106 



MUSIC. 





The effect of a piece of music may be varied by ! of the ' Corn Riggs/ is very happily illustrated by 

 changing the position of the bars ; this, in the case | Dr Colcot : 



Original Melody. 



Melody is of two kinds, air and recitative. For 

 the purpose of air it is necessary that the succession 

 of sounds should be disposed into regular cadences, 

 which is called rhythm ; the notes or the piece must 

 all belong to one key, or at least, to some other key 

 which bears a particular relation to the principal 

 key ; and like every other piece of musical compo- 

 sition, air must have subject. An air must be divid- 

 ed into measures of equal time, of some one or other 

 of the species described in the foregoing chapter ; and 

 several of these measures must be grouped together, 

 which groups being distinguished by cadences ; these 

 parcels of measures forming, as it were, so many 

 phrases, perfectly analogous to verses in poetry. A 

 foot in music is the quantity of one measure, and if 

 the air were always to begin at the beginning of a 

 measure, the feet would always be enclosed by the 

 bars, in which case there would not be any occasion 

 to make a distinction between a foot and a measure. 



Since a foot is the same lei.gtji as a measure, it 

 follows, that as there are a variety of measures, there 

 will be a corresponding variety of feet. Two or 

 more feet constitute a verse, and hence it will be 

 evident that there will be greater diversity in verses, 

 than in feet. Two or more verses constitute a strain 

 or stanza : the former comprehending the first and 

 second parts of our common national melodies, or 

 pieces formed after that model ; while the latter de- 

 signates those phrases or pieces marked by cadences 



in the longer pieces of music, such as sonatas, con- 

 certos, symphonies, &c., which, however, are not 

 marked by double bars 



The analogy between the prosody of language, and 

 that of music, is so strong, that the terms used in the 

 former may with advantage be employed in the lat- 

 ter ; therefore in the one as in the other : 



Verses of two feet are called dimeters, 



three trimeters, 



four tetrameters, 



five ...pentameters, 



six ; hexameters, 



In an air there must be a principal key, which is 

 frequently maintained throughout the whole piece, 

 on which the tune must begin and end, and, in the 

 course of the piece, the principal tones must bear 

 such a relation to the key-note as to produce an 

 agreeable effect ; this is called Modulation. 



We before adverted to subject, being a constituent 

 of an air. Subject consists in the recurrences of the 

 same or like phrases or turns throughout the melody; 

 and it is subject which distinguishes the air, or indeed 

 which gives it existence, as it shows design in the 

 composer. In the larger pieces of music, such as 

 sonatas, concertos, symphonies, &c., many subjects 

 occur throughout the piece, differing more or less from 

 each other in character, nevertheless they must all 

 tend to bring out the general character or subject of 

 the composition. 



