Unger M.P. Historical Dictionary of Choral Music
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and orch. (1831); Wir glauben all’ an einen Gott, for chorus and
orch. (1831); and Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh’ darein, for solo vv.,
chorus, and orch. (1832). Other examples of his experiments with
historical styles include the Mozart-like Kyrie, for five-part chorus
and orch. (1825); the Palestrina-influenced Tu es Petrus, op. 111, for
A, 5 vv., and orch. (1827); and the polychoral Hora est, for 16-part
chorus and continuo (1828). For English use he wrote the anthem
Hear My Prayer (a paraphrase of Psalm 55), for S, chorus, and org.
(1844). Other notable sacred works include the expressive Verleih’
uns Frieden, for chorus and orch. (1831); the large-scale Lauda Sion,
op. 73, for solo vv., chorus, and orch. (1846); Sechs Sprüche, op. 79,
for double chorus (1846); and Three Motets, op. 69 (Nunc Dimittis,
Jubilate, and Magnificat) for solo vv. and unacc. chorus (1847).
The most significant of his secular works is the cantata Die erste
Walpurgisnacht, op. 60, for chorus and orch. (1832). Of another ap-
proximately 60 secular pieces, half are partsongs for male voices.
MENNONITE CHORAL TRADITION. While choral singing in
church has historically been resisted by Mennonites (i.e., Anabap-
tists named after the 16th century Dutch reformer Menno Simons),
it gained a foothold around 1875 among Russian Mennonites, who
had moved to the Ukraine from Prussia and Danzig at the invitation
of Catherine the Great. When some of them subsequently emigrated
to North America, they brought the practice with them. The first
wave of settlers, who came to the United States during the 1870s
(estimated at 18,000), was followed by an even larger one to Canada
in the 1920s (estimated at 21,000). The largest settlements were in
Kansas (U.S.) and Manitoba (Canada). Church services were charac-
terized by congregational hymn-singing in four parts (often accom-
panied by instruments), which provided the educational foundation
for church choirs. Frequent song festivals (Sängerfeste) supported the
choral culture, and the establishment of colleges introduced a more
sophisticated repertoire, which college choirs performed on annual
tours to constituent churches.
MENOTTI, GIAN-CARLO (7 JULY 1911–1 FEBRUARY 2007).
Italian-born American composer. His accessible style and dramatic
flair are evident in his operas, especially The Medium (1946), The
Telephone (1947), The Consul (1950), and the television opera
Amahl and the Night Visitors (1951). His works for chorus include
302 • MENNONITE CHORAL TRADITION
The Unicorn, the Gorgon, and the Manticore (12 madrigals and a
march, with instrumental interludes), for chorus, 10 dancers, and 9
insts. (1956); The Death of the Bishop of Brindisi, a dramatic cantata
for S, B, children’s chorus, chorus, and orch. (1963); Landscapes and
Remembrances, a cantata for S, A, T, Bar., chorus, and orch. (1976);
Miracles, for boys’ chorus, and orch. (1979); Missa O Pulchritudo,
for S, Mez., T, B, chorus, and orch. (1979); A Song of Hope, for Bar.,
chorus, and orch. (1980); Moans, Groans, Cries, and Sighs, for 6-part
chorus (1981); Muero porque no muero, a cantata for S, chorus, and
orch. (1982); Mass for the Contemporary English Liturgy, for con-
gregation, SATB, and org. (1985); My Christmas, for male chorus,
fl., ob., cl., hn., hp., and db. (1987); For the Death of Orpheus, for T,
chorus, and orch. (1990); Llama de Amor Viva, for Bar., chorus, and
orch. (1991); Gloria, for T, chorus, and orch. (1995); and Jacob’s
Prayer, for SATB and orch. (1997).
MERULA, TARQUINIO (BORN 1594–95; DIED 10 DECEMBER
1665). Italian composer, organist, and violinist. He led a restless
life, evidently due in part to frequent personal disputes. Much of
his career was spent moving back and forth between Cremona and
Bergamo. During the early 1620s he also spent some years in Poland.
In his compositions he followed progressive Venetian trends. Surviv-
ing vocal ensemble music includes 6 volumes of concerted motets,
masses, and psalms for two to 12 voices; 3 volumes of concerted
madrigals (for as many as eight voices); and 1 volume of dialogues.
He also wrote music for solo voice and instruments.
MERULO, CLAUDIO (8 APRIL 1533–4 MAY 1604). Italian com-
poser, organist, and publisher. From 1557 until 1584 he held an organ-
ist post at San Marco (St. Mark’s Basilica) in Venice, serving as a col-
league of Andrea Gabrieli. He then left for Parma, where he stayed
until his death. Best-known for his organ playing and compositions,
he nevertheless composed a large body of works for vocal ensemble.
Surviving sacred compositions include 6 masses (4 of them for 5 vv.,
the others for 8 and 12 vv.), 6 individual mass movements, and some
134 other Latin liturgical works (most of them for 5 or 6 vv., but a sig-
nificant number for 4 or 8 vv., and a few for 7, 10, or 12 vv.)—many
of them psalms or antiphons. Of 4 Magnificats, 6 are for 8 vv., the
remaining one is for 12. His secular compositions include some 110
Italian madrigals (more than half of them for 5 vv.).
MERULO, CLAUDIO • 303
In his sacred works Merulo employed Venetian polychoral and
concertato techniques. Texts are set with clear declamation, con-
trapuntal sections alternating with occasional chordal ones, the
juxtaposition of high timbres with low in varying voice combinations
providing timbral contrast. While his madrigals are often serious in
tone (like those of his predecessors), they also explore techniques
that came to characterize the new, more dramatic madrigal: greater
sectionalization, clearer tonal schemes, well-defined cadences, ho-
mophonic declamation, and antiphonal effects.
MESSA PER ROSSINI. A composite Requiem by 13 Italian compos-
ers, conceived by Giuseppe Verdi in honor of Gioacchino Rossini.
The planned premiere on the first anniversary of Rossini’s death (13
November 1869) at San Petronio in Bologna fell through, and the
work languished in the vaults of the Casa Ricordi until 1986, when it
was rediscovered by musicologist David Rosen. In September 1988
Helmuth Rilling conducted its first public performance at the end of
the European Music Festival in Stuttgart.
MESSIAEN, OLIVIER (10 DECEMBER 1908–28 APRIL 1992).
French composer, organist, and teacher. In 1931 he became organ-
ist at La Trinité, Paris. After wartime imprisonment, he resumed
his post and began teaching at the Paris Conservatory, where his
students included Karlheinz Stockhausen and Pierre Boulez. Mo-
tivated by a joyous Roman Catholic faith, he explored mystical and
religious themes in his music, developing a complex, highly indi-
vidualistic musical language characterized by idiosyncratic rhythms
(influenced by Igor Stravinsky’s early music, ancient Greek meters,
Hindu rhythms, and his own theoretical speculation), vivid colors
of orchestration and harmony (in particular, modal harmonies of
“limited transposition,” that is, modes in which an intervallic pat-
tern is repeated throughout the octave scale), imitations of birdcalls,
and formal discontinuity. The result is music that does not develop
a linear argument but rather fosters a particular mental state—either
excitement (through rhythmic pulsation) or contemplation (through
stasis).
Messiaen’s choral works include Trois petites liturgies de la
Présence Divine, for female vv., pf., ondes martenot, perc., and str.
(1944), in which sonorities are mixed like colors; Chant des déportés,
for large ST chorus and orch. (1945); La Transfiguration de Notre
304 • MESSA PER ROSSINI
Seigneur Jésus-Christ, for 100 vv., pf., vc., fl., cl., xylorimba, vib.,
mar., and orch. (1965–69); Mass, for 8 S and 4 vn. (1933, unpubd.);
the communion motet O sacrum convivium!, for chorus (1937);
Choeurs pour une Jeanne d’Arc, for double chorus (1941, unpubd.);
and Cinq rechants, for 3 S, 3 A, 3 T, 3 B (1948), a highly complex
work in which a French text is combined with nonsense syllables and
rapidly articulated consonants.
MEYERBEER, GIACOMO [JAKOB LIEBMANN BEER] (5
SEPTEMBER 1791–2 MAY 1864). German composer who es-
tablished his reputation in Paris with French grand opera. In 1810,
after receiving a legacy from a maternal relative named Meyer, he
modified his surname to Meyerbeer. He grew up in Berlin, where he
studied with Carl Friedrich Zelter, among others, and established
a reputation as a virtuoso on the piano. On the advice of Antonio
Salieri, he went to Italy in 1816. There he became enamored with
Gioacchino Rossini’s works, after which he turned to writing Italian
operas. These were successful—in particular, Il crociato in Egitto
[The Crusade in Egypt], which premiered in 1824 in Venice and was
restaged in Paris a year and a half later. After its French premiere the
composer decided to make Paris his home, remaining there for much
of the rest of his life, and establishing a reputation as the leading
opera composer of his time.
While his focus was opera, Meyerbeer also wrote a considerable
body of choral music. This includes some 26 secular works, most of
them occasional pieces. About half are for male voices. Also extant
are some 19 sacred works (among which are six psalm settings),
and an additional 16 chorale settings. Most of his choral composi-
tions are to German texts. While some are with orchestra, many
are unaccompanied or with piano. Representative examples include
Geistliche Gesänge, for S, A, T, B, and pf. ad lib. (1812); Festgesang
zur Errichtung des Guttenberg-Denkmals in Mainz, for T, T, B, B,
TTBB, and pf. ad lib. (1834); Psalm 91, for S, A, T, B, and double
SATB chorus (1853); and Pater noster (1857).
MILHAUD, DARIUS (4 SEPTEMBER 1892–22 JUNE 1974).
French composer. Born into a Jewish family, he grew up in Provence,
whose sights and sounds influenced his music. Particularly significant
was his meeting of Paul Claudel (1868–1955), a poet and diplomat,
who later furnished some of his texts. When Claudel was appointed
MILHAUD, DARIUS • 305
minister to Brazil during the war, he invited Milhaud to serve as his
secretary. For a year Milhaud absorbed the sounds of Brazil, which
would continue to influence his music. Returning to Paris, he became
known as one of Les Six. When France fell to the Germans in 1940,
he was forced to emigrate to the United States, where he continued to
compose prolifically despite being invalided by rheumatoid arthritis.
He worked in all genres, and was particularly significant for develop-
ing polytonality.
Among some 40 choral compositions are numerous settings of
texts by Claudel: Psalm 136 (trans. Claudel), op. 53, no. 1, for Bar.,
chorus, and orch. (1918); Psalm 126 (trans. Claudel), op. 72, for
male vv. (1921); Cantique du Rhône, op. 155, for chorus/vocal qt.
(1936); Cantate de la paix, op. 166, for children’s vv. and male vv.
(1937); Les deux cités, op. 170 (1937); and Cantate de la guerre, op.
213 (1940). Other works include Les amours de Ronsard, op. 132,
for chorus/vocal qt. and small orch. (1934); Symphony no. 3 (Te
Deum), op. 271, for chorus and orch. (1946, written in thanksgiving
after World War II); and numerous compositions honoring his Jew-
ish heritage, among them, Service sacré, op. 279, for Bar., reciter,
chorus, and orch./org. (1947); Le château de feu, op. 338, for chorus
and orch. (1954); Pacem in terris (on a text by Pope John XXIII),
op. 404, for A, Bar., chorus, and orch. (1963); Cantata from Job, op.
413, for Bar., chorus, and org. (1965); Les momies d’Egypte, op. 439,
a choral comedy for unacc. chorus (1972); and Ani maamin, un chant
perdu et retrouvé (with text by Elie Wiesel), op. 441, for S, 4 reciters,
chorus, and orch. (1972).
MISERERE [LAT. “HAVE MERCY”]. The first word of several
psalms and other Latin texts; in the history of polyphonic composi-
tion, the most significant of these is Psalm 50 (Vulgate) (Psalm 51
in the Hebrew and Authorized Version), one of seven penitential
psalms. It was assigned to the office of Lauds, and thus featured also
at Tenebrae.
MISSA. See MASS.
MISSA BREVIS (pl. missae breves). An abbreviated setting of the
Ordinary of the Mass. Brevity may be achieved by setting the texts
syllabically, omitting some texts, or overlapping text phrases (espe-
cially in the Gloria and Credo). In 17th- and 18th-century Lutheran
contexts, the term signified a setting of Kyrie and Gloria only.
306 • MISERERE
MISSA SOLEMNIS (“SOLEMN MASS” OR “HIGH MASS”). A
Mass in which virtually all the texts are sung, as opposed to the “Low
Mass,” in which they are read. In sacred music since 1600, the term
may also indicate an especially lengthy or elaborate setting of the
Mass Ordinary.
MODE. (1) Any of several rhythmic patterns developed in medieval
music theory for mensural music (rhythmic modes). (2) Any of
several scalar and melodic categories developed in the Medieval era
for the classification of chant (church modes). By extension of the
term, music based on scales with intervallic patterns different from
those defining the major and minor scales of the Western system is
referred to as modal.
MOE, DANIEL (2 NOVEMBER 1926– ). American choral conductor.
He taught at the University of Denver and the University of Iowa (Iowa
City), before becoming the director of choral activities at the Oberlin
Conservatory, Ohio (1972–92). Particularly influential have been his
books Problems in Conducting (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1968) and
Basic Choral Concepts (Augsburg, 1971). He also composed service
music in a style that often employed fourths and added-note chords.
MONDONVILLE, JEAN-JOSEPH CASSANÉA DE (BAPTIZED
25 DECEMBER 1711; DIED 8 OCTOBER 1772). French violin-
ist, composer, and conductor. Famous initially for his virtuosity on
the violin, he soon established himself as a significant composer. In
1740 he was appointed sous-maître of the royal chapel, where he
served until 1758. He was a leading administrator and conductor
of the Concert Spirituel, where his works were often performed.
Especially popular were his grands motets, which were disseminated
throughout France. Seventeen of these works survive as do numerous
petits motets. The music to his three oratorios is lost.
MONODY (ADJ. MONODIC). A modern term for a style of solo
song with continuo accompaniment, cultivated in Italy during the
early Baroque for the purpose of more powerfully expressing the
emotions of a text, either through syllabic declamation or virtuose
melismas. Giulio Caccini was a leader in its development, which
led to the eclipse of polyphonic vocal forms such as the madrigal.
Further experiments with monody by members of the Florentine
Camerata led to the creation of opera.
MONODY • 307
MONOPHONY (ADJ. MONOPHONIC). Music consisting of a
single melodic line, exemplified in Western music by Gregorian
chant.
MONTE, PHILIPPE DE (1521–4 JULY 1603). Franco-Flemish
composer. He worked in Naples from 1542 to 1551. From 1554 to
1555 he was in England, where he served in the chapel of Philip II
of Spain (consort of Mary Tudor) and befriended the young William
Byrd. From 1568 until his death, he served at the Hapsburg court,
residing in Vienna and (after c. 1580) in Prague. His prodigious out-
put includes some 40 masses (for 4 to 8 voices), 250 motets (mostly
for 5 voices but including also a volume of polychoral works for 6
and 12 voices), and more than 1,000 madrigals (for 3 to 7 voices in
39 extant volumes, including 5 collections of madrigali spirituali),
making him the most prolific composer of the genre. His style is gen-
erally conservative: his masses are mostly of the parody type (based
usually on serious models); his motets are technically masterful,
yet restrained in style—generally expressive but avoiding extreme
word-painting; and even his madrigals show his Franco-Flemish
orientation, with imitative counterpoint prevailing.
MONTEVERDI, CLAUDIO (15 MAY 1567–29 NOVEMBER
1643). Italian composer, who excelled in all vocal genres, setting
new standards of rhetorical expressiveness, especially in his madri-
gals (which exemplified the stylistic transition from the Renaissance
to the Baroque) and in his operas (which established the viability of
the Florentine Camerata’s new genre). He grew up in Cremona,
where he studied with Marc Antonio Ingegneri, maestro di cap-
pella of the city’s cathedral, and where he completed his first two
volumes of madrigals.
In 1590 or 1591 Monteverdi entered the service of the Duke of Man-
tua as a string player. There he encountered the new hyper-expressive
madrigal style being cultivated by Giaches de Wert and others. As
he began employing nontraditional writing to convey the emotion of
his texts (e.g., using unprepared dissonances and disregarding modal
unity), he came under attack from the Bolognese theorist, Giovanni
Maria Artusi (c. 1540–1613). Monteverdi responded in his fifth
book of madrigals, justifying such contrapuntal license by invoking
a new, second practice (seconda pratica), whose primary aim was
to express the text as effectively as possible, while still supporting
308 • MONOPHONY
the traditional style (prima pratica) for contexts where rhetorical
effectiveness was not the primary concern. In the new practice, he
argued, the music serves the text; in the old, the opposite is true. The
controversy served only to enhance his reputation as the leader of the
new theatrical trend, a position that was even more firmly established
when he completed his first opera in 1607.
Despite great renown, Monteverdi fell out of favor at the Mantuan
court and was ultimately dismissed in 1612. Fortuitously, he received
an appointment as maestro di cappella at San Marco (St. Mark’s
Basilica) in Venice a year later. There he revitalized the music, while
continuing to explore innovative ways of projecting diverse human
emotional states in his madrigals and operas.
The eight books of madrigals Monteverdi published between 1587
and 1638 trace the evolution of his style. Book 1 (for five voices,
1587) contains playful works for five voices. Book 2 (for five voices,
1590—about the time of his relocation to Mantua) is in a transitional,
more mature, and more expressive style (with numerous texts by Tor-
quato Tasso), among which is the familiar Ecco mormorar l’onde.
The madrigals of Book 3 (for five voices, 1592) are virtuosic, perhaps
intended for the nearby Ladies of Ferrara. Book 4 (for five voices,
1603) shows Monteverdi’s mature polyphonic madrigal style. It was
later republished with basso continuo in Antwerp. Book 5 (for five
voices, 1605) was published with basso continuo, and demonstrates
the new functional harmonic language of the Baroque, in which the
established rules of counterpoint are not always followed. The first
madrigal of the book, Cruda Amarilli, had earlier fallen under the
critical eye of Artusi. Monteverdi therefore responded to Artusi’s
criticism in this volume, differentiating between old and new musi-
cal practices (see above). The following volumes (published after
his relocation to Venice) pursue the new Baroque style. Book 6
(for five voices, with one dialogue for seven voices) features the
lament from the lost opera Arianna in a version for five voices; an-
other major work (also a lament) is Lagrime d’amante al sepolcro
dell’amata. The seventh book (for one to four and six voices, 1619),
carries the title Concerto. It features chamber duets and alludes to
the monodic style. Book 8 (Madrigali guerrieri, et amorosi, for one
to eight voices with instruments, 1638) employs Monteverdi’s newly
invented “agitated style” which, he explains, consists of repeated
16th notes for words of “anger and disdain.” The volume is laid out
MONTEVERDI, CLAUDIO • 309
in two symmetrical halves, with warlike madrigals constituting the
first half and amorous madrigals the second. A ninth book, published
posthumously in 1651, contains madrigals and canzonets for two or
three voices.
Monteverdi’s surviving sacred works include 3 masses (for six,
four, and four voices with continuo, respectively), some 90 Latin
motets (one third being either solos or duets in the monodic and con-
certante idioms of the new theatrical style; the remainder scored for
as many as eight voices with instruments), another 57 Latin contra-
facta, 17 madrigali spirituali, and the Vespers of 1610. Much of his
sacred music appeared in three publications: the 1610 volume con-
taining the Vespers, the Missa In illo tempore, and the Magnificat
for six voices; a large volume of 1641 entitled Selva Morale e Spiri-
tuale; and a posthumous publication of 1650 called Messa et salmi.
Additional works appeared in anthologies throughout his career.
The 1610 volume was dedicated to Pope Paul V, and was evidently
intended to demonstrate Monteverdi’s mastery of sacred styles—per-
haps he hoped to obtain a new position in lieu of the one at Mantua.
The mass, which parodies a Nicolas Gombert motet, is written in a
deliberately archaic manner—to make sure readers follow his tech-
nique, Monteverdi lists the 10 subjects extracted from the motet. The
Vespers and Magnificat, on the other hand, constitute a compendium
of progressive styles, from polychoral psalm settings to virtuoso
music for vocal soloists in the theatrical mode. Nevertheless, the two
works acknowledge church tradition by employing chant melodies
for thematic material.
The 1641 and 1650 volumes contain much additional sacred music
in a wide range of styles: two more masses in the stile antico (for
four voices with organ), vespers psalms, canticles, and other motets.
These psalms avoid the polychoral style; most are in concertato
style, although a few employ the stile antico.
It is likely that Monteverdi composed other music for St. Mark’s,
which has since been lost. While he is now remembered primarily
for his secular music, the quality of the surviving religious works
has nevertheless secured for him a historic position as a composer of
sacred music as well.
MONTEVERDI CHOIR. English choir originally formed in 1964 by
John Eliot Gardiner for a performance of Monteverdi’s Vespers
(1610) in King’s College Chapel, Cambridge. While specializing in
310 • MONTEVERDI CHOIR
the music of the Baroque, it has successfully broadened its repertoire
and focus. It often appears with Gardiner’s orchestras, the English
Baroque Soloists and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique.
Along with extensive recording and touring, the choir has undertaken
projects of historical interest. The most ambitious of these took place
in 2000: to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Johann Sebas-
tian Bach’s death, the choir and the English Baroque Soloists com-
pleted a “Bach Cantata Pilgrimage,” performing all of Bach’s sacred
cantatas in venues throughout Europe and the United States.
MOORE, UNDINE SMITH (25 AUGUST 1904–6 FEBRUARY
1989). American composer. A graduate of Fisk University, she sub-
sequently taught at Virginia State University, Petersburg (1927–72),
where she cofounded the university’s Black Music Center. In the
1970s she was adjunct professor at Virginia Union University. Often
referred to as the “Dean of Black Women Composers,” she is best
known for her choral works, which reflect a deep Christian faith and
often employ a tonal style derived from the spirituals of her youth.
Her works include the cantata Sir Olaf and the Erl King’s Daughter,
for three-part treble chorus and pf. (1925); the oratorio Scenes from
the Life of a Martyr (based on the life of Martin Luther King), for
nar., soloists, mixed chorus, and orch. (1982); partsongs; and ar-
rangements of spirituals.
MORALES, CRISTÓBAL DE (BORN C. 1500; DIED BETWEEN
4 SEPTEMBER AND 7 OCTOBER 1553). Spanish composer
renowned for his sacred music. He was maestro di capilla at Avila
Cathedral (1526 to c. 1528) and at Plasencia (c. 1528 to 1531); he
then served in the papal choir in Rome (1535–40, 1541–45). Upon
returning to Spain, he served as maestro di capilla at Toledo Cathe-
dral (1545–47), for the Duke of Arcos in Marchéna (1548–51), and
finally at Málaga Cathedral (1551–53). His music was disseminated
widely and often cited by music theorists. It remained in the reper-
tory of the papal chapel and of churches in Spain and Latin America
into the 18th century. The Magnificat settings were particularly
popular. Surviving works include more than 20 masses (2 of them
Requiems), mostly for four voices; 8 Magnificats, later published in
dismembered form as a double series yielding 16 pieces (separating
odd and even verses) so that they could be purchased and performed
as alternatim settings; about 90 securely attributed motets (mostly
MORALES, CRISTÓBAL DE • 311