The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-06-19

Late. thsy gave public performances Of
their vsainn Of The Passion.
Il was too long 90 b. given at once and
was Accordingly divided into several
Journees. II employed eighty -ssven per-
sonages and made uss Of elaborate ma
chinoy. Scarcely any room = left foE
doubt that sons u the acenes were sung
and none al ell that ohoruses were EN-
ployed, The staEe directions are not
the least remarkable feature Of this
play. The baptism y set forth in this
wise 'Here Jesus enters the waters Of
Jordan. all naked. and Saint John takes
soms 0f tho water IN his hand and throws
it on the hsad Of Jes'n' 81. John says:
Sir. you nov baptized are.
| A. u suits my simple skill.
| NOl the lofty rank you IN.
nmeet for snnh great service L.
| Vet my God. - debonair.
/ All that's wanting viii supply
Stage directions and tsHt then follow
thus: Here Jesus oomea out Of the River
Jordan and throws himsslf upon Hs
knees. all naked. before Paradise. Then
God the Father speaks and the Holy Ghost
daacends in the form Of a white dove
upon the head % Jesus and then retuFns
into Paradise: and note that the words
Of God the Father b very audlhly pro
nOunCsd and Sell sounded In thee voices,
that h 70 say a treble. . counter treble
and q counter bass all in tunr: and IN
this way must the following lines hs re-
peated
HE 80 hllns meua dileotua.
In quo mihi bens eOmplacui
C'estui-cl ct mon ala ana Jesus
Quo blen me Dlaisi: ma plaiaAnee est en- lui
These anCieRt plays. of which the music
was strictly scclesiastic. we're succeeded
by tho 'saoFs rappressntationi.' dra-
matte representations of religious stories
with elaborate action and sosneFy and
music Of secular character. The Italian
form Of aaored representation grew out
Of the poetic form called 'laud' This
IN itself vas one Of tho products Of re-
ligious emotion. To Observe II in its
cradle We must go back 20 the beginnings
Of Italian literature
The seemingly endless series Of battles
betweea Emperor and Pope which SCARED
the soul Of Italy through many years
was AZ this time raging betwean Frederick
II. and lnnooont III. and Gregory TX.
The land reeksd With carnage. Fapine.
murder fire and famine. So great was the
foros Of It eli that the people fell into a
state Of religious terror. They believed
that tho vengeance Of q Wrathful God
must immediately descend upon the
country. AZ a penanoe the practice Of
aagellAtiOn was introduced.
Against this horrible AtOnemsnt came
a violent reaction. and out Of the reaction
attempts TO continue in soberer and more
rational form the pTopitiatory IDEAS Of
the hagslants. The chief furthefeFs Of
thess reforms we're lay fratsrnisies all
ing themselves DisciplinAti de GCan
Cristo.
From the outset these fratsrnities prac-
tissd tho singing Of hymns in Italian.
not Latin These hymns dealt chiefly
with tho Passion They were called
lands. and had a rude dirsCtness and
unlettsrsd force which the latin hymns !
never possessed
Presently the Disciplinati bscame
known - iAudesi The master maker /
% lsuds was JacopOne d. Tod. and his |
most significant production took the |
form of a dialogue between May and the /
Saviour On the cruss. followed by hmsn-
tation Of the mother over her son. Mary
al one point appeals n Plate. bar y inter-
rIpted by tho chorus Of Jews crying
Cruelty him.
Many other huds. however. were
rather more IN the manner Of short songs
than in that ol the subsequently, de-
veloped oantAtA. The MUSIC employed
vas without doubt that ol the secular
songs Of tho time. Il Appears 70 have
made no diHerenos 10 the Italians what
kind Of tune they employed. They sang
the zane stFambOtti % the Virgin and the
lady a. their love, 70 the ross % Jericho
and tho red rosa q the balcony
ID hers then that the MUSIC ol the
Passion play turned its tAOs away from
ancient custom. The ecclesiastical chant.
which was tho song u the old HturEiCal
drama. seems 10 have little 81 no place
In the sacred representation. az any rate
IN the beginning THIS difference estab-
lished a point q departure which caused
the entire lyric drama Of the fOurtsenth,
iftsenth and siEtssnth centuries. PRIOR 70 i
The invention a dramatic recitativs by Il
the FiOrentines. N move In a musical
world o. its own. Where the secular
IyFio drama Of the time led the religious
Iyrio play followed and the apparatus
u ons Was that II the other
When recitative was born the lyric
drama. both sacred and profans. entered
upon a new era To b. sure the mahriEal
drama. A. Il has been called. continued
10 exist SIDE by side with the new FlOren-
tine product for some years. but the
popular possibilities NJ the new style
,oOn drove the other ont q the field
The OratpriOs performed IA the oratsry
n 81 Philip Neri In Rome we're In some
Instances set % music by N great a master
n PalestrinA. but his music oD,ild only
have been Of the Old fashioned poly
'honio style Palestrina vas never a
Triter of the new sDlo recitativ@. Bat
Emilio del Cavalieri's -Anima COrpo.'
Ehich Neri produced. was composed IN
hs new manner and became the starting
,Oint for . new development u the sacred
musical play
Ths special cultivation II the story
u the Passion a. a musical subject now
rent forward steadily. A. early a. is3o
here we're Passions according 90 ~.
Matthew and 81 John with German eat.
~ 70 music by Johann Walther The
iraf ntlhMahed editinn 81 a pn.airn b