[Footnote: See page 87.]
The second of the tonal relations upon which melody depends is contrast.
First, there is the contrast between the high and the low; even when
notes are harmonically related, as a note and its fifth, they are in
contrast, in so far as the one is measurably higher and more distant
than the other. Of equal importance is the rivalry between the
fundamental tones in the leading harmonic chords; for example, the
rivalry between the tonic and the dominant. For each of these claims
to be the center of the melodic progression, and draws to itself all
the tones which belong to its chord. Dissonance is a cause of rivalry;
for a dissonant tone is one that will not fit into a given harmony;
yet since it is still a part of the melody, must have its home
somewhere, and belongs therefore in another harmony, which, through
this tone, is set up in rivalry with the prevailing one. A tone that
did not belong to any harmony would not be a dissonance, but a
discord,--a tone without meaning musically. Dissonances, like other
contrasts, enrich the melody by establishing rival harmonies; discords
destroy melodies. Just as the drama has little significance without
conflict, so melodies are uninteresting without dissonances.
Were it not for the third of the tonal relations, melodies would lack
unity and system and go to pieces under the stress of rival forces.
This third relation may be call finality; [Footnote: The explanation
of this is obscure; there is no unanimity among the specialists in
musical theory.
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