his influence became simple, thoughtful, aspiring, sin- cere, and noble, but destitute of passion and tenderness. The most spiritual of all arts, it raised t\m heart into immediate communion with the Infinite, and, while cel- ebrating the mystery of the divine sacrifice in the dif- ferent parts of the mass to which it was especially set, it found opportunity to express and to elevate, by its various combinations of sounds, every kind of Christian feeling. The centre of this school was the papal chap- el, and its last creative master was (iregorio AITegri (+ 1(340), whose Miserere, composed for a double chtnr, expresses with wonderful simplicity all the calm and profound sufferings of a Christian heart beneath the Saviour's cross.
The invention of the organ, and its use in accompa- nying the choral, had a large share in the development of harmony. Along with the music of the Church, and independently of it, secular music was making grad- ual advances, guided more by the ear than by science; it seems to have had a more decided rhythm, though not indicated as yet by bars. The airs which have be- come national in different countries were develoi)ments of it, but it had its chief seat in IJelgic Caul ; and the reconciliation of musical science with musical art, begun in Flanders by Josquin Uepres in the 15th century, was completed in the 17th centun,* by I'alestrina and his school at Rome, and reacted eventually on the ecclesi- astical style. "Mediaeval Church music," says Prof. Paine, " did not fidfil the entire mission of the art, for it failed to embrace within its scope of expression all the nature of man, leaving out an important element of artistic representation — his earthly acts and passions. It was reserved for secular music to supply this want. Music can also express outside of the Church the high- est principles of religion and morality, as they iiithiince the sentiments and actions of men. The Keformation of the 16th century was undoubtedly the means of giv- ing a new impulse to the cultivation of secular music, which previously had been ignored and held in con- tempt b_v the educated musicians and ecclesiastics; and in Germany the Keformation was also the source of a new style of sacred music of popular origin. During the absolute reign of median-al counterpoint the sense of melody which existed later in the songs of the trou- badours and minnesingers, and other popular melodies of a ver\- early date, was almost wholly lost, and conse- quently melotly had to be discovered again, so to sjieak, about the year KiOO. It was not the learned musicians, but mere dilettanti, who took these first steps on a new path. In Italy the increasing interest in ancient liter- ature and art led to an ardent desire on the part of cul- tivated men to restore Greek tragedy. Enthusiasts painted its splendors in glowing colors. They believed that modern counterpoint could not compare with an- cient music, either with respect to the simple beauty of the melody or the comprehensive clearness and rhetor- ical expression of the words. This idea of restoring the ancient drama and music was first advocated at the meetings of a society of scholars and artists at Florence. Tlie names of Vincenzio Galilei, Caccini. Cavaliere, and Peri have come down to ns as associated with these fee- ble beginnings of the musical drama. As the result of tlieir efforts tliey unfolded a new element in music, the modern renliitire, out of which the air was gradually developed. It is true the heavy and monotonous reci- tative which the Florentine dilettanti had introduced remained for a time a doubtful experiment ; yet the love for dramatic rejiresentations helped to sustain the novelty until the advent of original masters, like ^lon- teverde, Carestini, and, above all, Alcssandro Scarlatti. Under their gui.lance the recitutire grew more fiexible and expressive; the dramatic action and lyric passion of the play were heiglitcned by means of the orchestral accompaniment, and the true arioso style of singing was formed. Finally, the air sprang into life, and the a<ra of beautiful and sensuous melody was fairly inau- gurated." The opera, whicli thus aiipearcd nearly con-
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temporaneously with the Reformation and revival of letters (about 1600), greatly enlarged the domain of mu- sic. Italy advanced in melody, and Germany in har- mony. Instrumental music in this way came to occupy a more and more prominent place. Upon sacred music the influence of the opera was very marked. It brought about the introduction of solo singing and instrumental accompaniment into sacred music, and in consequence the strict ecclesiastical style was greatly modified. In the course of the 18th century Italian Church music had vrandered so far away from the chaste ideal of Palestrina as to lose its sacred style almost whollj^. These inno- vations in the field of music brought about a conflict with the old ecclesiastical style, which struggled in Rome to maintain its ground. The consequence was that the school of music founded by Neri began to per- form in the oratorium pieces relating to subjects from sacred history. In this way came into existence the oratorio, intermediate between the ancient and modern stj'les of music, and more distinctly expressive of pre- cise characters and situations, more agreeable in its melodies, and richer in its instrumental accompani- ments (comp. Hase, Ch. Hist. p. 465). Not only on the Continent, but also in England, this species of sacred music made its way. During the changes introduced there in ecclesiastical music at the Restoration the school of Purcell (q. v.) had arisen. Tliis paved the way for the oratorio, and a little later England adopted the German Handel, who was the precursor of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Spohr, and Jlendelssohn. These masters, though they exercised their gifts in almost every noble form of musical composition, dedicated their genius especially to the pure and sublime themes of re- ligion. Handel's forty operas are almost forgotten ; his long career as a dramatic composer, however, served as an excellent school for his faculties, and his triumphs in the field of oratorio music were but the natural fruits of his previous discipline. Handel's strength of charac- ter and sincere faith rendered him fully worthy as a man, as well as an artist, to create such works as the Messiah and Israel in Egypt. These masterpieces are not mere lyric and dramatic works; they possess a grand objective and ideal character, comparable only to the greatest works of art ; to the Greek drama or the romantic tragedies of Shakespeare. But the oratorio we do not care to see regarded as the highest type and expression of modern Church music. As such the can- tatas and passion music by Bach express more intensely and vividly than any other compositions a profound re- ligious conviction. The Passion to St. Matthew has no rival in its special form. It is the most dramatic and vivid conception in art of the trial and death of Christ. Among hundreds of similar works, this is the only music that has lived.