[79] Ed. de Coussemaker: Œuvres complètes du Trouvères Adam de la Hâle.
[80] The terms Tanzwise and Tanzliet are attached to not a few songs of Minnesingers, notably to those of Ulrich von Lichtenstein and Reinmar der Fiedler.
[81] The Blume was sometimes applied to the first syllable of a song when it was probably intended to prepare the mood, but produced a rather ludicrous effect. Even Hans Sachs begins his song Drey frummer König Juda with a Blume of ten notes, all on the word drey.
[82] R. Genée: Hans Sachs und seine Zeit.
[83] From the English translation of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, by Frederick Corder.
CHAPTER VIII
THE RISE OF THE NETHERLAND SCHOOLS
The Netherland style; the Ars Nova; Machault and the Paris school; the papal ban on figured music—The Gallo-Belgian school; early English polyphony; John Dunstable; Dufay and Binchois; other Gallo-Belgians—Okeghem and his school—Josquin des Près; merits of the Netherland schools.
I
We have already discussed the origins of polyphony and the condition of secular popular music in the dim periods of the Middle Ages. We shall confine ourselves in this chapter for the most part to the development of polyphony, the art of music within the church, not because it was only within the church that polyphony was perfected, but because the art can be most easily and consistently traced in church music. None of the great composers whose importance we shall discuss restricted himself only to religious music, but all gave the greater part of their energy thereto, and most of the available knowledge of music from 1300 to 1600 is related to the church. It must not be forgotten, on the other hand, that secular music exerted a vigorous influence upon ecclesiastical music, an influence constantly combatted by the church authorities, yet constantly triumphant. The two styles acted and reacted upon each other in a manner which may be observed at various periods of musical history.