mass, although it
has had Papal approval, is not so much a mass as it is a dramatic
threnody in memory of a loved friend. As compared with the masses of
Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, and the other early mass-writers, it has not
their conventional form, their regular sequence of setting, their
coherence of spirit and sentiment. There are wide divergences in it from
the old beaten track. But it may be said, on the other hand, that while
the traditions are violated, Verdi does not so far lose sight of the
devotional character of his work as to descend to the light, tripping,
and sometimes fantastic measures of Rossini in the "Stabat Mater." Von
Buelow very nearly hit the truth in saying that "The Manzoni Requiem" is
an opera in ecclesiastical costume. The dramatic element is its strong
feature, and the inexhaustible resources of the composer's invention
strike the hearer as one of the chief characteristics. The first six
parts seem to have included nearly all that can be done, and you wonder
if the last part, the "Libera me," will not fall tamely; when to your
surprise it proves to be the grand culmination of the work, and presents,
with its solo and chorus and imposing fugue, an ensemble of effect, a
richness of instrumentation, a severe and almost classical form of
composition, and a dramatic intensity and passion that sweep the whole
range of power, from a fortissimo tutte forza, down to the faintest
whisper of a pianissimo. It bursts upon you like the thunder, and dies
away in the still small voice that whispers the requiem of everlasting
rest.

SACRED MUSIC IN AMERICA.

The following sketch of the rise and progress of sacred music in America
may prove of interest to the reader as a supplement to the history of the
Oratorio and of the numerous illustrations of that class of compositions
contained in the body of the book. Ritter, Gould, Hood, and other
church-music historians have been freely consulted to make the sketch as
complete as possible.

The psalmody of the Protestant church was first arranged and brought into
use in the course of the sixteenth century, through the efforts of the
reformers in Germany and particularly of Martin Luther, who was extremely
fond of music, and wrote a quaint discourse on the art. In 1524 he
published a collection of hymns which also comprised a few versified
psalms. These were set to music in four parts, as he says "for no other
reason than because of