about Venice and Rome respectively. Both served to develop the Netherland art, but in different directions. The Roman school adhered to the stricter traditions, dominated by the demands of the Church, while the Venetians were far more ready for innovation, especially in secular and sensational effects. The former brought the older style to its natural consummation; the latter laid foundations for new developments.
There was an increasing differentiation of the forms of composition.
These were all essentially polyphonic, though varying greatly in elaboration,
and all at first vocal, though soon instrumental forms begin to
appear.
For the church service the 'mass' was of course the most stately and constant form, and its treatment followed the traditions of the 15th century, though with some technical modifications. But the 'motet' was now more appreciated, since its variety of text encouraged originality of treatment. For both of these the words were Latin, and the handling was clearly contrapuntal, usually learned and intricate, avoiding the extreme or the sensational (but see sec. 44).
In secular writing the 'madrigal' was the analogue of the motet—a finished contrapuntal setting of secular words, often in Italian and usually amatory, into which gradually crept qualities of sensuous piquancy and lightness that were out of place in sacred writing. The old French chanson, also, was followed in Italy by the 'canzona' or popular part-song (often called by local names, as Venetian, Neapolitan or Sicilian, according to the style adopted), having much more freedom and outward charm than the madrigal. Next came the 'frottola,' a variety of the canzona, usually following a fixed plan of stanza with a refrain. This shaded off into the 'villanella' or street-song, often with a rough and even coarse text, a prominent melody and comparatively little attempt at part-writing. These latter forms, though often despised, were beneficial in breaking up the heaviness and formlessness of stricter writing (see sec. 69).
As instrumental writing was taken up, several names were used that were not at first clearly distinguished, all of them referring to pieces in which some thematic treatment was decorated with much aimless passage-work and the like. Sometimes the term 'fantasia' was used much as now, but 'ricercare,' 'toccata' or 'sonata' were more common. Stricter pieces were occasionally given the name 'fuga,' though the true fugue hardly began before the I7th century.
56. Willaert and the Venetian School.—For various reasons
Venice stands out in the 16th century as one of the most interesting
cities. She had long been foremost in commerce, her
trade reaching far into the Orient on the one side and over all
western Europe on the other. With her wealth came an aggressive
and productive culture. Notable among her national
