htful student it must
appear to be inevitable. On the one hand was the insatiable desire for
voluptuous spectacle, for the lascivious pseudo-classicism of the
pictorial dance, for the bewildering richness of movement which had
originated in the earlier triumphal processions, and for the stupendous
scenic apparatus made possible in the open air sacred plays. On the
other was the widespread taste for part singing and the constantly
growing skill of composers in adapting to secular ideas the polyphonic
science of the church. Added to these elements was the imperative need
of some method of imparting individuality of utterance to the principal
characters in a play while at the same time strengthening their charm by
the use of song.

For nearly a century, then, we find the lyric drama continuing to
utilize the materials of the sacra rappresentazione as adapted to
secular purposes by Poliziano, but with the natural results of the
improvement in artistic device in music. It is not necessary here to
enter into a detailed account of the growth of musical expression. Every
student of the history of the art knows that many centuries were
required to build up a technical praxis sufficient to enable composers
to shape compositions in such a large form as the Roman Catholic mass.
When the basic laws of contrapuntal technic had been codified, Josquin
des Pres led the way to the production of music possessing a beauty
purely musical. Then followed the next logical step, namely, the attempt
to imitate externals. Such pieces as Jannequin's "Chant des Oiseaux" and
Gombert's "Chasse du Lievre" are examples of what was achieved in this
direction. Finally, Palestrina demonstrated the scope of polyphonic
music in the expression of religious emotions at times bordering upon
the dramatic in their poignancy.

We cannot well doubt that the Italians of the late sixteenth century
felt the failure of their secular music to meet the demands of secular
poetry as religious music was meeting those of the canticles of the
church. The festal entertainments which had graced the marriages of
princes had most of the machinery of opera, but they lacked the vital
principle. They failed to become living art entities solely because they
wanted the medium for the adequate publication of individuality. They
made their march of a century on the very verge of the promised land,
but they had to lose themselves in the bewitching wilderness of the
madrigal drama befo