Johann Joseph Fux · section 29 of 32

On ecclesiastical style

Just as sacred things surpass profane ones in dignity, I think no one will doubt that music devoted to divine worship and destined to endure eternally holds by far the foremost place in nobility, and that our chief effort should therefore be devoted to it. Since God is supreme perfection, it is fitting that music directed toward his praise should be complete in all the strictness and perfection of the rules, as far as human imperfection permits, and furnished with every means suitable to arouse devotion. Even if the expression of the text requires a certain cheerfulness, care must be taken that the music is not deprived of ecclesiastical gravity, modesty, and decorum, thereby distracting listeners toward feelings other than devotion. Above all, one must strive to fit the text with music that is appropriate, clear, expressive, not inconvenient for the singer, and easy to articulate. This will be achieved if the composer refrains from fitting small note values to words. It would be otherwise if a vowel were to be prolonged without pronouncing a word, in which case diminutions will have a place according to the singer’s ability. To achieve all this, the composer imitates a tailor skilled in his art, who measures every joint of the body, its length and breadth, exactly, to make a garment fitting it as closely as possible. So the musician must clothe the text and consider its meaning and feeling, so that music fitted to the meaning of the words seems not only to sing but also to speak persuasively. Furthermore, as texts vary, so do the methods of ecclesiastical style: one must be followed in composing Masses, another in motets, another in psalms, another in hymns, and so forth. All these methods can be referred to two kinds of style: a cappella, or full-choir style, and mixed style. We shall begin with the first, a cappella, as the more venerable in antiquity.