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agination toward the realm of the eternal and divine; such as the Biblical oratorio, the spiritual song, and serious instrumental music. The music of the sanctuary comprises only such music as according to its substance and form, object and character, harmonizes with divine worship as a homogeneous element of the same, not overstepping the sphere of divine worship but essentially complementing it and strengthening its effectiveness. The essential mark of sacred music in the stricter sense is that its artistic effect accords with the effect aimed at in worship, producing a single combined effect. This accord requires that the music heard in divine worship shall not evoke in the hearer memories and ideas that may divert from the object of reverence. It excludes transfer of compositions known to the hearer in other connections. It requires on the composer's part subordination 6f the artistic purpose to the end and conception of divine worship. If divine worship be regarded only as a means of converting the masses, music is employed simply for its operation upon the emotions; and nothing further is required of it than exciting power, easy access to the mind, action upon the nerves. Its esthetic value, its artistic constitution, is not essentially in question. Artistic excellence and purity must frequently be sacrificed for immediate effect and influence upon the lower stratum of the congregation. This view of church music obtains more or less where divine service is regarded exclusively from the missionary and pedagogical standpoint (e.g., among German Methodists and the Salvation Army). Where divine worship is an end in itself, either as consummating a sacred act whose value properly inheres in the strict observance of the form of its consummation (the Roman Catholic conception), or as the voluntary assembling of the congregation before God with preaching of the' Gospel and prayer (the Evangelical conception), the music is, in the one instance, ecclesiastical in the sense of constituting a portion of the liturgy; in the other instance, in the degree that it animates and strengthens the presentation of the Gospel, or as it unifies the congregation's prayer in due liturgical process.

According to the Roman Catholic conception, the Church decides what belongs to the essence of divine worship; music is ecclesiastical in so far as it answers to the "will of the Church in the sphere of music." Roman Catholic church music is liturgical song as appointed by the Church and such artistic song as has been carefully examined

and admitted for use in divine worn. The ship. This was expressed in no equiv-

Catholic Congregation of Rites of Apr. 23 and Conception. 26, 1583. According to this decree,

"only that form of Gregorian song was to be regarded as authentic and regular, which in virtue of the provisions of the Council of Trent has been approved and confirmed by His Holiness Pope Leo XIII., as likewise by the Congregation of Sacred Rites, conformably to the edition prepared at Regensburg, as the one used by the Roman Church." [This decree, however, in so far as it made the Regensburg edition " authentic " or su-

thoritative, was reversed by Pius X., who shortly after his accession to the papal throne issued a most important Motu Proprio concerning the reform of abuses in church music and embodying many positive instructions. Scientific students of plain-song, especially the Benedictines, had already proved conclusively that the Regensburg " authentic " edition was very imperfect and uncritical-that it by no means represented the old traditional Gregorian melodies. A critical edition of the latter, embodying the results of long and painstaking labor on the part of eminent scholars, was prepared from a comparative study of the ancient manuscripts by the Benedictine Fathers of the monastery of Solesmes in France, but while competent and disinterested critics unanimously recognized its superiority over the Regensburg edition, the latter still retained its authoritative position in virtue of the above-mentioned decree of the Congregation of Rites. But Pius X., who took a deep, intelligent interest in the subject, cast the weight of his authority in favor of the school of Soleames, and the undeserved monopoly hitherto enjoyed by the Regensburg editors came suddenly to an end. The pope appointed a pontificial commission to supervise the carrying-out of the instructions contained in the Motu Proprio, and to look after the publication of a new " authentic " edition of the liturgical plain-song, to be known as the Vatican edition. The members of this commission were all chosen from among the experts representing the Benedictine school, and the new edition (not yet completed) is based exclusively on that of Soleames. The Motu Proprio deals at length and with not a little detail with the entire question of church music in its various aspects. Many abuses are pointed out and reproved, and while modern music is not excluded from use in church services, it is subjected to restrictions requiring that it be religious and ecclesiastical in character. Music of the Palestrinian style is commended, but a strong preference is expressed in favor of the traditional Gregorian or plain-song, the use of which is prescribed for all those parts of the service known as the " proper." This decree was followed by a keen revival of interest in the question of church music both in Europe and in America, and in most of the dioceses musical commissions were appointed by the bishops with a view to carry out the instructions contained in the papal document. a. a. D.] Church music is ecclesiastical according to its relation to the sanctioned choral music. Its ecclesiastical quality is not involved in the musical style of any specified epoch; or in any specified harmonic form or musical mode of expression. Music is ecclesiastical in so far as it is an artistic consummation and idealization of the liturgical song sanctioned by the Church.

According to the Evangelical conception, it is essential to divine service that the word of God, the Gospel, be proclaimed, and that the congregation make its confession in prayer. Here music becomes the art which expresses emotions that strive in vain for words, as well as the art which unifies and idealizes every form of expression. AB music supplements the spoken word, its tones impart a vital, apprehensible quality to the