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Sacred Music THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG 168
complete development (first Netherland school, c. 1380-1480: Wilhelm du Fay, Binchois, Dunstable, and others); by the end of the
2. Devel. fifteenth century it came to its classic opment of bloom (second Netherland school, c. Polyphonic 1480-1565: Ockenheim, Joaquin de
song. Pr6s, Lassus, and others). It had gained entrance to the papal chapel during the exile at Avignon (1309-77). The art of blending voices through the bond of musical consonance, quite distinctively the creation of the Middle Ages-the musical expression of the medi eval association and gild spirit-accorded with the spirit of the Medieval Church. The creative constructive power and the wanton constructive impulse of the master composers brought matters to such a pass that the artistic product became an end in itself, and art forgot her subservient position. Not only in the luxuriant, exuberant maze of tones was the sacred text utterly lost to the verge of unintelligibility, but also the hallowed style of the choral came to be neglected. The master composers elected the tenor parts, and along these lines they built up their themes, no longer subject to the liturgical point of view, but to the purely esthetic standpoint of ar tistic effect, sometimes basing their masses upon favorite and often secular popular tunes. Accord ingly the Roman Catholic Church, committing itself as it did at the Council of Trent to the known Ro man chant, could allow full rights to the polyphonic style in divine worship only under the proviso that art should do justice to the liturgical demands of the Church. These demands were thoroughly sat isfied by the masses which Palestrina (1526?-94; see PALESTRINA, GIOVANNI PIERLUIOI DA) COm posed at the instance of the council, and submitted to the committee appointed by the council for the regulation of church music. In this master's Missa Papte Marcelli (1565), the stricter school since that time recognizes the classic type of Roman Catholic Church music. It is true, the course of develop ment passed beyond its bounds, and Roman Church music subsequently shared in all the transforma tions of tonal art. The strict Palestrina style, as represented by the Roman school (Animuccia, Vit toria, Felice and Francesco Anerio, Nanini, lastly Baini) had to yield to the style which emphasized subjective pathos, over and above the beautiful style which exhibits lofty detachment and massive repose by striving toward individual expression. The Ca:cilian Society (Franz Witt, 183488; Franz Xaver Haberl, 1840-1910) tried to reform the Roman Church music by returning to the style of Palestrina. Yet the Church itself, though actively supporting that society's efforts, has not obstructed the further development of church music; nor has it even barred from the sanctuary productions of the most modern tonal art of a Liszt and a Verdi.The Reformation coincided with the flourishing period of polyphony. Among its peculiar forms, the nascent Evangelical church could consider, for use in divine worship, only the motet, the hymn for several voices; or the madrigal. The motet (Ital. mottetto, diminutive of motto, " a word, a saying "), a musical phrase constructed upon a more or less
brief refrain either borrowed from the liturgical chant or the folk-song or even freely invented, found its place in the mass, as a musi 8. The Ref. cal art form, as the musical setting
ormation. for passages of Scripture that mark The nfotet the contextual significance of the mass Madrigal. d in the calendar. In the Evangelical wor ship it occurred first by way of musical setting for the sentences of the introit, the gradual, or the epistle or Gospel sentence, and in the next place as a form of choir song during the distribu tion of the Eucharist, as well as at marriages, funerals, and other solemnities. The word motet eventually came to signify elaborate choir song. In a narrower sense, as artistic form for the musical embodiment of a Bible sentence, that is, of the sentence in the introit or lection that indicated the day's calendar significance, the motet became the form in which tonal art participated in proclaiming the divine word in Evangelical worship. A form of motet which was cultivated with special favor was the polyphonic hymn (as elaborated in motet style). The task of the musical phrase in this case is artis tically to modulate the harmonic suggestion already given in the closed melody preceding, and to com prehend it somewhat in the manner of a costly painting in elegantly carved framework. This form adapted itself quite peculiarly to the musical elabo ration of the church tune, and therefore became the hymn form in superior choirs. But the choir song in Evangelical worship had now not only an artistic task, it had above all an educational mis sion; it was to lead the tunes for the congregation, in order to render them so familiar that the people should make them their own and themselves join in. The hymn tune, in this connection, ran tra ditionally in the tenor, which constituted the mid dle part. On practical grounds, it became advi sable to assign the tune to the upper voice, the soprano. Everything, in this case, was left to the free invention of the composer, who sought simply to light upon the musical expression for the key note of the appertaining text. The art of composi tion, the blending and the direction of voices, be came an incidental, expression the chief thing. The tuneful motives concentrated themselves more and more upon the finished expressive melody, and this became the vocal surface of the composition. The artistic composition, the harmony proper, came to be more and more a mere means of expression, the chromatic tone. The decisive step toward trans posing the melody to the soprano part was accom plished by the Wfirttemberg Court Preacher Lucas Osiander, by his address to schoolmasters, Jan. 1, 1586 (see OSIANDER, 2), and the publication of the work: Fitnfzig geistliche Lid, and psatmen. Mit vier Stimmen, 'If COWrapunctsweise. A succession of notable composers followed his example: Gesius, Raselius, Michael, Calvisius, Vulpius, Hassler, Michael Pri,torius, Johann Eccard.It was natural that the hymn tune, heretofore the foundation of the composition, should now become its actual object, the remaining voices receding more and more to the province of accompaniment, as they followed the melody in regular counterpoint; and the polyphonic motet style had to