Thread by @AntonPrince7

On this fine #TheoryThursday , I would like to share with you a little bit of insight into something that many consider one of music‘s most important components, namely MELODY.

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A melody is nothing more than a linear succession of pitches conditioned by rhythmic factors, yet we tend to ascribe great value to melody. Why is this? What makes this aspect of music so important that people judge music on the perceived absence or presence of a melody?

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The concept of melody is quite intimately linked to the possibilities and limitations of the human voice. This is, after all, our primeval musical instrument. This immediately explains too why we value melody so highly.

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Before we had harmony we had only melody, and the first non-vocal musical instruments, such as drums, and bone flutes are testament to the primary factors present in melody, namely rhythm and pitch.

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An instrumental melody is a free adaptation of this vocal ideal, tailored to the possibilities and limitations of the instrument for which it is written.

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To melodies which closely resemble vocal melody, we often attach the sobriquet “lyrical”. A good example of this is much of the music of Chopin. Note how the melody is divided into phrases with little “breathing pauses” in between.

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The extent to which this adherence to vocal melody is maintained is stunning, while there are many instances of very “pianistic” passages in Beethoven, for example, there are just as many very lyrical subjects.

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Sometimes the only thing that prevents them from being singable is an instrumental flourish. If we simplify the first four bars of the finale of Opus 2/2, we get this, which is quite singable:

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Melodies can be broadly divided into two types, the first is what we call a melody or tune and the second is what is known as a theme. Let me see if I can break down the differences;

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Every succession of tones creates a conflict to be pacified, problems to be solved or questions to be answered.
The core difference between melody and theme is how these resolutions are achieved.

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In a melody, the repose is achieved through balance and distinct phrasing. A melody tends to extend by continuation rather than by elaboration or development. Most importantly; a melody is independent.
This is a perfect example of a melody:

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Quite contrary to this, a theme is entirely dependent on its continuation and bound to certain consequences. Its meaning lies not in the theme itself but in everything that follows it.

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In this manner, it resembles a scientific hypothesis, which does not convince without a number of tests—without a presentation of proof.
Often, a theme will hinge more strongly on rhythmic elements and their development than a melody.

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The difference is not always clear-cut, there are melodies with thematic elements and themes with melodious elements.
Melodies are sometimes treated as if they were themes—themes as if they were independent. Generally speaking, however, these are the essential differences.

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There is yet a third type of melody, which is even more condensed than a theme. This type of melody is known as a motive and is determined by pitch and rhythm, like a melody or theme.

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In fact, melodies and themes both already consist of motives, there however they often closely resemble each other and depend upon one another in order to create a comprehensible line.

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The usage as motives as separate entities merits some consideration; especially their use in Wagner, where they serve a dramatic as much as a musical purpose.

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In Wagner‘s music, these motives, which are called “Leitmotifs” symbolise characters, objects or events and this ways of writing music creates a tapestry of many motives stitched together into a great musical tapestry.

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In “der Ring des Nibelungen”, for example, we find these three Leitmotifs. The first of which is this; it symbolises the Wälsungs—Siegmund and Sieglinde.

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The second one symbolises Siegfried, the great hero of the story and son of Siegmund and Sieglinde.

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The third symbolises the cursed ring after which the opera cycle is named, which ultimately cost Siegfried his life.

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Now, when Siegfried dies in “Götterdämmerung”—the last of four gigantic operas tracing the story of the ring from its genesis to its demise and the downfall of the gods themselves—this music is heard.



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Note that these three motives strongly inform the structure of this piece. Actually, hardly a note goes by in Wagner where he does not, in one way or another, use or transform one of his Leitmotifs, and there are many others in this piece alone I have not mentioned.

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Another thing about melody I will try to briefly clarify is its construction; in principle, melody is modelled after that which is possible for the voice, hence the erstwhile mentioned “breathing pauses”, for example.

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But this concept slowly expanded, especially in instrumental writing but also in music for the voice, to include melodies which are less than singable. Note this example from Brahms, from his song “Treue Liebe”

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The irony is that it is Brahms who once said: “the melody of a song should be such that one could whistle it”.
And in instrumental melodies, it was even easier to deviate from the model.

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In addition to the usage of less “natural” intervals we find patterns of semiquavers hurrying on breathlessly, often marked by great rapidity.
As an example of such a purely instrumental melody, here is the scherzo from Schumann‘s Second Symphony

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Interesting to note is that melodies often repeat rhythms or intervals in order to create coherence. In larger works, this coherence often extends across several movements and binds together music that is otherwise very different.

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Sir Andras Schiff noted, for example, in his Wigmore lecture on Beethoven‘s Hammerklavier sonata, that the interval of the third informs the entire structure of the sonata.

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theguardian.com/music/classica…

Thus we have at the very opening of this piece a leap of a tenth (a third and an octave), in the second movement we find the principal figure consisting of a skip upward and then a skip downward, both of a third and the Adagio third movement opens with a rising third.

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In a similar fashion, rhythm can also create a strong sense of coherence—the clearest example of this being Beethoven‘s Fifth symphony, which is completely submerged in the motive that opens it.

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So that, not only in the first movement every phrase is, in some way, based on that motive but the Scherzo and finale also feature this rhythm in abundance.

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And so I come to the end of this thread. There are countless other things to be said of melody but to go into everything would be utterly impossible.

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In closing, therefore, I would like to share with you a melody by Mahler and I hope that this will in fact more aptly illustrate the concept of melody to you than my words ever could.

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@threadreaderapp unroll

I think you might already be reading along, @Wagner2_0 but here I say something about Wagner.

Also tagging @TheWagnerian and @WagnerMetal as well as @mzervides
Ye Wagnerites, I hope I have not said anything to insult the great master 😊