next after the Requiem.[25] The whole mass, which reminds us of the finest examples of the older Neapolitan school, is in the strictest form of composition, none of the smaller sections forming an independent movement; the most delicate use is made of the simplest materials. The chorus and solos alternate throughout, the solo voices (never concerted) supplying the finer shadows to the chorus, which in return serves for response or repetition and conclusion. The accompaniment consists only of a bass (figured for the organ) and two violins, but it is independently worked out and effective both in tone-colouring and as a contrast to the voices. Every section of the mass is in counterpoint, and shows the firm hand of a master. The unity of the whole and of the several parts, which is the necessary consequence of this musical method, is apparent here to a surprising degree. The parts combine to express and dilate upon a well-defined idea, the separate features of which are not thrown together arbitrarily or by chance. A subject which in one place is merely indicated or foreshadowed becomes in another the main subject; in short, the independence of each separate part produces the uniform clear texture of the whole. Thus the Gloria begins with an important subject for the soprano--[See Page Image] {MASS IN P MAJOR, 1774.} (259) which is the groundwork of the whole movement, and--now entire and unaltered, now abridged or modified--appears in different positions as Cantus firmus; while the remaining parts, treated contrapuntally, give due emphasis to each change of mood, until the whole concludes with a grand Amen in unison. The same thing occurs in the Credo. The link here is a motif--[See Page Image] which, borrowed from the intonation of the Magnificat or of the Gloria in the third tone, has been often employed, by Al. Scarlatti,[26] for instance, in a mass, and by Michael Haydn in a gradual (Qui sedes, No. 3), as Alleluia. Mozart has made frequent use of it. We find it again in the Sanctus of another mass (257 K.) in a Symphony in B flat major (319 K.) composed in 1779, in a pianoforte Sonata in £ flat major, composed in 1785, each time easily treated as a connecting subject, until it finally appears as the theme of the last movement of the Symphony in C major (551 K.) In the present work it recurs again and again as Cantus firmus, or in imitation, always the bond and support of the detached articles of faith. Then it becomes the root of the subjects for single phrases, such as the magnificent Crucifixus, the Confiteor and the fugued Et vit am. We scarcely know whether to admire most the masterly skill which makes light of difficulty, or the inventive imagination which can develop an idea from so many and such varied-points of view, making the same subject express calm faith in the Credo, bitter pain in the Crucifixus, and joyful confidence in the Et vit am.