The substitution of English for Latin and the
sweeping modification of the liturgy did not in the
least alter the system and principle of musical render*

886



THE MUSICAL SYSTEM OF CHURCH OF ENGLAND

ing which had existed in the Catholic Church. The
litany, the oldest portion of the Book of Common
Prayer, compiled by Cranmer and published in 1544,
was set for singing note for note from the ancient Plain
Song. In 1550 a musical setting was given to all parts
of the Prayer Book by John Marbecke, a well-known
musician of that period. He, like Cranmer, adapted
portions ot the old Gregorian chant, .using only the
plainer forms. In Marbecke's book we find the sim-
plest style, consisting of monotone, employed for the
prayers and the Apostles' Creed,^ a larger use of modu-
lation in the recitation of the psalms, and a still more
song-like manner in the canticles and those portions,
such as the Kyrie and Gloria, taken from the mass.
