Here it may most appropriately be stated that all sacred music since the 16th century must be divided into two general divisions, choral and Jigurate music. Choral music is, in its original form, Church singing only, in which the melody is solemnly slow. It is de- void of ornament, and not bound to a strict observance of time. Figurate music is the execution of religious pieces with accompaniment of instruments, and arose from the choral melodies arranged for four or more voices, and having for their theme hymns, psalms, or passages of Scripture. From the signs or figures used in the different parts, and which were not used in cho- ral music, this style received the name of figurate. The organ was generally used in it to conduct and assist the voice, and subsequently stringed and wind instru- ments were gradually added. At first the instruments were used only to give the tone to the singers. At the Reformation the Calvinistic Church entirely rejected the use of instruments. The ancient Italian masters, such as Palestrina and Orlando di Lasso, composed no instrumental music. Yet Luther introduced the custom of having chorals executed by instruments. The gen- eral use of the organ for accompaniment dates from
about the year 1640. Figurate music and choir singing, as distinguished from congregational singing, appears already in the fugues and motets of the 14th century, in which, after one part had commenced the singing, it was taken up by a second, then by a third, a fourth, and finally taken up again by the first, and so on to the end. We find it also in many compositions of the times of the Reformation, as, for instance, in the festive songs of John Eccard (f 1611). Hammerschraidt (f 1675) gave to this style a fuller development, and entitled it by the name of madrigal. In Italy, in the 16th century, the ap- pearance of the opera, as we have seen above, was not without influence on sacred music, which gradually ac- quired a more secular style. Besides, this also led to the use of musical instruments in the churches. From Italy the custom was introduced into Germany by John ¥tsb- torius (t 1621) and Henry Schiltz (j 176-i), and thus gave rise to the cantaie, in which John Sebastian Bach particularly distinguished himself, and of which we have spoken above. By all these innovations it is be- lieved the old solemn style of sacred music lost ground, and the oratorio itself gradually turned more to the op- era. iMozart and Beethoven wrote sacred music in pre- cisely the same style as operas. On the other hand, the Romish clergy did not better the position by re' turning to the ante-Palestrinan mode of chanting mass, and this was not without a certain influence again iu making the sacred music of the Protestant churches more secular. The importance of instrumental music was also on the increase ; overtures and dancing-tunes were often played on the organ before and after service. It is only with the revival of evangelical piety that a change commenced to be perceptible in sacred music: it was brought about mainly by the efforts of such com- posers as C. F. Becker, J. C. H. Rlick, G. W. Korner, and by the collection of classical pieces for the organ pub- lished by Kocher, Silcher, and Freeh in 1851. The an- cient figurate pieces were also remodelled by such com- posers as Ruck, A. W. Bach, C. G. Reissiger, Silcher, Freeh, Palmer, etc. In this country Lowell Mason (q .v.) may be said to be the father of Christian Church music. He is certainly the founder of the American school of sacred song, though it should be borne in mind that oiu: musicians, especially composers, are very largely influ- enced by European culture, particularly German. See Hawkins, General Hist, of the Science and Practice of Music (Lond. 1776 ; new ed. 1853, 2 vols. 4to) ; Burney, Hist, of Music (Lond. 1776-89, 4 vols. 4to) ; Forkel, Ge- schichte d. Musik (Leips. 1788, 2 vols.) ; Hullah, Hist, of Mod. Music (Lond. 1862); Fetis, Hist, generale de la Musique (Paris, 4 vols, out, but yet unfinished) ; Chap- pell, Hist, of Music (Lond. 1874 and sq., 4 vols.) ; Nau- mann, Umgestaltung der Kirchennmsik (1852) ; Psalmen^ gesang in der Evangel. Kirche (1856) ; Tonkunst in der Culturgesch. (1869-70) ; Riddle, Christian Antiquities, p. 384-391; Bingham, Ongines Ecclesiasticce,- p. 315 sq, ; Thibaut, Ueber Reinheit der Tonkunst (Heidelb. 1826) ; Laurenzin, Geschichte der Kirchenmusik hei d. Italienejii u. Deutschen(he\ps.l8o&); Mansi, xxix, 107 ; Wiseman, The Offices of Holy Week (Lond. 8vo) ; Fink, in Zeit- schrift. f. hist. Theologie, 1842 ; Pierer, Universal Lexi- kon, ix, 507 ; Milman, Hist, of Christianity and Latin Christianity; Neander, Ch. Hist.; SchafF, Ch. Hist.; Bax- ter, Eccles. Hist, of England, p. 263 ; Ch. and World, 1867, art. ix; Brand, Pop. Antiquities in Great Britain, ii, 267 sq. ; Hardwick, Hist, of the R formation, p. 387- 389; Hase, Hist, of the Christian Church, p. 153, 465, 675 ; and especially Coleman, Manual of Prelacy and Ritualism, ch. xii. See also the articles in Lond. Qu. Rev. April, 1861, art. ii; July, 1871, art. v; Oct. 1872, art. i; Catholic World, March, 1870, art. iii; For. Qu. Rev. XX, 29 sq. ; xxiii, 121-248. (J. H. W.)
Music, Instrumental. As there are many Chris- tians who hold that the use of instrumental music in the sacred services of the Church does not find its war- rant in the New-Testament Scriptiu-es, we here append an article on this negative position. We add a few ar-