments); and for these reasons they are proscribed in many U.S. dioceses.

Protestant church music assumed a variety of forms. Spohr and Mendelssohn were the models for the "Victorian" Anglican church music of Goss, Barnby and Stainer. Excellent hymns, especially of the processional type, were written in England. In popular Protestant hymnody the rugged "Sacred Harp" and the sentimental or martial gospel songs were peculiarly American contributions (see hymns and hymnals). A major revival of sacred music occurred in Russia. About 1830 Bortniansky's Italianate anthems began to be supplanted by the Germanic tonal chant harmonizations of Lvov and Bakhmetieff. The influence of Glinka and "The Five" (Balakirev, Borodin, Cui, Moussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov), especially in their scoring of folk songs, led to modal harmonizations of the traditional chants and of compositions in modal style by Kastalsky, Rachmaninoff, Ippolitov-Ivanov, Grechaninov, and others.

Reform of Catholic Music . Notable attempts were made during the century to reform Catholic church music, chiefly by reintroducing Renaissance sacred polyphony, which had been rediscovered through such sources as Baini's biography of Palestrina; the studies of Renaissance polyphony by Thibaut, Kiesewetter, and Winterfeld; the collections of 16th-century vocal music by Choron, Commer, Proske, Maldeghem and others; and the composition of new music in this restrained contrapuntal style (see caecilian movement). Munich (Aiblinger, Ett. Rheinberger) and Regensburg (Proske and Haberl) were the focal points of reform, and the Caecilian Society, founded by F. X. Witt in 1868, was the most influential reform group; but parallel movements were found in every land, and the reform ideal was formally approved by Pius IX in 1870. The most enduring monument of 19th-century Catholic musical scholarship was the restoration of Gregorian chant, largely through the labors of the Benedictine monks of solesmes under the leadership of Dom Guéranger. The chief legacies of Solesmes are the Paléographie musicale (1889), a collection of facsimiles of early manuscripts; a theory of chant rhythm; and the Vatican edition of the chant (see chant books, printed editions of).

Musicology . Neither the Caecilian reforms nor the Solesmes studies would have been possible without the emerging discipline of historical musicology. Musicology's task was not to illustrate how music had "progressed," but to investigate the music of the past on its own merits and to publish collections and scholarly studies of early music. Besides the publications cited above in the fields of Renaissance and Gregorian music, other landmarks of 19th-century research and publishing activity were the incomplete general histories by Ambros and Fétis; Fétis's Biographie universelle of musicians; Eitner's Quellen-Lexikon, a census of music manuscripts; Coussemaker's anthology of medieval treatises on music; and the prolific writings of Riemann. Nationalism stimulated the publication of Denkmäler (monuments of music) in the Germanic lands, and in England, France, Italy and Spain.

Although the 19th-century investigations of Renaissance church music were handicapped by an almost total misunderstanding of 16th-century performance practice, this was outweighed by the creation of a climate of opinion in which music of the past was found worthy in its own right and, because of its lack of association with the 19th-century styles of the concert hall, opera house, or salon, was best suited for divine worship. The labors of the musicologists were crowned by Pope St. Pius X when he declared in his motu proprio of 1903 that the most suitable styles of church music were Gregorian chant and Renaissance polyphonyin that order.

The Church Composer . Relations between the Church and the composer, however, had reached a low point by the beginning of the 20th century, and only in organ music was significant creative work produced. On the one hand, the Church was devoting her resources to more urgent educational, missionary and social endeavors; on the other hand, congregational (and too often, clerical) preference was for melodious Masses and sentimental hymns. Then, too, the individualism implicit in romanticism tended to alienate the composer from the emerging emphasis on the doctrine of the Mystical Body, with its corollary in "collective," participated worship. Composers of stature disdained to write for the limited uses of the parish church, and in their sacred compositions they favored Gregorian chant and Renaissance polyphony, thus reflecting both Caecilian ideals and the romanticist penchant for the archaic, but also rejecting the idiom of the day and the role of style-setter of music to come.

Bibliography: k. g. fellerer, The History of Catholic Church Music, tr. f. a. brunner (Baltimore 1961). a. einstein, Music in the Romantic Era (New York 1947). o. ursprung, Die katholische Kirchenmusik (Potsdam 1931). a. orel, "Die katholische Kirchenmusik seit 1750," Handbuch der Musikgeschichte, ed. g. adler, 2 v. (2d ed. Tutzing 1930; repr. 1961) 2:833864. a. schering, Geschichte des Oratoriums (Leipzig 1911) 382624.

[r. m. longyear/eds.]

PART 8: POST-ROMANTICISM

Post-Romanticism in music signifies, basically, both an idiom (advanced tonal chromaticism) and a historical period of transition. It bridges 19thand 20th-century styles and ends, approximately, with the death of Gustav mahler in 1911. It is therefore introductory to the history of sacred music in the 20th century, which is a period more properly characterized by the development of new technical resources, including atonality and polytonality, and the application to music of such aesthetic concepts as Impressionism and Expressionism. For liturgical music the motu proprio of St. Pius X, Inter pastoralis officiae (Nov. 22, 1903), was the key document. Its influence, while profound, was less complete than had been hoped, and attention to its ideal of "the restoration of all things in Christ" was seriously retarded by World War I. Nevertheless it must ultimately be assessed in terms of its permissive if reserved attitude toward modern music, its effect on later papal pronouncements, and three general developments accelerated by its impetus: (1) the revival of chant as an ideal for choral and congregational singing, (2) the practical study of chant in seminaries, and (3) the establishment of schools for the professional study of chant as well as of church music in other styles.

The "Traditional School." The musical idioms of Romanticism and Post-Romanticism achieved a valid and permanent popularity that impeded any mass espousal of later styles. That a "traditional school" of Catholic church-composers should gain ascendancy was therefore not surprising; but musicians such as Refice, Perosi and Yon, competent and dedicated though they were, remained apart, both from major figures of the era (schoenberg, bartÓk, stravinsky) and from such minor but still "mainstream" composers as K. Szymanowski (18821937), Charles Ives (18741954) or villa-lobos (18871959). Contributing further to the Church's loss of vital contact with contemporary trends were: her global concern with problems other than those of an often esoteric new music, the almost total secularization of 20th-century musical art and changing sociological patterns, particularly that of patronage.

In France the transition from a lingering Romanticism to authentically modern liturgical styles was facilitated by continuing interest in the organ as a church instrument. Conservatives such as vierne and widor prepared the way for progressive successors as diverse as the gifted but essentially minor Jean Langlais (1907) and the more controversial but influential Olivier Messiaen (1908). The latter's organ cycles have attracted particular attention (e.g., La Nativité du Seigneur, 1935). He has produced important orchestral, chamber and didactic works and numbered among his composition pupils such members of the later avant-garde as Pierre Boulez (1925) and Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928).

After Debussy . Impressionism offered composers of liturgical music a break with Romanticism free from involvement with expressionism and unmitigated dissonance; clear roots in the modality of chant and the structural principles of Gothic polyphony; and seemingly unlimited possibilities of adaptation to a continuing chant revival. Claude debussy (18621918), as the genius of French Impressionism, evolved a highly distinctive, sensuous, musical language, sometimes with neopagan implications (he was once rebuked by the archbishop of Paris for a production of Le Martyre de Saint-Sêbastien ). "Les Six," following Debussy, Ravel and Satie, developed sophisticated personal styles that were indebted, in part, to the neoclassic elements in the work of Stravinsky. Three of the "Six" took some account of religious values, as can be seen in such works as Darius Milhaud's setting of texts from Pope John XXIII's encyclical Pacem in terris (1963); Arthur Honegger's Le Roi David (1921) and poulenc's Mass in G Major (1938), Gloria (1961) and Sept Répons des Ténèbres (1963).

Bibliography: p. collaer, A History of Modern Music, tr. s. abeles (Cleveland 1961). j. machlis, Introduction to Contemporary Music (New York 1961), contains bibliog. of 161 titles and works in Eng. k. g. fellerer, Soziologie der Kirchenmusik (Cologne 1963). j. schell, Aesthetische Probleme der Kirchenmusik im Lichte der Enzyklika Pius' xii. Musicae sacrae disciplina (Berlin 1961). Musical Quarterly, 51 (Jan. 1965), a special issue: "Contemporary Music in Europe." j. gÉlineau, Voices and Instruments in Christian Worship, tr. c. howell (Collegeville, Minn. 1964) 199203. Liturgy for the People, ed. w. j. leonard, (Milwaukee 1963).

[f. j. burkley/eds.]

PART 9: UNITED STATES

The history of liturgical music in the U.S., like that of general music, is a study as variegated as the plurality of cultural and religious backgrounds represented in the nation's early settlers and later immigrants. While American music thus was far from being indigenous in its first manifestations, in its development it has exhibited a continuing (if uneven) surge for freedom from its European motherland together with a growing self-awareness and involvement with native sources of inspiration. Colonial America's first music was music related to denominational worship; today, significantly influenced by current liturgical, theological and ecumenical developments, the music of America's churches continues its process of adaptation.

Music in the Missions . The music of 16th-and 17th-century Europe was brought to America by Spanish and French missioners, chiefly Franciscan, Dominican and Jesuit.

In Spanish Domains. Spanish foundations dating from 1598 in New Mexico achieved a high degree of development in the areas of organ music, choir schools and vocal polyphony that involved "note" singing a century before it was practiced on the Eastern seaboard. Fray Cristóbal de Quiñones (d. April 27, 1609) and numerous other friars were responsible for these initial musical endeavors. One of the first collections of authentic Indian melodies was that of Fray Felipe Arroyo de La Cuesta. Again in the California missions the Franciscan padres introduced the music as well as the language and customs of their native Spain. Plainchant predominated, but some figured Masses and motets, also homophonic in structure and with a high incidence of thirds, sixths, dominant sevenths and occasional diminished chords, were in the mission repertory. The absence of ornamental solo sections and of repetitions of text helps to distinguish this mission music from its later liturgical counterpart in Eastern centers. Part-music was written on a single five-or six-line staff, with a system of colored notation to distinguish voice parts: tiple (soprano), white notes outlined in red; contralto, white notes outlined in black; tenor, solid red notes; bass, black notes.

Mission life in the 18th and early 19th centuries dictated the musical usage, since natives were encouraged to live within the mission compound. The daily musical program was scheduled as follows: Cantico del Alba (morning prayer), chanted upon rising; the Alabanza (the Commandments, Sacraments and other catechetical material recited or sung in Spanish); the Mass in plainsong or figured Latin settings; the Alabado (song of divine praise); the Bendito (grace before and after meals); and the Angelus. At sundown the mission populace gathered for the Doctrina and the Alabado in the native Indian tongue, and during the day chosen singers chanted the Divine Office. The whole day was thus permeated with sung prayer, and even after sundown an evening of song and dance was common. Instruments used were the violin, viola, cello, bass, flute, trumpet, horns, guitars, drums and triangle. After congregational singing in the form of simple psalm tones and antiphonal chants was established, a formal choir was trained. The repertory consisted of Propers for Sundays and principal feasts (simplified settings by Padre Narciso Durán). Masses in chant or homophonic settings, and Latin hymns for Benediction and special feasts. Padre Durán encouraged instrumental accompaniment to sustain pitch and wrote in simplified scale patterns using the F clef with needed accidentals. Although concrete evidence of the music in the Southwest, Texas and Florida is scarce, it may be assumed that the same pattern was followed wherever the Spanish missioners penetrated. With the collapse of the Spanish missions (183334) their music fell into obscurity and therefore failed to influence directly the course of church music in America.

In French Domains. The pattern of mission life prevailing on the West Coast was unknown in northeastern U.S. and Canada. The missioner spent his days in the midst of the Native American nations. Tribes remained tribes, not guests of the mission enclosure. As in Spanish territory, however, one of the chief problems was that of communicationespecially of religious truths. Often the basic facts were imparted through hymnseither the setting of Christian texts to native melodies or, as later happened, native dialects to European melodies. Various teaching aids were devised, such as the Quipii, a knotted cord signifying certain doctrinal ideas; the Order of Songs, pictures suggesting the subject of each hymn stanza; the Notched Stick, arbitrary engraved characters used to direct prayers and hymns; and Syllabaries, which were signs used to indicate sounds, thus obviating the task of teaching the natives a foreign tongue. Extant hymnals (183070) use the Native American vernacular with the title of the melody indicated in a European language. Contents include Latin hymns, cantiques (common tunes), English hymns and some original tunes. In use today is the Huron carol Jesous Ahatonia, probably composed by Jean de Brébeuf, one of the north american martyrs. One Midwestern missioner, the Italian Samuel mazzuchelli, OP, made such headway with his Wisconsin Winnebagos that they learned to chant Sunday Vespers with alternating verses in Latin and their vernacular. Because of the language barrier, however, none of these apostolic-cultural endeavors had any influence on the course of American church music.

Protestant Beginnings (17th Century) . The pilgrims of New England relied upon English hymnals for their worship services. The Ainsworth Psalter contained unaccompanied unison settings of metrical psalmsone note to each syllable in binary rhythm (see psalters, metrical; hymns and hymnals). When the Salem and Plymouth communities joined the Massachusetts Bay Colony (1691), the bay psalm book gained ascendancy and continued to constitute New England's singing staple for the next century. In the Anglican settlements there was a struggle for popularity between the "Old Version" (Bay Psalm Book ) and the more poetic New Version of the Psalms of David (1696) of Tate and Brady. Both versions were later replaced by the hymnody of English writers, such as Isaac Watts. Two non-English communities, the Ephrata Cloister, near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and the Moravians (Unity of Brethren) centered in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, maintained a high level of musical activity in the 18th century. Relying heavily on European material, the Ephrata group developed antiphonal singing to an art, whereas the Moravians performed choral, chamber and symphonic works (not necessarily religious) of European masters. Another center of musical activity was the camp meeting. The revival movement among various denominational dissenters generated the folk hymn, a combination of secular folk tune and religious text, as leaders sought to replace the "placid" Puritan psalm with a heartier type of group singing. Folk hymns in turn were succeeded by the popular gospel song, a commercial, individually composed hymn.

Catholic Hymnody (18th Century) . Formal publication of hymnals for Catholic use was not initiated until 1787. Credit is due to Benjamin Carr (17681831), influential musician, teacher, hymn composer and music publisher, for his pioneer publications. Numerous other hymnals, however, came with immigrating Catholics, and with this influx of hymnals came a threefold western European influence: (1) postbaroque concerto style with its specified elements, i.e., melodic and harmonic reiteration, alternation of solo and chorus sections, and ornamentation of melodic lines (in this way a pseudo-Neapolitan bel canto style was implanted in the hymnals); (2) Viennese classical form and presentation of thematic material, whose unskilled and inartistic handling resulted in a monotonous tonic-dominant harmony with "Alberti Bass" accompaniment; thus Viennese orchestral idiom was exploited in the form of numerous orchestrated Masses, but, in an attempt to imitate the masters, most composers simply exaggerated the means; and (3) adulation of the self-styled composer who was the enthusiastic and zealous but all too often untrained hymn tune writer and compiler. Catholic hymnody suffered both musically and textually as a result of one or more of these factors. Moreover, the defensive mood of the post-Tridentine period penetrated liturgical music, and at the same time Catholics were deprived of the heritage of the German chorale. Congregational singing was almost entirely replaced by the solo voice, quartet choirs and lengthy organ solos. Degeneration became complete when hymnals proudly displayed "religious" texts set to popular secular compositions.

Nineteenth-Century Trends . The 19th century felt the surge of political and artistic nationalism. Composers, such as gottschalk, incorporated "American" elements in their works, e.g., Native American melos, spiritual tunes, rag-time rhythms. Arthur Farwell (18721952), recognizing the role of imitation in the early stages of creativity, sought freedom from European domination and answered dvoŘÁk's challenge to explore native folk music with the foundation of the Wa-Wan Press for the advancement of American music. Henry Gilbert (18681928) shared Farwell's interest, his deep love for all folk music manifesting itself in a heavy reliance on American Indian lore. Gilbert preferred to "seek his own hat" rather than wear "a borrowed crown." An 18th-century predecessor, William Billings (17461800), had championed the same cause with an unusual display of musical creativity and his fuguing tunes became basic source material for later composers, such as William Schuman. Charles Ives (18741954), successor to Farwell and Gilbert, realized their ideals. Rejecting conventional musical structure, Ives introduced polytonality, polyrhythms, tone clusters, functional intervals and jazz effects, and his use of native folk music as his germinal musical idea initiated a truly creative trend in American music.

Protestant Churches. Protestant church music reflected a twofold trend during the Victorian period: the use of the dignified hymn and the popularity of gospel songs. Three basic elements in the religious milieu are recognizable: (1) the evangelical movement headed by the Wesleys; (2) the oxford movement, fostering a return to ancient faith and practice; and (3) the Modernist movement, which sought complete involvement of man in liturgical worship. Hymnody drew heavily on the poetry of Cardinal J. H. newman, E. Caswall, F. W. faber and John Mason Neale; initially, however, less attention was focused on the music. The Oxford Movement encouraged the revival of the Latin hymns, folk song carols, plainsong hymns and German chorales, which were adopted according to local American needs. A simultaneous concern for performance led to the utilization of secular part-song techniques as evidenced in the works of the English composers J. B. Dykes, J. Barnby and J. Stainer. The Victorian feeling for antiquity led to extreme sentimentalism, musical and religious. Lowell Mason (17921872), well known for his hymns "Nearer My God To Thee," "My Faith Looks Up to Thee" and "From Greenland's Icy Mountains," stands in the forefront of American musicians of this period, by reason of his labors for music education in the public schools, with special emphasis on sound choral training. Other major composers included Thomas Hastings (17841872) and W. B. Bradbury (181668). The oratorios St. Peter (John Knowles Paine, 18391906) and Hora novissima (Horatio Parker, 18631919) represent the peak of religious music of the period. The Parker work, for mixed chorus and orchestra, and based on St. Bernard's poem Contemptor mundi, was his first internationally recognized success. Critics paid Parker the highest of 19th-century accolades in comparing it with the works of such composers as Palestrina, J. S. Bach and Josquin Despres, while choral societies in England and America performed the work frequently.

Catholic Church. Catholic music of the 19th century seemed as deeply entrenched in European operatic style as ever. The influx of English and Irish Catholics, lacking valid liturgical traditions, continued the deterioration of Church music. Quartet choirs and orchestral ensembles seemed the ideal at this time. Gregorian chant was scarcely known in the U.S. Mass composers of the period assumed the romanticist symphonic style, with no attempt to differentiate between secular and church expression. The caecilian movement, initially a reform group in the German-speaking countries, found strong support in German parishes of the Middle West. Restoration of plainsong and classic polyphony was their main concern, and their desire for objectivity of expression challenged the lush romantic composition of the period. While the group fostered revival of the older German hymns, the vernacular hymn was relegated to extraliturgical services. The movement must be credited with stemming the tide of shallow, operatic church composition; by severing itself from the general musical development of the country, however, it gradually deteriorated to a system of stereotyped reproduction of musical patterns.

Early 20th Century . At the turn of the century, American church musicians resisted the influx of secular tunes as a basis for liturgical music, while leading secular composers have turned to religious themes for their inspiration. Within the churches themselves there has been a multiple development: (1) congregational music using German chorale form and sung in unison; ancient motets adapted to congregational singing; Gregorian chants and hymn settings by contemporary writers; and (2) selections for the trained choiran artistic repertory capable of expressing meaning congenial to the worship by the larger group. The Episcopal Hymnal (1940) contains the old Latin Office hymns in English, hymns by American authors, translations from Orthodox and German Pietist sources and German chorales.

The motu proprio of Pope St. Pius X (1903) restated the role of music in Catholic worship, admitting for use "everything good and beautiful in the course of the ages." This decree, on the one hand, gave a final impetus to the revival of Gregorian chant, initiated earlier by the Benedictine monks of Solesmes. On the other hand, it heralded the return of Renaissance polyphony and encouraged modern composition. The liturgical movement, through its interest in the congregation's participation, occasioned the reexamination of musical means and materials. The chant has come to be recognized as the highly artistic and difficult work it is, demanding the appropriate assignment to choir or partial use by the congregation. Hymnody received perhaps the closest scrutiny. A purging of 19th-century romanticist endeavors and a reconsideration of the wealth of Reformation and pre-Reformation hymns caused an artistic advance in hymnal publication. Contemporary composers, native and European, began to explore the area of congregational music for Catholic liturgies, a development that hastened after the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council were implemented.

Bibliography: k. g. fellerer, The History of Catholic Church Music, tr. f. a. brunner (Baltimore 1961). w. douglas, Church Music in History and Practice (rev. ed. New York 1962). r. n. squire, Church Music (St. Louis 1962). r. m. stevenson, Patterns of Protestant Church Music (Durham, N.C. 1953). l. w. ellinwood, The History of American Church Music (New York 1953). Music in America, eds., w. t. marrocco and h. gleason, 16201865 (New York 1964). h. w. foote, Three Centuries of American Hymnody (Cambridge, Mass. 1940, repr. Hamden, Conn.1961). g. chase, America's Music (New York 1955). One Hundred Years of Music in America, ed. p. h. lÁng, (New York 1961). Mission Music of California, ed. o. da silva, (Los Angeles 1941). j.v. higginson, "Hymnody in the American Indian Missions," The Papers of the Hymn Society XVIII, ed. w. w. reid (New York 1954). A Short Bibliography for the Study of Hymns, ed. j. r. sydnor, ibid. XXV (1964). c. verret, A Preliminary Survey of Roman Catholic Hymnals Published in the U.S. of Amer. (Washington,D.C. 1964). Alonso de Benavides' Revised Memorial of 1634, ed. f. w. hodge et al., (Albuquerque 1945). l. m. spell, "Music Teaching in N. Mex. in the 17th Century," New Mexico Historical Review, 2 (1927) 2736. l. b. spiess, "Benavides and Church Music in N. Mex. in the Early 17th Century," Journal of the American Musicological Society, 17 (1964) 144156. l. saminsky, Living Music of the Americas (New York 1949).

[c. verret/eds.]

PART 10: PRE-VATICAN II LEGISLATION

Since apostolic times the Church has been careful to regulate the use of music in liturgical worship, encouraging fitting music and prohibiting unbecoming songs and chants.

History of Legislation . The directions of the Church on liturgical music during the early Christian centuries are contained in documents of a liturgical and disciplinary nature, rather than in separate acts of legislation on music. The first successor of St. Peter to write on music was Pope St. Clement (92101), who regulated the use of chant. Only after Pope Leo IV (847855) are separate documents on music to be found. In his Una Res he commanded Abbot Honoratus of the monastery of Farfa and his monks to sing only Gregorian chants.

In the Fathers. The Fathers of the Church forbade worldly and pagan music but commended worthy Christian songs and chants. They prohibited musical instruments that were associated with pagan musicthe harp and lyreand excluded lascivious and worldly songs as well as chanting by women, since this was a characteristic of pagan worship and was thought to foster sensuality rather than piety. The Fathers sought to encourage spirituality and devotion by the use of psalmody, for this allowed participation of the faithful in the worship of the church.

Conciliar Action before Trent. The Councils and synods of the Church have frequently legislated on liturgical music. Those held before the 14th century concerned themselves with the following questions: the entry of laymen into the office of singing the liturgical chant, the preservation of texts from Sacred Scripture and the exclusion of hymns and songs that contained heretical teachings, the preservation of the traditional chant of the Church, the condemnation of worldly and theatrical songs in church and cemetery (especially on the occasion of vigils and funerals) and the exclusion of worldly dances and themes. Principal among these councils and synods were those at Laodicea (343381), Braga (561), Tours (567), III Toledo (589), Autun (650), Cloveshoe (747), Aachen (816), Rome (853), Trier (1227) and Rouen (1235). In 132425 Pope John XXII spoke from Avignon in the bull Docta sanctorum patrum and warned against the introduction of unbecoming elements in polyphony. Subsequent synods and councils reiterated the need to guard against the introduction of profane songs in the vernacular and unbecoming and worldly texts.

The Council of Trent. The reform of the liturgical books following the Council of trent (154563) involved the reediting of the missal and breviary. Further, the Ceremonial of Bishops, which contains directions for the conducting of pontifical ceremonies, was revised under Clement VIII and published in 1600. It described the rites and ceremonies to be observed at Masses, Vespers and other liturgical functions, as well as the rights of precedence. It contains many references to music.

The legislation of the Council of Trent concerning music was enacted at the 22d, 23d and 24th sessions. The principal points discussed centered upon the nonliturgical character of some church music, the curtailment and unintelligibility of liturgical texts and the insertion of nonchurchly vernacular songs, as well as worldly and lengthy organ compositions. These abuses were to be eliminated from the churches and care was to be given to the musical and liturgical education of clerics. Provincial councils were to determine the legislation in these matters, as seemed fitting according to particular circumstances.

After Trent. Legislation following the Council of Trent may be divided into two classes: general laws and particular indults for religious communities or dioceses. Only the laws that had general applicability will be listed here. They are the following: Alexander VII, Piae Sollicitudinis, 1657; Congregation of the Apostolic Visitation, 1665; Declaration of Cardinal Carpegna, 1692; Roman Council at the Lateran Basilica, 1725; Instructio Clementina, 1731; Clement XII, "Musicians in Pagan Worship," 1733; Benedict XIV, Annus Qui, 1749; Pius VI, "Choral Functions," 1791; Declaration of Cardinal Zurla (1824); Cardinal Odescalchi, "Notification," Declaration of Cardinal Patrizi, 1842, and Nov. 18 and 20, 1856; Congregation of Sacred Rites, Romanorum Pontificum, 1883; Congregation of Sacred Rites, "Regulations for Sacred Music," 1884; Congregation of Sacred Rites, Quod Sanctus Augustinus, 1894; Congregation of Sacred Rites, "Regulations for Sacred Music," 1894; and Congregation of Sacred Rites, encyclical letter to the bishops of Italy, 1894.

It can be said that the sources for the legislation on church music in effect at mid-20th century began with the motu proprio of St. Pius X, Nov. 22, 1903. The important documents between 1903 and the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of Vatican Council II are the following: Canon 1264 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law; Divini cultus sanctitatem; Plus XI, Dec. 20, 1928; Musicae sacrae disciplina, Pius XII, Dec. 25, 1955; and "Instruction on Sacred Music and Sacred Liturgy," Congregation of Sacred Rites, Sept. 3, 1958.

Spirit of the Legislation . It is the mind of the Church that the faithful take an active part in both sung and recited Masses.

Sung Mass. Specific directions for participation in sung Mass are found in the 1958 "Instruction on Sacred Music and Sacred Liturgy" (par. 2427), in which these three stages in the progress of the faithful toward active participation are given: (1) chanting of the liturgical responses, (2) singing of the parts of the Ordinary and (3) chanting some of the Proper of the Mass.

Recited Mass. The 1958 instruction (paragraphs 2834) outlines four stages by which the participation of the faithful in recited Mass may be accomplished: (1) by saying the easier liturgical responses, (2) by answering the parts said by the server, (3) by reciting with the celebrant parts of the Ordinary and (4) by reciting sections of the Proper, i.e., Introit, Gradual, Offertory and Communion. Moreover, participation is to be effected by the singing of "hymns clearly suited to the respective parts of the Mass."

Basic Norms . The pre-Vatican II norms for music used at liturgical services were laid down by Pius X in the motu proprio of 1903. They are "holiness, true art, and universality." The specific types recommended are gregorian chant, classical polyphony and approved modern compositions. Pope Pius XI repeated these principles in 1928, as did Pius XII in Musicae sacrae disciplina. But Pius XII enumerated distinctions between liturgical music and non-liturgical sacred music, and made provision for the performance of sacred music at nonliturgical occasions. The 1958 Instruction clarifies certain points on sacred concerts (par. 55), but in general preserves the norms of Pius X, Pius XI, and Pius XII.

Bells and the Use of Instruments. Pius X opposed the use of instruments in church (motu proprio, par.1521) and Pius XI continued this policy, but Pius XII in Musicae sacrae disciplina (par. 5861) relaxed this prohibition, allowing instrumental music that was executed artistically.

Use of the Organ. The motu proprio of Pius X (par. 1518) encouraged the use of the organ both as an accompaniment for the singing and as a solo instrument. Divini cultus sanctitatem (ch. 8) gave specific directions as to the correct manner of playing the organ. Musicae sacrae disciplina (par. 58) stated that the organ holds preeminence over all other instruments in church. The 1958 instruction (par. 6164) distinguishes between the pipe organ, harmonium and electric organ. The electronic organ had previously (July 13, 1949) received a broader sanction from the Congregation of Sacred Rites than was stated in the 1958 "Instruction," according to which "the electronic organ may be tolerated temporarily." The 1958 instruction (par. 80) restricted the playing of the organ during those parts of the Mass when the celebrant prayed in a loud voice, in order that the readings might be heard clearly by the faithful.

Choirs and Women in Choirs. The motu proprio of Pius X stated that whatever singing does not pertain to the celebrant and sacred ministers "belongs properly to the choir of clerics, and that if singers are laymen they are substitutes of the ecclesiastical choir." Pius X stated that the singing must be, for the greater part, choral music, and that solos must never absorb the greater part of the liturgical text. In paragraph 13 he stated that "women cannot be admitted to the choir." This law was not well obeyed, especially in the U.S., where, as a result, women sang in choirs with the tacit permission of the bishops. Pius XI refrained from speaking on the subject, but Pius XII in Musicae sacrae disciplina (par. 74) modified the legislation of St. Pius X and allowed the use of mixed choirs or choirs of women or girls, so long as they remained outside the sanctuary and behaved in a suitable manner. The 1958 instruction especially mentioned choirs of men and women or of women or girls as being allowed.

Concerning Personnel. The motu proprio of Pius X (par. 1214) described the office of choir members as a liturgical one and mentioned the high moral and spiritual qualities that should be possessed by those who sing in church, since they are substitutes for clerics. Pius X spoke of the proper attire of singers as that of cassock and surplice. He advocated the training of boys for the singing of the soprano and alto parts. Boys were to be trained in choir schools at cathedral and parochial churches, and they were to sing with the men. The 1958 instruction outlined the Christian qualities that should be present in the lives of singers, directors, organists, musicians and composers, as well as the necessary musical and liturgical training required for the proper performance of their duties.

Bibliography: p. m. ferretti, Papal Documents on Sacred Music (Washington 1928). a. hanin, La Législation ecclésiastique en matière de musique religieuse (Paris 1933). r. f. hayburn, St. Pius X and the Vatican Edition of the Chant Books (Los Angeles 1964); Digest of Regulations and Rubrics of Catholic Church Music (rev. ed. Boston 1966). j. f. mytych, Digest of Church Law on Sacred Music (Toledo, Ohio 1959). a. pons, Droit ecclésiastique et Musique sacrée, 4 v. (St. Maurice 195861). f. romita, Jus musicae liturgicae (Turin 1936). Les Enseignments pontificaux: La Liturgie, ed. Moines de Solesmes (Tournai, France 1954). Liturgical Conference, Manual for Church Musicians, ed. p. j. hallinan (Baltimore, Md. 1964). k. weinmann, Das Konzil von Trient und die Kirchenmusik (Leipzig 1919). g. reese, Music in the Renaissance (rev. ed. New York 1959). k. g. fellerer, The History of Catholic church Music, tr. f. a. brunner (Baltimore 1961).

[r. f. hayburn/eds.]

PART 11: SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL

Vatican Council II's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (Dec. 4, 1963) in ch. 4 gives a concise code of sacred music (musica sacra ), without all the details given in previous Roman documents (notably Pius XII's encyclical Musicae sacrae disciplina, Dec. 25, 1955; and the Instruction Sacred Music and the Sacred Liturgy, Sept. 3, 1958).

The Role of Music in Liturgy . Chapter 4 begins by reaffirming the role of liturgical music: "The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art. The main reason for this pre-eminence is that, as a sacred song united to the words, it forms a necessary or integral part of the solemn liturgy." Thus any discussion of Catholic Church music must turn in great part on its function. This is described by the Constitution as triple: "expressing prayer more delightfully" (orationem suavius exprimens ), "fostering unity of minds" (unanimitatem fovens ) and "enriching sacred rites with great solemnity" (ritus sacros maiore locupletans sollemnitate ). While this division of functions is neither complete nor devoid of overlapping, it does call attention to several values found in music generally, and it relates them to worship: the first suggests the role of music as "true art," insisted on in Pius X's motu proprio of 1903; the second stresses the socializing function of the liturgy; the third is a reminder of the stately and sacral qualities that befit public worship.

The Constitution speaks of the "ministerial function of music in the liturgy," rather than of "the handmaid of the liturgy," as Pius X had done earlier. This ancillary role and some of its implications had often been resented by musicians, who were pleased with the more significant term "ministerial." Both words, however, throw light on an obscure area. For while music must not be belittled as something adventitious, neither can its place in liturgy be altogether autonomous. Music for worship must be controlled by the requirements of those who are to use it as a means of prayer. Thus, in the normal heterogeneous parish, if music is to fulfill its ministerial function, it must not be entirely unrelated to the people's preparation of sensitivity. Nor, on the other hand, should the artistic level of liturgical music be low, and this for obvious reasons. It seems evident that this artistic-vs.-popular tension implies a zone of relativity, and can hardly be expected to achieve more than an unstable, shifting resolution.

The Role of the People. At the same time, the Constitution insists, more explicitly than its predecessors had done, on the role of "God's people" in the liturgy, recalling also the "hierarchical" (art. 28, 30, 32). Gregorian chant is acknowledged as specially suited to the Roman liturgy (liturgiae romance proprium ), and "other things being equal" (ceteris paribus ) should be given "pride of place" (principem locum ). In this context it is not clear what ceteris paribus means; however, in view of the notably smaller stress placed on Gregorian chant in the Constitution, as compared with previous documents, it would appear that its place of honor is in great part speculative. At the same time, article 117 expresses the desire for new chant editions and for "an edition containing simpler melodies, for use in small churches."

Article 121 invites composers to "produce compositions which have the qualities proper to the liturgy, not confining themselves to works which can be sung only by large choirs, but providing also for the needs of small choirs and for the active participation of the entire assembly of the faithful." While in previous Roman documents popular hymnody had been allowed and occasionally encouraged, this new statement extends the use of music sung by the people. Following the Constitution 's appearance and to fill its demands, a great number of "People's Masses" in the vernacular have appeared.

The Choir. "Other kinds of sacred music, especially polyphony, are by no means excluded from liturgical celebrations" (art. 116). It is evident that such music presupposes choirs, and the Constitution insists that "choirs must be diligently promoted" (art. 114). The earlier stress on Palestrina does not appear. To what extent this more elaborate music belongs in the liturgy will depend very much on the choral resources of individual churches; thus, article 114 adds "especially in cathedral churches." The same article insists, too, that "whenever the liturgy is to be celebrated with song, the whole body of the faithful be able to contribute that active participation which is rightly theirs, as laid down in Art. 28 and 30" (these two articles do not specify the parts, though they include at least responses and acclamations).

Instrumental Music. Instrumental music is given a wider range of use, following the severe restrictions set down (but, in subsequent practice, unevenly obeyed) by the motu proprio of Pius X. The special privilege of the pipe organ in the Latin Church is upheld, "for it is the traditional musical instrument which adds a wonderful splendor to the Church's ceremonies and powerfully lifts up man's mind to God and to higher things."

Other instruments require "the knowledge and consent of the competent territorial authority" and may be used "only on condition that the instruments are suitable, or can be made suitable, for sacred use, accord with the dignity of the temple, and truly contribute to the edification of the faithful." This article (120) gives cross references that indicate a deemphasis on uniformity in favor of fostering "the genius and talents of the various races and peoples." This broad missiological principle will need special application when Western countries are had in mind. Accordingly, after the Constitution appeared, the use of popular instruments (guitar, percussion and others) arose in several countries.

Bibliography: j. gelineau, Voices and Instruments in Christian Worship, tr. c. howell (Collegeville, Minn. 1964). j. samson, Musique et chant sacrés (Paris 1957). j. quasten, Musik und Gesang in den Kulten der heidnischen Antike und christlichen Frühzeit (Münster 1930). c. j. mcnaspy, "The Sacral in Liturgical Music," in The Renewal of the Liturgy (New York 1963). j. mckinnon, The Church Fathers and Musical Instruments (Doctoral diss. unpub. Columbia U. 1965). f. romita, Jus musicae liturgicae (Rome 1947).

[c. j. mcnaspy/eds.]

More From encyclopedia.com