(L a t . ' W h a t y o u p le a se '), a lso c a l led Q u o t lib e t ( ' As m a n y a s y o u p le a se '), a n d in I ta l ia n Messanza o r Mis t i - chanza ( ' A m ix tu r e '). T h i s wa s a k in d of mu s ic a l jo k e in th e 1 6 th a n d e a r ly p a r t of th e 1 7 th c en tu r ie s , th e fu n of w h ic h c o n s is te d in th e e x tem p o re ju x ta p o s i t io n of d if fe ren t melodies, w h e th e r s a c re d o r s e c u la r , which we re in c o n g ru o u s e i th e r in th e i r m u s ic a l c h a r a c te r , o r in th e w o rd s w i th w h ic h th e y were a s s o c i a t e d ; s om e t im e s , h ow e v e r , th e w o rds we re th e s am e in a ll p a r t s , b u t we re su n g in sn a tc h e s a n d s c rap s , a s in th e q u o d l ib e ts of Melchior F r a n c k .1 T h e re w e re tw o way s of p e r fo rm in g t h i s : o n e wa s to s t r in g th e me lodie s to g e th e r s im p ly a n d w i th o u t a n y a t t em p t a t c o n n e c t in g th em b y p a s s a g e s su ch a s th o s e fo u n d in m o d em ' fa n ta s ia s ' ; th e o th e r , th e m o re e la b o ra te m e th o d , c o n s is te d in s in g in g o r p la y in g th e me lodie s s im u l ta n e o u s ly , th e o n ly mo d if ic a tio n s a llowed b e in g th o s e of time . This pastime was a favourite one with the Bachs, a t whose annual family gatherings the singing of quodlibets was a great feature.2 Sebastian Bach himself has left us one delightful example of a written-down quodlibet, a t the end of the ' 30 variations ' in G major, for a detailed analysis of which see Spitta. The two tunes used in it are ' Ich bin so lang bei dir nicht gewest,' and ' Kraut und Ruben, Haben mich vertrieben.' One of the best modern examples, although only two themes are used, is in Reinecke's variations for two pianos on a gavotte of Gluck's, where, in the last variation, ho brings in simultaneously with the gavotte the well-known musette of Bach which occurs in the third ' English ' l Bee Praetorius, Syntagma muticum. tom. Iii. cap. v. > See Spitta, J . S . Bach (Engl, transl.) , L 154, iii. 172-6. suite. A good instance, and one in which the extempore character is retained, is the singing of the three tunes ' Polly Hopkins,' ' Buy a Broom ' and ' The Merry Swiss Boy ' together, which was formerly sometimes done for a joke. A very interesting specimen of a 16th-century quodlibet by Johann Goldel, consisting of five chorale-tunes-viz. (1) ' Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deincm Wort,' (2) ' Ach Gott von Himmel,' (3) ' Vater unser im Himmelreich,' (4) ' Wir glauben all,' (5) 'Durch Adams F a ll'-is given as an appendix to Hilgenfeldt's Life of Bach. We quote a few bars as an example of the ingenuity with which the five melodies are brought to g e th e r M. Pa rry's music to The Clouds of Aristophanes (see G r e e k P l a y s , M u s i c t o ) contains a brilliant modem example of the quodlibet, and his music of this kind makes liberal use of the principle without necessarily employing the name. c.