primitive art form
in the Oberammergau Passion Play.

We read of the efforts made, as early as the fifth century,
to hold the people to the church; among other devices employed
was that of illustrating the subjects of the services by the
priests performing the offices being dressed in an appropriate
costume. Little by little the popular songs of the people
crept into the church service among the regular ecclesiastical
chants, thus foreshadowing the beginnings of modern opera;
for after a while, special Latin texts were substituted for
the regular service, the mimetic part of which degenerated
into the most extraordinary license as, for instance, in the
"Feast of Asses" (January 14) which may be called a burlesque
of the mass, and which has been described in a former chapter.

With this mixture of the vernacular and the official Latin,[14]
these Miracle and Passion Plays, as well as the Mysteries and
Moralities (as different forms of this ecclesiastical mumming
were called) began to be given in other places besides the
churches.

In addition to this combination of singing and acting, the
_tenson_ or poetic debate (which was one form of the troubadour
songs, and one very often _acted_ by the jongleurs) probably
also did its part towards giving stability to this new art
form. The earliest specimen of it, in its purely secular aspect,
is a small work entitled "Robin et Marian," by Adam de la Hale,
a well-known troubadour (called "the humpback," born at Arras
in the south of France in 1240), who followed in the train of
that ferocious Duke Charles of Anjou, who beheaded Konradin,
the last of the Hohenstaufens, in 1268, and Manfred, both of
them minnesingers.

As the Mystery was the direct ancestor of our oratorio, so was
the little pastoral of Adam de la Hale the germ of the modern
French vaudeville. One of its melodies is said to be sung to
this day in some parts of southern France.

The entire object in this little play being that both words and
action should be perfectly understood, it is obvious that as
little as possible should be going on during the singing. Thus,
such melodies as we find in these old pastoral plays would be
accompanied by short notes, serving merely to give the pitch
and tonality, which would gradually develop into chords,
thus laying the foundation for harmony.

If, on the other hand, we look at the "church play" of the
same period, the Mystery, and remember that it was sung by
men accust