When the last sounds have died away, a short Prayer is sung by the Pope: at a signal given by the Master of Ceremonies the last Candle is brought forth from its hiding-place behind the Altar: and the congregation disperses. It would be impossible, in an article like the present, to enter into the symbolical meaning attached, either to the hiding of the Candle, or to any other part of the Ceremony. Suffice it to say that everything has a symbolical meaning, which is explained, to some extent, in a little pamphlet,[1] annually sold, in Rome, during the Holy Week. That this elaborate system of symbolism tends to predispose the mind of the hearer towards a fuller appreciation of the beauty of the music is undeniable. On the other hand, it will be readily understood that much of the effect produced depends upon the quality of the Voices employed—especially, that of the Sopranos. Fifty years ago, a very celebrated Sopranist, named Mariano, sang the higher passages with wonderful delicacy and pathos: but, even with Voices of ordinary capacity, the habit of constantly practising together, without instrumental accompaniment of any kind, leads to a perfection of style quite unattainable by those who are accustomed to lean on the Organ for support.
[ W. S. R. ]
MISSA BREVIS. A Mass of moderate length, intended rather for use on ordinary occasions, than on Festivals of very great solemnity.
The subjects of the Missa Brevis are almost always original; as, in the charming example, by Andrea Gabrieli, printed, on the authority of a valuable MS. copy, in the first volume of Proske's 'Musica Divina.' This rule, however, is not universal. Palestrina's Missa Brevis—a work of unapproachable beauty, and perfectly complete in all its parts, notwithstanding the comparatively short time it occupies in performance—is founded upon Canti fermi derived from the melody of 'Audi filia,' a Plain Chaunt Tractus, which has also been very finely treated, in a Mass of earlier date, by Claude Goudimel.
[ W. S. R. ]
MISSA PAPÆ MARCELLI. A very celebrated Mass, composed in the year 1565 by Palestrina; and printed in 1567 [App. p.719 "1569"] in his Second Book of Masses, dedicated to Philip II. King of Spain. The origin of its title has been hotly disputed; though all that is really known upon the subject is, that the only name by which it has ever been distinguished was given to it by the Composer himself, fully ten years after Pope Marcellus II. had breathed his last. It was written at the instance of a Commission, appointed by Pope Pius IV. to suppress certain vicious Schools of Ecclesiastical Music condemned by the Council of Trent; and gave such unqualified satisfaction, that it was at once accepted as a model of the style to be thenceforth generally adopted. For a more detailed analysis of its characteristics, and a fuller account of the circumstances which led to its production, see Mass, and Palestrina.
[ W. S. R. ]
MISSA SINE NOMINE. A Mass, composed upon original subjects, in place of a Plain Chaunt Canto fermo. Examples will be found among the works of Josquin des Prés, Palestrina, and other composers of the 15th and 16th centuries.
[ W. S. R. ]
MISSA SUPER VOCES MUSICALES (Missa, Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La). A Mass in which the six sounds of the Hexachord are used as a Canto fermo. [See Hexachord.] Splendid specimens of the style are extant, by Josquin des Prés, Palestrina, and Francesco Suriano.
[ W. S. R. ]
MITCHELL, John, deserves a place in these columns on account of his close connection with musical enterprise in London for many years. He was born there April 21, 1806, and died December 11, 1874. For a large part of his life he was one of the most prominent musical managers and agents in the metropolis. In 1837 he introduced opera buffa at the Lyceum Theatre; including Betly, L'Italiana in Algieri, Elisa e Claudio, and others, for the first time in England. In 1849 and 1850 he opened the St. James's Theatre with an excellent French company for comic opera, with Le Domino Noir, L'Ambassadrice, La Dame blanche, Zanetta, Richard Cœur de Lion, Le Chalet, and many other first-rate works. Of the French plays which he produced at the same theatre, with Rachel, Regnier, and many other great actors, through a long series of years, this is not the place to speak. In 1842 Rossini's 'Stabat Mater' was brought out under his direction for the first time in England. In 1853 he first brought over the Cologne Choir to England. Few men were better known than John Mitchell in all musical circles. Whatever he did was done as well as he could possibly do it, and he was esteemed and beloved as an honourable man of business and generous friend.
[ G. ]
MIXED CADENCE. The two most distinct and obvious forms of cadence are such as are formed either by the succession of dominant or of subdominant and tonic harmony, and these are respectively called Authentic and Plagal cadences. The term 'Mixed' has been applied to a cadence which is in some senses a combination of these two forms, by having both subdominant and dominant harmony in close juxtaposition immediately before the final tonic chord, by which means the tonality is enforced both by the succession of the three most important roots in the key, and also by giving all the diatonic notes which it contains.
[ C. H. H. P. ]
MIXED MODES. Writers on Plain Chaunt apply this term to tonalities which embrace the entire compass of an Authentic Mode, in combination with that of its Plagal derivative: thus, the Mixed Dorian Mode, extends from A, to the next D but one above it; the Mixed Phrygian,
- ↑ 'Manuel des Ceremonies qui ont lieu pendant la Semaine Sainte.' (Rome, imprimerie de Saint-Michel.)
