the fabric which we can carry with us and sing to ourselves.
Harmony and color are factors closely involved with melodic in-
spiration, but their impression is more fleeting; and in general,
no work lacking in melody, however colorful or filled with dar-
ing harmonic effects, can long endure. But we must be judicious
and fair in estimating exactly what constitutes a real melody.
The genius is always ahead of his time; if he thought just as
other men, he would be no genius. New types of melody are
continually being worked out; all we can say is that the creative
composer hears sounds in his imagination, the result of his emo-
tional and spiritual experiences and of his sympathy with the
world. He recreates these sounds in terms of notation, hoping
that, as they mean so much to him, they may be a delight and
inspiration to his fellowmen. If enough people like these works
for a long enough time, theyare; that is, they live—no matter
how much they differ froma prioristandards as to what music
should be.
The second fact concerns the structure of music; that is, the way
in which the thought is presented. We have seen that music al-
ways has a carefully planned architecture—that being necessary
by reason of the indefiniteness of the material. But let us always
remember that without abandoning the fundamental principles
of all organic life, form may be—and should be—free and elas-
tic. Every work which lives reveals a perfect balance between the
emotional and imaginative factors and their logical presentation.
If we are puzzled by the structure of a new work the assumption
should be, not that it is formless but that, when we know the
work, it will be seen to employ simply a new use of old and ac-
cepted principles; for the works analyzed must have convinced
us that the principles of unity, contrast, balance and symmetry
are eternal; and, however modified, can never be abandoned.
The normal imagination must express itself logically, and can no
more put forth incoherent works than the human body would
give birth to misshapen offspring. Musical compositions, which
after study prove to be incoherent, diffuse and flabby, are to
be considered exceptional and not worth condemning; they are
only to be pitied. The chief aim of the music-lover should be to
become an intelligent and enthusiastic appreciator of the great
works already composed, and to train himself liberally for the
welcome of new works. Towards such an end we hope that this
book may offer a helpful contribution.