ut as having little influence on the national acceptance of
music. Nothing could be further from the truth, as far as England, the
Netherlands and Italy were concerned; and in France, where the art of
the simple tunes of the troubadours represents for us the typical
national music of mediaeval times, it is important to have a document
which shows as clearly as this does the kind of music which was
recognized as suitable for a great pageant. In style, the French
school of the sixteenth century differs not at all from that of the
Netherlands, of which it is generally regarded as an off-shoot (see
Grove, "Dict. of Music and Musicians," vol. iii., p. 267). In the
works of Pierre Certon, Claude Goudimel, and others, would be found
many compositions constructed on similar lines to the example here
given; that is to say, that the rules of madrigal writing are strictly
observed, although the preference for massive treatment of the opening
of each line seems to point to the use for which it was intended,
viz., to be sung in the open air. There are not many instances of
works of this class apparently meant for female voices only, and there
may have been some reason for this connected with the general plan of
the ceremony. The little piece is in the Dorian mode, and in the
original is clearly and correctly printed, in four separate parts on
the same double page. In scoring it, the accidentals, which do not
occur in the original, have been added in brackets. It is, of course,
impossible to surmise who may have been the author, but it is certain
that, whoever he was, he had attained to a remarkable skill in writing
effective music. If we consider the prescribed limitations in which he
worked, with nothing lower than the second alto part for his bass, it
is surprising to notice the sonority of sustained tone that is got by
skilful disposition of the harmonies, while the beautiful antiphonal
effect at the point "Vive le Roi" is of a kind that must appeal to
hearers of all classes and periods alike.

[Illustration: A WINDOW IN THE MAISON BOURGTHEROULDE, DESCRIBED ON
PAGE 337]

A SIXTEENTH-CENTURY MADRIGAL

[Music:

Louange et gloire en action de grace,
Chantons a Dieu de la paix vray auteur:
Par qui la France en seur repos embrasse,
Ses ennemys faictz amys en grand heur.
Vive son Roy, vive,
Vive son Roy de ce bien protecteur
Soubz qui de paix divers peuples jouyssent
Dont luy est