FAMILY Fringillidz. 
Then I decided the incident was closed; but no, another 
day I got this: 
g=158..> > > ee 
Vivace. re re len 
and finally that same day a second form of the first 
motive suggested that the tune would never end! 
2186 >), f 73> 
Con preeisione 
(>) + 
There was no doubt about all this coming from a single 
individual; I had my eye on him, and kept track of all 
his movements. The variations of a single motive in 
song are very subtle, and we usually fail to discover the 
ingenuity of the composer who constructs an extensive 
melody of but one or two simple motives. This is per- 
fectly illustrated in the Di Provenza from Verdi’s 
Traviata. (See previous page.) 
It is a network of repetitions throughout; remove the 
first motive with its variations and the aria is pretty 
nearly all gone! A similar illustration serves us in ‘‘ La 
Donna € mobile” from Verdi’s Rigoletto. (See page 115.) 
Remove the first, third, and ninth bars and nothing is 
left but their variations and the closing bar! Strangely 
114 
