MELODY

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 109, 11 May 1931, Page 3

MELODY

ITS IMPORTANCE IN MUSIQ

The important place -which melody] occupies in musical composition w;is stressed by Mr. Ernest Jenner, A.R.A.M., p in the opening lecture of a short course! on "Melody ! and Khytluu," given to a.' largo W.E.A. audience at the Trade* Hall on Saturday night. "Melody has au almost universal appeal," stated th*' lecturer, "and many people find that their appreciation of developed music depends entirely on whether thoy.are' able to find melody in it or not. l'fl they fail to do so, then quite frequently, they fail to understand or enjoy the; composition, in question. Melody is almost always so intimately bound up with; the other elements which a composer, employs in the building of his works —such as harmony, time, and rhythm; —that it is possible to enjoy almosij every composition by concentrating solei ly on melodic outline or shape. Al* though there are a few instances whers harmony, time, and rhythm exist alone] without melody, these occur for only ai few bars at a stretch, as the composer i could not long sustain interest without it." People sometimes complaiiied, he continued, that they could not; find melody in the works of the great! composers. Obviously, such people werei working from a different definition of melody than that used 'by those who; saw in these compositions a veritable treasure-house of. melody, or else thei*; conception of the word melody was tooj limited. In its. narrowest sense, a' melody was a complete squarely-design-ed tune,, and, generally speaking, to be truly popular, it must in addition be* devoid of any unusual features. Even.' though tin's definition was; extremely; limited, there were, nevertheless inahyj wonderful tunes or "immortal, melodies" which conformed to its narrow; limitations. Such national melodies as "Drink to me only with Thine Eyes*l and "Annie Laurie" were beautiful ex* amples. Composers like Grieg, of Nor-; way, and Dvorak, of Bohemia, weve' greatly influenced by their national music, and had written. ma,uy lyrical melodies which were perfectly evenly, balanced and were entirely, devoid . of: unusual features. Examples of theiij work were played by Mr. Jenner.. ;

Passing on to the study of compositions which included one or more somoi what, unusual sounds, the' speaker sale! that they did not readily tond to become popular on that account, and ma?) f, people found it hard to include eomposii tions of this type as "melody,'? allowing the strange note to put them off entirely. They failed to realise that ths piece often obtained increased beauty; because of this unusual element, an(l many of the lovely Irish and Hebridean! melodies derived their own peculiar national beauty from the Introduction! of some such distinctive note. Two] characteristic examples were playecU Among the more modern composition's^ he said, one found this '_ same point used to a considerable extent, and for! expressive purposes—as well as fp^, lending individuality—composers frw quently employed certain distinctiva notes. The illustrations chosen wer^. "Chanson de I'Esearpolette" and "Chas-i seur," by Gabriel Grovlez. ;• ■; Mr. Jonner next explained the varw ous scales from which most of o'u^ melodies were formed, the major scale' boing the most common. Mr. Jenner concluded a delightfullyi informative lecture-recital by playiiig! ,he beautiful "Rhapsody," by Dolinanyi. His lecture next Saturday night wilE 3eal with further developments. ; ;