Pieces of music which embody the principle ofRestatement after
Contrastare so numerous that the question is merely one of se-
lecting the clearest examples. In the Folk-Songs of every nation,
as soon as they had passed beyond the stage of a monotonous
reiteration of some phrase which pleased the fancy,e.g.
[Music:ad infinitum!]
we find hardly one in which there is not a similarity between the
closing measures and something which had gone before. (See
Supplement, Example No. 5.) For the most elementary artistic
experience would establish the fact that the only way to avoid a
monotonous repetition of the same theme is to change to a differ-
ent one. And the next step is equally axiomatic—that, presup-
posing the first theme gives pleasure on its initial appearance,
it will be heard with heightened pleasure at its reappearance
after intervening contrast. A psychological principle is herein
involved which cannot be proved but which is self-justified by
its own reasonableness and is further exemplified by many ex-
periences in daily life. Sweet things taste the sweeter after a
contrast with something acid; we like to revisit old scenes and
to return home after a vacation. No delight is keener than the
renewalof some aesthetic experience after its temporary efface-
ment through a change of appeal.[19] This practice is associated
with the inherent demand, spoken of above, for Variety in Unity.
No theme is of sufficient import to bear constant repetition; in
fact, the more eloquent it is, the more sated should we become
if it were continued overlong. Monotony, furthermore, is less
tolerable in music than in the other arts because music cuts
deeper, because the ear is so sensitive an organ and because we
have no way of shutting off sound. If a particular sight or scene
displeases, we can close our eyelids; but the ear is entirely unpro-
tected and the only way to escape annoying sounds is to take to
flight.[20] We inevitably crave contrast, change of sensation; and
nothing gives more organic unity than a return to whatever im-
pressed us at the outset. This cyclic form of musical expression,
early discovered through free experimentation, has remained the
leading principle in all modern works, and—because derived di-
rectly from life and nature—must be permanent. We return
whence we came; everything goes in circles. We can now under-
stand still more the need of a strong and accurate memory; for
if we do not know whether or not we have ever heard a theme,
obviously the keen pleasure of welcoming it anew is lost to us.