Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 2.djvu/386

374 of the 15th and 16th Centuries for a large collection of Næniæ, or Funeral Motets, which are scarcely exceeded in beauty by those of any other class. The Service for the Dead has been treated, by Composers of all ages, with more than ordinary reverence. In the infancy of Discant, the so-called Organizers who were its recognized exponents did all they could to make the 'Officium Defunctorum' as impressive as possible: and, acting up to their light, endeavoured to add to its solemnity by the introduction of discords which were utterly forbidden in Organum of the ordinary kind. Hence arose the doleful strain, antiently called 'Litaniæ mortuorum discordantes.'

It is interesting to compare these excruciating harmonies with the Dirge of Josquin des Prés in memory of his departed friend and tutor, Okenheiin. This fine Motet is founded on the Plain Chaunt Melody of 'Requiem æternam,' which is sung in Breves and Semibreves by the Tenor, to the original Latin words, while the four other Voices sing a florid Counterpoint, to some French verses, beginning, 'Nymphes des boir, Déesses des fontaines.' It was printed, at Antwerp, in 1544; and presents so many difficulties to the would-be interpreter, that Burney declares himself 'ashamed to confess how much time and meditation' it cost him. The simple harmonies of the peroration, 'Requiescat in pace,' are so touchingly beautiful, that we transcribe them in preference to the more complicated passages by which they are preceded.

The earliest printed copies of the Motets we have described were given to the world by Ottaviano dei Petrucci, who published a volume, at Venice, in 1502, called 'Motette, A. numero trentatre'; another, in 1503, called 'Motetti de passioni, B.'; a third, in 1504, called 'Motetti, c. C.' [App. p.720 "'Motetti C.' (the British Museum possesses a single part-book of this work"]; a fourth, in 1505—'Motetti libro quarto'; and, in the same year, a book, for five Voices—'Motetti a cinque libro primo'—which, notwithstanding the promise implied in its title, was not followed by the appearance of a companion volume. In 1511, the inventor of printed music removed to Fossombrone; where, between the years 1514, and 1519, he published four more volumes of Motets, known, from a figure engraved on the title-page, as the 'Motetti della Corona.' In 1538, Antonio Gardano published, at Venice, a collection, called—also from a figure on its title-page—'Motetti del Frutto'. These were pirated, at Ferrara, under the name of 'Motetti della Scimia,' with the figure of an Ape devouring a Fruit: whereupon, Gardano issued a new volume, with the figure of a Lion, and Bear, devouring an Ape. Between the years 1527, and 1536, nineteen similar volumes were issued, in Paris, by Pierre Attaignant; and many more were printed, in the same city, by Adrian le Roy, and Robert Ballard. These collections, containing innumerable works by all the great Composers of the earlier periods, are of priceless worth. Of some of Petrucci's only one copy is known to exist, and that, unhappily, incomplete. The Library of the British Museum possesses his Second, Third, and Fourth Books of 'Motetti della Corona,' besides his First and Third Books of Josquin's Masses, and the First of Gardano's 'Motetti del Frutto'; and this, taking into consideration the splendid condition of the copies, must be regarded as a very rich collection indeed.

During the Fourth Epoch—embracing the interval between the death of Josquin des Prés, in 1521, and the production of the 'Missa Papæ Marcelli', in 1565—the development of the Motet coincided so closely with that of the Mass, that it seems necessary to add but very little to the article already written upon that subject. The contemporaneous progress of the Madrigal did, indeed, exercise a healthier influence upon the former than it could possibly have done in presence of the more recondite intricacies, common to the latter: but, certain abuses crept into both. The evil habit of mixing together irrelevant words increased to such an extent, that, among the curiosities preserved in the Library of the Sistine Chapel, we find Motets in which every one of the five Voices is made to illustrate a different text, throughout. In this respect, if not in others, an equal amount of deterioration was observable in both styles.

The Fifth Epoch—extending from the year 1565, to the beginning of the following Century—witnessed the sudden advance of both branches of Art to absolute perfection: for Palestrina, the brightest genius of the age, was equally great in both, and has left us Motets as unapproachable in their beauty as the 'Missa Papæ Marcelli.' The prolific power of this delightful Composer was no less remarkable than the purity of his style. The seven Books of Motets printed during his life-time contain two hundred and two compositions, for four, five, six, seven, and eight Voices, among which may be found numerous examples of all the different classes we have described. About a hundred others, including thirteen for twelve Voices, are preserved, in MS., in the Vatican Library, and among the Archives of the Pontifical Chapel, the Lateran Basilica, S. Maria in Vallicella, and the Collegium Romanum; and there is good reason to believe that