If you don’t know thatone, you must have just crawled out from under the
rock where you’ve been hiding for at least 200 years.In the Ravel piece, he weaves his melody up and down for sixteen measures
before he gets us to the end of a period, whereas Beethoven doesn’t even
need four beats to state his motif. There is no question that both these com-
positions were successes for their composers, but their approaches are obvi-
ously very different. There are similarities as well: Each repeats his theme
and explores variations throughout the piece, giving the theme to different
instruments and throwing it at the listener from various perspectives.With Ravel, our fascination springs from seeing how far he can take a single,
long theme while keeping it within a very repetitive rhythmic framework. Or
is it seeing how far he can push a repeating rhythmic idea by leading us
through it with his melodic narrative? The rhythm helps us hold our place as
his long narrative expands. The long melody line keeps us from getting bored
with the rhythm. Of course, the long, slow build-up of magnitude and inten-
sity creates tension and keeps us interested, too.Beethoven’s melodic repetitiveness holds our interest because we are fasci-
nated and surprised by the variations he is able to bring to such a short,
powerful motif, and the uses to which he puts such a simple idea. How many
ways can you say, “I love you”?It’s okay for your melodies to speak through short melodic ideas or long
ones. The danger lies in losing the listeners’ interest. If your melody goes
around the block a few times before reaching its destination, then maybe you
should support it with a framework that allows your listeners to keep track of
where they are, and where they are headed. A strong, repetitive, supporting
rhythmic phrase or motif could be a good choice. And if your melodic ideas
are short and sweet, it is important not to let them get boring. You have to
get pretty inventive with the various uses of a short motif or phrase to make
it hold interest for very long.& 4
2
‰
J
œœœ
̇
Figure 7-2:
Da-da-da-
DU —
perhaps
the shortest
and most
famous
motif ever.