Take a well known air, _Au Claire de la Lune_, for example, and make each note a whole note sung by the tenor, while the other voices dialogue back and forth in counterpoint, and see what is left of the song for the listener.

The scandal of _La Messe de l'Homme arme_ was entirely theoretical.
We simply do not know how they played these anthems, masses, and madrigals, in the absence of any indication of either the time or the emphasis.

We find a few directions for expression, as in the first measures of Palestrina's _Stabat Mater_ but such directions are extremely rare.

They are simply the first signs of the dawn of the far-off day of music with expression.

Certain learned and well-intentioned persons endeavor to compare this music with ours, and we surprise in some of the modern editions instances of _molto expressivo_ which seem to be good guesses.