oratorio in 2 p a r t s ; words by W. Bartholomew, music by Cos ta; produced Birmingham Festival, Sept. 7, 1864.
Archive | M
MADRIGAL
(Ital. madrigale), a form of secular composition for two or more voices, practised originally in North Italy in the 14th century and revived in the 16th and early 17th centuries, during which period it assumed the style by which it is chiefly known and became popular over the greater part of Europe. The etymology of the word has puzzled philologists for several centuries. I t was applied originally to a particular form of short poem of pastoral character, and since such poems were often called mandriali in the 14th century, it was supposed that the word was derived from mandria (Latin mandra and Greek fidvdpa), a herd. The form madriale also appears, and gave rise to the theory that the madrigal was originally a hymn to the Virgin Mary. I t has recently been shown by Prof. Leonardo Biadene of the University of Pisa that the word comes from a mediaeval Latin word matricale meaning a rustic song in the mother tongue. Italian writers on literature in the early 14th century also make use of the words mandriale and marigale as synonymous, the latter word being more in common usage. The forms madrigale, marigale and madriale are all easily and naturally derived from matricale under the influence of various North Italian dialects; Biadene regards mandriale as a word invented by the literary men of the 14th century resulting from a fusion of madriale and mandria. The madrigal as a musical composition makes its first appearance about 1340. Its origin m ay be traced to the C o n d u c t u s (q.v.) of the French composers in the 13th century, but the great Florentine school of the 14th century has an individual style of its own. The most important composers of this school were Giovanni da Cascia, Jacopo da Bologna and Francesco Landini (d. 1397). Landini is described by contemporary writers as being not only a composer of very moving love-songs, but also as a marvellous performer on the organetto (portative organ). Specimens of his madrigals are quoted by Wooldridge (Oxford History of Music) and Ludwig (in Adler's Handbuch der Musikgeschichte). The madrigal of this period consists generally of two or three stanzas of three lines each, repeated to the same music and followed by a pair of lines in a different rhythm. The subjects are chiefly amorous, but often satirical or political as well. The music is generally for two voices. Another form common at this period is the caccia (chase), originally used for poems dealing with the chase; the music is for two voices in canon, with a free instrumental bass. I t has been suggested by German writers that the English Catch is derived from the Caccia. Both madrigal and caccia often illustrate the words with a strong sense of musical wit. The madrigals often begin with long florid passages, and it has been suggested by Riemann and others that these were played by instruments. The period of Landini shows secular music considerably in advance of music for the church, but in the 15th century the church seems to have taken the lead. The secular music of the early Netherland school is of comparatively little importance in the history of technical developments. From the beginning of the 16th century onwards the leadership passes to the Italians again. The madrigal and various other secular forms return to prominence, and by the end of the century the madrigal, especially in Italy, represents the most daring advance in the technique of musical composition. The transition is well summarised by Alfred Einstein (Adler's Handbuch der Musikgeschichte) as the passage of the principal melody from the tenor to the uppermost part. In the early years of the 15th century the favourite secular form was the chanson of the French and Netherlandish composers (see Song, subsection F rance ). I t was in most cases a traditional popular tune, sung by the tenor and accompanied by the other voices in more or less elaborate counterpoint. During the course of the century composers gradually learned to give organic unity to their work by making the subsidiary voices sing free imitations on motives taken from the main tune. I t has been well pointed out that the principle of perpetual free and fragmentary imitation was a very important step in musical technique, because it was the first step towards thematic unity and thematic development, neither of which were possible so long as the ideal of absolutely strict canon prevailed. This aspect of technique is best studied in the church music of the period which offered larger forms than the chanson in which to develop the principle. The chanson, which eventually imposed its definitely French style of expression on the Netherlander as well, found its most artistic exponent in Josquin des Pr6s (d. 1521), who has been regarded by the general consensus of musical historians as the first composer whose music appeals unmistakably to our modern sense of the art. From Josquin onwards secular music maintains its own independent life as free composition, not merely the harmonisation of traditional tunes. The name madrigale, after having been apparently forgotten (as a musical form) for over a hundred years, was revived again in 1533, when a collection of ' Madrigali noui de diuersi excellentissimi musici ' was published by Valerio Dorico at Rome. Out of twenty compositions sixteen have Italian words, the rest French; the composers of the Italian pieces are given as Carlo (3), Constantio F[esta] (2), Sebastiano F[esta] (1), Maistre Jan (1), Jacobo de Tho- [scana?] (1), Verdelot (7), and Anon. (1). The poetical form of the Madrigal has been variously defined, according as the authorities followed the examples of the 14th or the 16th centuries. Bembo, the greatest literary authority of the later madrigal period, to whom also the actual musical composition of madrigals owed some of its instigation, says that the madrigal is bound by no rule as to the number of its lines or the arrangement of its rhymes. I t was a short poem rarely exceeding twelve lines; its rhymes could be arranged as the poet pleased, provided that the last two lines, which generally formed some sort of pointed coda, should rhyme together; and its lines were free as to length, the metre being iambic, usually of seven or eleven syllables, more rarely of five. The literary aspect of the madrigal is of great importance. I t has been discussed at some length by G.'Cesari (R .M .I . xix.). There existed in Italy during the first years of the 16th century a type of song called F rottola (q.v.), popular mainly in North Italy (Verona, Mantua, Padua, Venice, Bologna). The poems were frivolous, but obviously written by educated people for educated audiences; they are clever and amusing adaptations of the folk-song style. Some are intended for four unaccompanied voices, others for one voice with the lute or other instruments. Two things should be noted about them-their music is definitely melodious, with the melody at the top, and their poems are generally in stanzas with a refrain and in trochaic lines of eight syllables. The composers of the frottole are all Italians. The madrigal was a reaction against the frivolity and vulgarity of the frottola. In its early stages it was mainly the work of Netherlandish composers; but it could not have come into existence but for the incentive of Italian poets. Bembo was the leader of the movement towards an essentially aristocratic poetry that deliberately avoided all contact with that of the common people. The last collection of frottole was printed in 1531; Bembo's famous4 Canzoniere' appeared in 1530, and the first collection of madrigals set to music in 1533. The disciples of Bembo took Petrarch as their model, and Petrarch himself was one of the poets most often set to music by the madrigalists; but, as Symonds pointed out, the conditions of social life in Petrarch's own day were very different from those of the Renaissance, and the imitation of Petrarch in the 16th century merely led to preciosity and affectation. Yet this movement, disastrous as it was in some ways to poetry, had a certain very valuable influence on music. In the first place, it made the madrigal the musical expression of the highly cultivated life of the small Italian courts; a definitely aristocratic type of music was created. The Netherlandish composers brought to it the accomplished contrapuntal technique of the motet; but that technique soon had to learn to adjust its paces to the swift and supple rhythms of the new Italian poetry. A typical example of the early madrigal is the well-known poem of Monsignor Guidiccioni set to equally well-known music1 by Arcadelt: II bianco e dolce cigno Cantando more, ed io Piangendo giungo al fin del viver mio. Strana e diversa sorte, Ch' ei more sconsolato, E t io moro beato. Morte, che nel morire, M' empie di gioia tu tto e di desire ; Se nei morir altro dolor non sento, Di mille mort' il di sarei contento. The ingenious irregularity of its lines and rhymes compel the composer to invent musical forms that will correspond with them. As the ten lines are a complete poem there is no need for a simple tune to which a succession of stanzas are to be sung. The poem is short enough to admit of melismata and of contrapuntal elaboration, but, in conformity with the artificial spirit of the words, the counterpoint must be suggested rather than worked out. Music for a cultivated and elegant society must not become boring. Every line of the poem contains at least one word that is full of emotional suggestion- dolce, cantando, piangendo, strana, sconsolato, etc. The word morire bears the erotic double sense familiar in the madrigal poets of our own country. The epigrammatic point made by the final rhymed couplet gives the composer the opportunity of 'driving a point ' of imitation, in order to end his work with an effective coda. In most madrigals, early or late, this coda, so carefully provided by the poet, is made still more pointed in the music by a repetition. Most of these early madrigals are largely homophonic, but the parts (at this period four is the usual number) are all melodious and agreeable to sing, whether they move contrapuntally or not. They are intended to be sung by four unaccompanied voices ; but it is clear that the uppermost part has the chief melody, and there can be little doubt that in many cases the three lower parts were played by instruments. There are definite records of madrigals being sung to instrumental accompaniment, i Published as No. 22 of 'Ausgew&hlte Madrigale* (select Madrigals), ed. by W. Barclay Squire. (b. & H.) voices and instruments sometimes uniting in all parts, sometimes a voice singing the top part only. But the fact that the collection of 1533 was the first issue of separate partbooks with the words printed in full for each part shows that musicians had begun to require a more careful adjustment of words to notes in all v o ic e s ; the previous practice had been to print all four parts in the same book, not in score but on facing pages, and to print words for the soprano alone in full. The madrigal composers of this early period are almost exclusively N etherlander occupying positions at the various small Italian courts. The chief representatives are Arcadelt, Verdelot, Willaert and Gero. The only Italians of distinction are Costanzo Festa and Alfonso della Viola. The madrigal, however, soon became an important feature of the courtly life. At the marriage of Cosmo de' Medici and Eleonora of Toledo at Florence in 1539 a whole series of madrigals was performed, some as entr'actes to a comedy, others as accompaniments to the entrance and exit of the ducal couple. The list of madrigals, singers and instruments gives in itself quite a vivid picture of the scene. Ingredere, k 8, sung over th e archway of th e g re at door of th e P o r ta al P rato with 24 voices on one side and on th e other 4 trombones and 4 cornetti on the entrance of the most illustrious Duchess. Sacro et santo himeneo, k 9. Vattcne almo riposo, & 4, sung b y Aurora and played by a harpsichord an d little organs with various stops a t th e beginning of the comedy. Guardane almo pastore, k 6, sung a t th e end of th e 1st a c t bv 6 shepherds and th en repeated by th em an d played as well by 6 other shepherds with storte (? krummh om). Chi me I ' a toll' oime, k 6, sung a t th e end of th e 2nd a c t by 3 sirens and 3 sea-monsters, played by 3 flutes an d 3 sea-nymphs with 3 lutes all together. O begli anni dell' oro, k 4, played a t th e end of th e 3rd a c t by Silenus with a violone, playing all the p a r ts and singing th e soprano. Hor chi mai cantera, k 4, sung a t the end of the 4 th a c t by 8 huntress nymphs. Vientene almo riposo, k 5, sung a t th e end of th e 6 th ac t, a t nightfall, and played by 4 trombones. Bacco, Bacco evoi, k 4, sung and danced by 4 bacchanals and 4 saty rs with various instruments all a t once which a t nightfall was th e end of th e comedy. There were innumerable madrigals composed for social events such as weddings, as their words plainly show. Palestrina and others often allude to the lasciviousness of the madrigals; Corteccia, the composer of the wedding madrigals just mentioned, apologised for this in the dedication to Cosmo de' Medici of these and others which he published in 1544, being then a priest. He excuses himself partly on the ground that they were composed in his youth but mainly because they had been printed incorrectly by unauthorised persons and ascribed to other composers. Peter Wagner (Das Madrigal und Palestrina, in Vierteljahrsschrift fiir Musikwissenschaft, viii. 423) quotes the words of a very curious specimen which must be left in the decent obscurity of a learned periodical. The chief composers of the second period of madrigal writing are Willaert and his pupil Cipriano de Rore, who was also a Fleming; Orlando Lasso, Palestrina and Andrea Gabrieli also belong to this group, though Palestrina's contributions to madrigal literature are of comparatively small importance. The output of minor Italian composers, almost all of considerable merit, was enormous. The typical madrigal of this period is for five voices, which not only enriched the harmony but allowed of frequent division of the singers into opposing groups, the middle voice often having to do duty in both. Six-part madrigals are also common. Counterpoint becomes the adroit servant of emotional expression; phrases are much broken up by rests which emphasise the rhetoric of the words and illustrate the sighs and groans of unsatisfied desire; both words and music acquire a marvellously skilful technique of delicate voluptuousness. But love is by no means the only subject of the madrigals ; the whole life of the later Renaissance is mirrored in them. Jacques du Pont, organist of S. Luigi dei Francesi at Rome, shows us the street seller of roast chestnuts; Giovanni Croce of Chioggia teaches us to play the game of the Goose, still popular with Italian children today; Striggio describes the chattering of the women washing clothes in the river-their gossip of love-affairs, their grumbles at their mistresses, their ghost stories, their quarrels and the folk-songs which another group suddenly start to sing by way of putting an end to abusive language-and from Striggio it is only a short step to the ' Amfiparnaso' of Vecchi and the rather puerile buffooneries of Banchieri. The third and most interesting period of the Italian madrigal is represented by Luca Marenzio, Monteverdi and Gesualdo Prince of Venosa. Their madrigals have been very severely criticised by earlier writers on musical history, such as Burney, Rockstro, Wooldridge and even Parry1; but it may be noted that Martini, the teacher of Mozart, speaks of them with the highest praise. The free use of chromatic alteration brings about the complete break-down of the modal tona lity ; modulations are introduced which even to-day sound bewildering. In the earlier years of the madrigal it is fairly clear that madrigals were written more for the pleasure of the singers than for that of an audience; the delight of singing them arises from the fact that every part is contrapuntally interesting as well as admirably vocal. In the third period the personality of the composer dominates; the separate voices have to sink their individuality in the organic whole. The madrigal is not the choral expression of a corporate body such as may perhaps be found in the church music of the period; the voices are the skilled and sensitive servants of the composer, like the instruments in a late quartet of Beethoven. The madrigal becomes in fact a conscious and accomplished work of art. The madrigal broke down in the early years of the 17th century because it was becoming J B n t see The Significant* o f Monteverdi, by C. H . H . P a rry , J'roc. Mus. Ass., 1 9 1 5 - 1 6 . steadily more and more literary. The madrigals of Monteverdi and Gesualdo, notwithstanding their daring harmonies and their consummate musical technique seem to be inspired more by a passionate devotion to poetry than by a purely musical creative faculty. Some of the English composers described their madrigals as 'apt for voices or viols.' One could have Arcadelt's madrigals played by strings alone with no great loss to their beau ty ; but to treat those of Monteverdi and Gesualdo in this way would be unthinkable. Without their poems they would be meaningless; and perhaps the reason why some writers failed to appreciate the beauty of them was that they looked at them from too exclusively musical a point of view. Galilei and Peri, the creators of the stilo recitativo which eventually became the foundation of the musical drama, had pushed the literary ideal of music still farther. We can see from the description of Corteccia's wedding madrigals how the ideal of solo song accompanied by intruments had interested musicians almost a hundred years before ; but it was the madrigal of Cipriano de Rore, Marenzio and Monteverdi himself which prepared the expressive technique of the early operas. Monteverdi took over the madrigal style in the choruses of his operas; but it must not be overlooked that the style of his recitatives is derived no less from that of the madrigals. The madrigal did not altogether die out in the 17th century, in spite of the new orientation of music. Madrigals were composed even by such men as Stradella, Alessandro Scarlatti and Lotti, though it must be admitted that their numbers are very few. In the 16th century Luzzasco Luzzaschi had composed elaborately florid madrigals with accompaniment of the harpsichord for three ladies who sang at the court of Ferrara, and it is probably from these that the name passed to contrapuntal duets for two voices with figured bass which were written in large quantities by Alessandro Scarlatti, Steffani, Handel, Perez and others in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Alongside of the madrigals there existed in the 16th century a number of smaller secular vocal forms. The frottole have already been described. The 'Giustiniana' belongs to the same date and to much the same category. It derives its name not (as Morley and Prastorius supposed) from that of a notorious courtesan of Bergamo but from Leonardo Giustiniani, the Venetian statesman and humanist (b. 1385), who in his youth was a prolific poet and composer of songs in the popular Venetian manner. They were greatly admired in his own day and won the praise even of Bembo. The later songs called by Giustiniani's name were of less value. Giustiniani in later life wrote 'laudi spirituali,' and it has been conjectured that some of his own melodies have been preserved in various collections of laudi. The ' villanella' (Venetian villota) is of the same type, and closely allied with it are the 'canti carnascialeschi,' four-part settings of poems in several stanzas. Their words show that they were to be sung by people dressed up in various characters, who in the carnival procession present themselves to the ladies with language that is generally more or less obscene. An amusing example is the ' Canto delle Lancresine' (i.e. le Inglesine, or Dames Anglaises, English nuns whose complaints of the discomforts of foreign travel oddly resemble those of the English spinster in Italy to-day). The 'canti carnascialeschi' generally have the melody in the tenor. The villanelle are more usually in three parts, and one of their characteristics is the frequent use of three or more consecutive triads. This practice was pursued not from ignorance but from a deliberate intention to offend the ' good taste ' which cultivated the madrigal, as the words show pretty clearly. The villanelle were not written for the lower classes, but for the same classes as the madrigals were, and among their most spirited composers we find Orlando Lasso and Luca Marenzio. Fifths of exactly the same kind are numerous among the 'laudi spirituali,' as these were popular tunes, supplied, for words, with edifying parodies of the far from edifying originals. More important is the 'balletto,' belonging chiefly to the second half of the 16th century; its principal exponent is Giovanni Gastoldi. The balletto, which, as its name implies, was a song for dancing, is mainly homophonic, and has a quasi-instrumental refrain to the syllables fa la la. Gastoldi's balletti enjoyed a great popularity outside Italy, and had a considerable influence on the English school of madrigal composers. F rance In the 16th century it is difficult to draw a clear distinction between the French and Netherlandish composers. A number of Joaquin's pupils were connected with the French court in the days of Francis I. and Henri I I . ; several of them are mentioned by Rabelais and other contemporary men of letters. A collection of chansons by various composers, of whom Claude de Sermisy and Jannequin are the best known, was published by Attaingnant in Paris in 1529. This was followed by a number of other collections, in which a definitely French style soon makes its appearance. The general technique is more or less that which we have seen in the works of Joaquin and Arcadelt, but the characteriatic rhythms of French poetry make themselves clearly felt. The French temperament reveals itself here aa in the 17th century; instead of the outspoken passion of the Italians, which was often uncongenial to French taste, we find a more delicate sentimentality and a lighter handling of the frivolous aspects of love. Clement Marot was a favourite poet for musical aetting. Jannequin appears to have been the creator of the descriptive style with hia 'Bataile de Marignan' and 'Les Cris des oiseaux,' which even to-day sound extraordinarily vivid. Descriptive madrigals of this type were also composed by Nicholas Gombert and Guillaume Costeley. The atyle waa not confined to France; street cries and cuckoo songs are to be found in Germany and England as w e l l ; but Jannequin is the most elaborate of the descriptive composers. The French never pursued the Italian ideals of madrigal-writing as exhibited in Marenzio and Monteverdi. In the second half of the 16th century the French composers came under the literary influences of Ronsard and the PlSiade. Ronsard, in spite of his deafness, was devoted to music ; one of his first biographera tells us that he held the view 'que sans la Musique la Pogsie /'tail preaque sana grftce.' Jannequin, Goudimel, Certon and eventually Orlando Lasso aet his poems to music. The vers mesuris (quantitative verses) of Jean Antoine de Balf were set by Claude le Jeune, whose collection entitled ' Printemps ' is dedicated to King James I. of England, and also by Jacques Mauduit, who lived on into the 17th century and contributed to the new ideals of dramatic music. These settings of Ronsard and Balf are almost entirely homophonic, though composed for four voices. Goudimel makes more use of counterpoint, but the general impression of the musical settings of Ronsard and his friends is frigid and formal. The French chanson of the 16th century has a further historical importance in view of its connection with the Huguenot Psalter, for Goudimel's settings of the metrical versions of the Psalms made by Marot and Beza are clearly derived from the style of secular songs. G ermany The 'Lochamer Liederbuch' (1460) and other manuscript collections of the same date contain secular polyphonic music by Dufay, Busnois and other Netherlanders, but also an important quantity of similar songs by German composers, who exhibit considerable skill in counterpoint. Most of these songs are folk-songs sung by a tenor and accompanied by instruments. The first German composer of distinction who composed original four-part songs for voices was Heinrich Finck (1445-1527); a collection was printed at Nurnberg in 1536. Like most of the leading German composers of his day he was attached to the court of the Emperor Maximilian, which resided chiefly at Innsbruck, Augsburg, Constance and Vienna. To this group belong Paul Hofhaimer (1459- 1537), Heinrich Isaac (1450?-1517), known as Arrigo tedesco, but of Flemish origin, and Ludwig Senfl (1490-1550?), a Swiss. Isaac spent a considerable time at the court of Lorenzo il Magnifico at Florence, and composed French and Italian songs as well as German. His work shows the influence of the 4 Canti carnascialeschi ' and the frottole. Otto Kade says of these three that Hofhaimer is eminently a harmonist, Isaac a melodist and Senfl a contrapuntist. The German ' Carmina,' as they were generally called, show the influence of German folk-song and German poetry in their style, which is much heavier than that of the Italians-one might almost call it pedestrian. Another characteristic form of German vocal music was the 'Quodlibet,' in which each voice entered w ith a different folk-tune; these show considerable contrapuntal ingenuity, but the original melodies are of necessity much distorted. Towards the middle of the 16th century the German courts employed a large number of Netherlanders and Italians, to the detriment of the native German composers, who could seldom hope for anything better than municipal appointments. The foreigners seem, however, to have done their best to adapt themselves to German life. Matthaus Le Maistre, a Fleming, and his successor Antonio Scandello from Bergamo, both Kapellmeister at the court of Dresden, even became Protestants and composed Lutheran church music. Both of them wrote secular songs for four or five voices to German words, mostly of a convivial type, in the manner of the villanelle. With these may be associated Orlando Lasso during his residence at Munich; he, too, although a Catholic, set words of Luther himself and wrote characteristically German drinking songs. Regnart, another Netherlander, published three sets of 'kurtzweiligen teutschen Liedern' for three voices in the style of the Neapolitan villanelle, with their typical chains of consecutive fifths. In 1579, the year of Regnart's last collection, Leonhard Lechner, a German, rearranged Regnart's songs for five voices in correct counterpoint. Lechner, who came from Tyrol, was the teacher of Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612), who is the chief German madrigalist. Hassler spent some fifteen months at Venice, and was the first notable German musician to be educated in Italy. Many of his madrigals are set to Italian wo rd s ; but the ' Neue teutsche Gesang ' of 1596 and the 'Lustgarten' of 1601 have German words written by Hassler himself. Hassler was influenced mainly by the two Gabrielis, from whom he derived his partiality for double chorus in 8 parts, and by Gastoldi; his German madrigals are full of life and feeling, but are mainly homophonic and squarely rhythmical. Like most of the Germans he avoids chromaticism. Johann Staden (1581-1634) is another composer of humorous and popular songs, but his chief work belongs to the style of the 17th century. As in France, the secular vocal music of Germany is closely related to the Protestant musical movement. Another German product which must be mentioned here was the musical setting of classical Latin poems, chiefly the Odes of Horace. Horace was set to music in Latin by various composers outside Germany; 'Integer vitae' is to be found among the Italian frottole, and Goudimel also set some of the Odes. The earliest German settings are those of Petrus Tritonius of Ingolstadt (1507); there are others by Hofhaimer and Senfl, as well as by many lesser composers. They were written for use in schools, and it was only in Germany that this musical aid to classical education was systematically practised. BIBLIOGRAPHY A. E in s t e i n : D ie mehrstimmige weltliche Musik von 1450-1600 in Adler's Handbuch der Musikgeschichte. H . J . M o s e r : Geschichte der deutschen Musik, Ban d 1, 1920. E n g l a n d The records of early English secular music are scanty. ' S o m e r i s i c u m e n i n ' (13th century) is far in advance of any Continental work of its period, but it is an isolated specimen; nevertheless it may be presumed that in England at any rate other compositions of the same kind were produced in some quantity. Up to the death of Dunstable England took the lead in musical technique; after that the leadership passed to the Netherlanders, and English music is of less importance. A few secular songs for voices by Fayrfax and Cornysshe have been preserved, and the madrigalian period may be said to begin with the collection of secular songs published by Wynkyn de Worde in 1530. Edwards's 'In going to my naked bed,' which is not later than 1564, corresponds in its style to the early madrigals of Arcadelt. There are a few others by Tallis and Tye belonging to this period. The next collection to be printed in England was Thomas Whythome's 'Songes of three, fower and five v o y c e s ' (1571). To judge from the examples quoted by Dr. Fellowcs these songs, attractive as they are, are a long way behind the contemporary Italian music in their technique. Dr. Fellowes brings forward evidence to prove that Italian madrigals by Willaert, Verdelot, Lasso, Arcadelt and others, as well as contemporary French chansons, were sung in England as early as 1564. In 1588 Nicholas Yonge published his first volume of ' M usica T ransal p ina,' a collection of Italian madrigals with words translated into English. This seems to have been the stimulus which produced the copious output of madrigals and kindred works by English composers from 1588-1627. But it is evident from Yonge's preface that 'Musica Transalpina' was published later in the year than Byrd's 4 Psalmes, Sonets and Songs of Sadnes and Pie tie,' also printed in 1588. In the 'Epistle to the Reader ' Byrd says, ' If thou delight in Musicke of great compasse, heere are divers songs, wliich being originally made for Instruments to expresse the harmonie, and one voyce to pronounce the dittie, are now framed in all parts for voyces to sing the same. If thou desire songs of small compasse & fit for the reach of most voyces heere are most in number of th a t sort.' On the opposite page is a list of 'these songs which are of the highest compasse.' The collection includes ten Psalms in metrical translations by an unknown author, sixteen 'sonnets and pastorals ' of which only two are poems in sonnet-form, and nine 'songs of sadness and piety,' the last two being funeral songs for Sir Philip Sidney. All are for five voices, and it is fairly clear that all of them were originally solo songs with accompaniment for four viols. A large number have one voice marked as ' the first singing part,' which is generally the uppermost voice, sometimes the second and occasionally the third. Even where this direction is not given, the uppermost part can be clearly recognised as 'the first singing part.' I t is distinguished from the accompanying parts by various characteristics. It does not enter until after the other voices, which often have a complete series of imitations on the theme ; its successive entries are separated by rests while the other voices continue; its words are as a rule set in a strictly syllabic way, and they are never repeated, whereas in the other parts two or three notes may be given to one syllable, and sentences may be broken up and fragments repeated, in order to fill up the musical phrase, since the accompanying voices have m any more notes to sing than the 'first singing part.' There are exceptions to these rules, but they are rare. In view of what has already been said about the treatment of the madrigal in Italy, this collection of Byrd's seems to point to a very highly developed system of accompanied solo singing in England. These Psalms and songs of Byrd are a
MALAT, JAN
(b. Stare Bydzov, Bohemia, June 16, 1843; d. Prague, Dec. 2, 1915), collector of folk-songs, composer and pedagogue. From 1913 Malat was director of the Communal School for girls at Smfchov, a suburb of Prague. He was an enthusiastic collector of the folk - songs of Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia, and the results of his life-work are published as ' Cesky narodni poklad ' (A Treasury of Czech National Songs) in a series of popular a(bums (Fr. Urbanek, Prague). A second collection, ' Zlata pokladnice ' (The Golden Treasury), is less of a household possession. He also harmonised a number of individual songs and transcribed a few in various instrumental arrangements. His original works include Czech Dances (Furiant, Round and ' ObkroCiik ') for orchestra, and several good partsongs and choruses. His accompaniments to the folk-songs are full and pleasing, but his treatment of tho national material is popular rather than scientific. R. N.
MANNERS, CHARLES
(real name Southcote Ma n s e rg h) (b. London, Dec. 27, 1857), was the son of Colonel Mansergh, R.H.A. and J.P. for Cork and Tipperary. Ho was taught singing a t the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin and the R.A.M. in London, at the latter for a short time by Shakespeare, and later in Italy. In 1881 he began his career as a chorus-singer, and joined Carte's travelling company. On Nov. 25, 1882, he made a successful debut as Private Willis on the production of ' Iolanthe ' at the Savoy Theatre. He next sang in the provinces with the Carl Rosa Company, and appeared in 1890 at Covent Garden as Bertram in ' Roberto.' On Oct. 17, 1892, he sang the part of Prince Gremin on the production in England of Tchaikovsky's ' Eugene Oniegin' under Lago at the Olympic Theatre, and later as the King in ' Lohengrin.' In 1893 he sang in America. From 1894-96 he was engaged by Harris both for English and Italian opera, also by Hedmondt in the autumn of 1895, notably as the King in ' Maritana,' Mephistopheles, etc. His voice was a basso cantante of remarkably fine quality. In 1896-97 he undertook a successful English opera tour in South Africa. On his return he established the Moody-Manners Opera Company, and made extensive tours in the provinces, with three separate companies, the principal company being 115 in number, with a repertory of thirty operas. In 1902 and 1903 he gave two seasons at Covent Garden, and in 1904 a longer one a t Drury Lane. In the latter year and in 1906, with characteristic generosity, he gave an operatic festival, without personal profit, at Sheffield, in aid of funds for the foundation of a university in that town. By giving prizes for the best operas produced by British composers, and by giving opportunities to provincial amateurs of seeing great operas, the Moody-Manners Company exerted a good influence on contemporary music. His wife, nee F a n n y Moody (b. Redruth, Cornwall, Nov. 23, 1866), was taught singing by Mme. Sainton-Do(by at her private Academy. On Apr. 25, 1885, she sang the principal soprano music in her mistress's last composition, ' Florimel,' a cantata for female voices, at a Memorial Concert at Prince's Hall, under Sainton. In Feb. 1887 she made her debut as Arline in the ' Bohemian Girl ' at Liverpool with the Carl Rosa Company, and on Apr. 30 appeared very successfully as Micaela at Drury Lane. After singing in the provinces with that company for three years she reappeared at Drury Lane in 1890 as Mignon, Margaret, etc. She was married to Charles Manners on July 5, 1890, and in October sang in Italian as Margaret and Alice. In 1892 she was the original English Tatiana in Tchaikovsky's opera above mentioned. She accompanied her husband on all his tours, and sang in his London seasons, in addition to parts mentioned, Elizabeth, Elsa, Briinnhilde in ' Siegfried,' J u l ie t ; Sept. 26, 1902, the heroine on the production of Pizzi's ' Rosa(ba ' at Covent Garden; Sept. 22, 1903, Militza on the production at Covent Garden of M'Alpin's ' Crescent and the Cross,' founded on Coppee's ' Pour la Couronne,' which won the e250 prize offered by the artists ; on June 17, 1904, she sang the part of Senta in the revival of ' The Flying Dutchman,' a t Drury Lane, etc. The possessor of a pleasant light soprano voice, an actress and singer of great charm, Madame Fanny Moody excelled in the poetic and pathetic parts formerly associated with Christine Nilsson. A. c.
MARIADIROHAN
opera in 3 acts ; music by D onizetti. Produced Vienna, June 5, 1843 ; Theatre Italien, Paris, Nov. 20, 1843 ; Covent Garden, May 8, 1847. G.
MARTIN, JONATHAN
(b. 1715 ; d. April 4, 1737), was a chorister of the Chapel Royal under Dr. Croft. On quitting the choir he was placed under Thomas Roseingrave for instruction on the organ, and soon attained such proficiency as to be able to act as deputy for his master at St. George's, Hanover Square, and for Weldon at the Chapel Royal. On June 21, 1736, he was admitted organist of the Chapel Royal on the death of Weldon, and promised 4 to compose anthems or services for the use of His Majesty's Chapel, whenever required by the Subdean for the time being.' Probably he was never called upon to fulfil his promise, as his only known composition is a song in Rowe's tragedy, ' Tamerlane,' ' To thee, 0 gentle sleep.' He diod of consumption, and was buried (Apr. 9) in the west cloister of Westminster Abbey. w. H. H.
MASSE, FFXIX MARIE
(known as V i c t o r ) (b. Lorient, Mar. 7. 1822 ; d. Paris, July 5, 1884), entered the Conservatoire at 12, obtained the first prizes for piano, harmony and fugue, and in 1844, after some years' study with Halevy, the Grand Prix de Rome for composition. His cantata ' Le Renegat ' was given three times at the Opera (Feb. 1845), a rare event. During his stay in Rome he composed a ' Messe solennelle,' performod at the church of St. Louis des Fran^ais (May 1,1846), a careful and clever work, though wanting in religious sentimentr-never Masse's strong point. The unpublished score is in tne library of the Conservatoire. After his two years in Rome he travelled through Italy and Germany, and returned to Paris, where he was much appreciated in society. Publishers readily accepted his ' Melodies ' and 1 Romances,' and he gained access to the stage with little delay. ' La Chambre gothique ' (Opera-Comique, 1849), and * La Chanteuse voilee,' one-act (Opera- Comique, Nov. 26, 1850), were followed by ' Galathee,' two acts (Apr. 14, 1852), and ' Les Noces de Jeannette ' (Feb. 4, 1853), a charming lyric comedy in 1 act. These earlv successes justified the hope that in Masse the French stage had found a composer as fruitful and melodious, if not as original, as Auber ; but his later efforts were less fortunate. ' La Reine Topaze ' (Dec. 27, 1856) indeed succeeded completely, but ' La Fiancee du Diable ' (June 3, 1854), ' Miss Fauvette ' (Feb. 13, 1855), ' Les Saisons ' (Dec. 22, 1855), ' Les Chaises a porteurs ' (Apr. 28, 1858), ' La Fee Carabosse ' (Mar. 7, 1859), ' Mariette la Promise ' (1862), ' La Mule de Pedro ' (Mar. 6, 1863), ' Fior d' Aliza ' (Feb. 5, 1866), and ' Le Fils du brigadier ' (Feb. 25, 1867), though fairly received, soon disappeared. Some, however, contain good music, especially ' Les Saisons ' and ' Fior d' Aliza.' In 1860 he became chorus-master to the Opera and in 1866 succeeded Leborne as professor of composition at the Conservatoire-gratifying appointments, as showing the esteem of his brother artists, although the work they entailed left him little time for composition. On June 20, 1872, he was elected to the Institut as successor to Auber. After a long period of silence Masse produced ' Paul e t Virginie,' three acts (Nov. 15, 1876 ; given in Italian at Covent Garden, June 1, 1878). In spite of its success and its evident ambition, this opera seems less original and less homogeneous in style than ' Galathee ' or ' Les Noces de Jeannette,' and its best parts, as in all his operaB, are the short pieces and the simple romances. To complete the list of his operas we may mention ' La favorita e la schiava ' (Venice, 1855), and ' Le Cousin Marivaux' (Baden, 1857); also two drawing-room operettas, ' Le Prix de famille ' and ' Une Loi somptuaire ' (published in 1879). He published three sets of twenty songs each, selected from his numerous romances. Many of theso are charming little pieces. In 1877 he was made an officer of the Legion of Honour. o. c. A painful illness compelled him to rosign his post at the Opera in 1876, and rendered him totally incapable of active work. During seven years of suffering his only consolation lay in composition, and in this way his opera ' Une Nuit de Cleopatre,' intended for the Opera, was written. After his death, a representation of the work took place at the Opera-Comique in the composer's honour (Apr. 25, 1885), though the reception of ' Paul e t Virginie ' did not hold out much hopo of success for a work evidently written in the same style and aiming too high. A. J. B i b l .-L e o D e l i b e s , Notice surVictor M assi; D e l a b o r d e , Notice tur la vie et les ouvrages de Victor Masst (Paris, 1885, 1888).
MAZZAFERRATA, GIOVANNI BATTISTA
(b.Como, 2nd half of 17th cent.),maestro di cappella at the Accademia della Morte at Ferrara. He composed : Salmi concertati, 3-4 v. (1676); cantatas (1680); madrigals, 2-3 v. (1668), canzonets and cantatas (1680); solo chamber cantatas (1677); 12 sonatas for 2 violins with * See Karaaowski's Life o f Chopin, chap. v i i . ; and also the somewhat rhapsodical but still interesting remarks of Liszt in his Chopin. a ' bassetto viola ' ad lib. (1674; republ. 1678). One of these was republished by Wasielewski. An Oratorio by him was performed at Siena, 1684 (Q.-L. ; Riemann).
MEINARDUS, LUDWIG SIEGFRIED
(b. Hooksiel, Oldenburg, Sept. 17, 1827 ; d. Bielefeld, July 12, 1896), composer, teacher and writer on music, was at first educated at the Gymnasium at Jever, where his father hold an official post. He was intended to study theology, but was at length allowed to devote himself to the art, his parents imposing the curious condition that he was to become a public performer on some instrument. To this end he took up the violoncello, learning what he could from the Stadtmusikus of the place, who was a violinist. After making himself ill with excessive practice, he returned to school, and it was not till he had finished his studies there that he finally determined, on the advice of Schumann, who had seen some of his compositions, to embrace the profession of a composer. At Christmas, in 1846, he entered the Leipzig Conservatorium, but after half a year, finding that private instruction from Riccius would be more to his advantage, he accordingly remained with him for two years. In 1850 he went to Berlin in order to study with A. B. Marx, but for some reason or other he fell under the suspicions of the police, and was not allowed to remain. He betook himself to Liszt at Weimar, where he stayed some months, after which he went to Erfurt as conductor of a small theatrical company, and subsequently in a similar capacity to Nordhausen. At last he was provided with better credentials, and succeeded in remaining in Berlin. In 1853, having finished his education with Marx, he was appointed conductor of the Singakademie at Glogau, where he remained until, in obedience to a call from Julius Rietz, he went to the Dresden Conservatorium as a teacher in 1865. In 1874 he settled in Hamburg, where he was for many years continuously active as a composer and as critic of the Hamburger Korrespondent. In 1887 he moved to Bielefeld, to take up a post as organist, and died there. His most prominent compositions are the oratorios ' Simon Petrus,' ' Gideon,' ' Konig Salomo,' ' Luther in Worms,' ' Odrun ' ; two operas, ' Bahnesa ' (three acts, finished 1881) and ' Doktor Sassafras ' (neither of them performed); four ballads for chorus, ' Rolands Schwanenlied,' ' Frau Hitt,' ' Die Nonne,' ' Jung Baldurs Sieg ' ; two symphonies, and many chamber compositions. A memoir of Mattheson, an autobiographical sketch, and collected criticisms are his most important contributions to literature. M.
MERCADANTE, GIUSEPPE SAVERIO RAF-FAELLE
(b. Altamura near Bari, 1795 s ; d. Naples, Dec. 17, 1870), entered at 12 the Collegio di San Sebastiano at Naples, of which Zingarelli was chief, and where he learnt the flute and vioUn, and became leader in the orchestra. He was suddenly dismissed, and to gain a living at tempted composing for the stage. His first work, a cantata for the Teatro del Fondo (1818) was followed by another, ' L' Apoteosi d' Ercole,' produced at San Carlo (1819) with extraordinary success. In the next year he produced his first opera buffa, ' Violenzae costanza,' and after this came several ' opere serie,' of which ' Elisa e Claudio ' (Milan, 1821) was tho most successful. From this period Mercadante steadily maintained his reputation, and the verdict of Italy in his favour was endorsed by Vienna in 1824. He passed the years 1827 and 1828 in Madrid, 1829 in Cadiz, and in 1831 returned to Naples. In 1833 he became Generali's successor as maestro di cappella at the cathedral of Novara. In 1836 he composed and superintended the production of ' I briganti ' in Paris. His next fine opera was ' II giuramento ' (Milan, 1837). In the opera buffa ' I due illustri rivali,' 1838, he changed his style, marking the accents strongly with the brass instruments. In 1839 he became musical director of the cathedral at Lanciano, and in 1840 director of the Conservatorio of Naples. He was a member of the Institut do France. Though he lost an eye at Novara, he continued to compose by dictation ; but became totally blind in 1862. Besides his operas, which number nearly 60, he wrote 20 masses, many psalms and motets, secular cantatas, instrumental pieces and songs. B ib l.-G. B u s tic o , Saverio Mercadante a Novara. R .M .I ., 1921, pp. 361-96. -p. q .