individuality in art as in faith; the unquestioned law of ecclesiastical infallibility impressed on every work the stamp of the subjection of art to religion. Even the forms of the music followed the ancient and hallowed traditions of the cultus, and embodied ecclesiastical formulas in strict counterpoint. But as by degrees subjective emotion and expression gained ground in church music, and as the old severity of form gave place to a wealth of means and expedients, the ecclesiastical text fell under the criticism of the musicians, who subjected it to the test of the conditions required for the production of a perfect work of art. Composers learned to look upon the Credo as material to be worked up into an artistic musical form, even when it did not lend itself easily to the process. A sort of type was gradually evolved, that was closely adhered to in many particulars. One such, for instance, is the strong accentuation of death in the words, "judicare vivos et mortuos," and "resurrectionem mortuo-rum," the tone-painting of the "descendit de coelis," the repetition of the "non" in the words "cujus regni non erit finis," and others of the same kind. Such an evident tendency to emphasise details at the cost of the whole, only shows how composers took refuge in whatever was capable of musical expression, in order to extricate themselves as far as they could from the burden of the rest. The main passages on which the musical strength of the Credo was concentrated are those in which the mention of the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ appeal most vividly to the senses and the imagination. It had become customary to connect the words, "Qui propter nos homines et propter nostram salutem descendit de coelis," whether made prominent by solo singing or not, with those which preceded them, and to make a pause with "Et incarnatus."[21] These words are generally rendered by a tender solo voice, as if they would fain hover round the cradle of the heavenly Child, to express the gratitude of mankind for his incarnation. Then solemnly and sadly the chorus depicts {CREDO.} (249) the deep pain of "Crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato, passus et sepultus est," breaking out at "Et resur-rexit" &c., into joyful trust in the resurrection. In all this Mozart's wonderful genius succeeded in awakening imagination and emotion which, again, his artistic moderation knew how to calm; his firm grasp of his art enabling him to produce the most striking effect with the simplest means, and to gather up the details, so that each sustains and elevates the other without injuring the consistency of the whole Credo. This unusual combination of qualities gives to this part of the mass a high degree of artistic finish even when the treatment is most simple and confined.