48 THE NATURE OF MUSIC 



rhythm, then through rhythm in tone; hence com- 

 posite tone-rhythm, melody, music. Neither cadence 

 nor repose can be felt, perceived or conceived except 

 in relation one to the other, not in rhythm, not in 

 tone. Except for this basic relation there would be, 

 could be, no harmonic form and relation of tone, no 

 melody, no music. Cadence seeks repose, that is, 

 seeks resolution in repose, equilibrium. This is illus- 

 trated in the second last example at c). But resolu- 

 tion is not a principle or cause, as some theorists 

 declare, nor is progression; ^ the shaping principle and 

 causa causarum is equilibrium. It may be stated in 

 passing that music's great multiplicity of harmonies, 

 modes and keys are derived from the two original har- 

 monic genera of tones, cadence-harmony and repose- 

 harmony. 



27. Melody, Harmony and Rhythm 



Terms if not carefully defined lead to inevitable con- 

 fusion. The progress of knowledge under the impulse 

 of new discoveries modifies old and attaches new mean- 

 ings to familiar terms. In the opening chapter I 

 pointed out the fallacy of the common teaching that 

 melody, harmony and rhythm are the three elements 

 of music and have since demonstrated that melody is 

 not an element in any sense but is the composite of 

 music's two elements, rhythm and harmony. The 

 meaning of the term melody thus undergoes a complete 

 and unavoidable change. In music itself melody and 

 harmony have never been separable or separated. In 

 view of this truth the time-honored separation of the 



1 See The Septonaie, Chap. II. L. E. K. 



