Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-01-08
NEWS OF MUSIC
NEWS or MUSIC
Coplond Finds Melody
Bosic for All Music
By DAY THORPE

II music is not mace up OF
melodies, what does it consist
Of? Personally. I cannot con-
ceive of music, save by rarest
exception, that does not exist
primarily by virtue Of its
melodic content"
This is the belief of Aaron
COPELAND, who at the age Of Sc
has become one of the most
respected and representative
American composers of our
day. He will conduct the Ma
tional Symphony this week in
a program devoted half to his
own music and half to the
10th symphony in c of Schu-
bert. If the general public is
bewildered at an dDdnt-gdrde
composers insistence on the
primacy of melody, there are,
on the other hand. few COM
posers who are not equally
puzzled by a widespread belief.
hard to kill, that melody is a
relaxation permitted only to
classic composers of bygone
times and jazz musicians,
Basic Element Of Music
But what COPELAND says is as
near denonstrable as any cate
goric statement in the realm OF
art. The elements of music
are melody. rhythm. tempo.
harmony, timbre and dynamics.
Any piece that is played or
sung must necessarily exhibit
all these characteristics, except
harmony, and every musical
idea that Is set on paper by a
composer may dispense with
ali Of them but the first
melody.
To write for percussion with
out pitch is an exception. but
we can say reasonably that the
result is not music but noise.
otherwise. there seems to be
no music lacking melody.
Chant, such as Gregorian
chant, is, as it is notated, mel
ody and nothing but melody.
although of course when it is
.naterialized In a perform
aIace. the other elements are
also present.
Early Singing Melodic
All the early classic vocal
music, and most instrumental
music UP to the time OF the
figured bass, was purely melod-
ic, and the harmony that ap-
peared was an incidental, un-
contrived result. This music
also has, rhythm. but its tim
ber-its tone-color, how 1t
sounded-was often not pres
ent in the mind of the COM
poser, who expected a single
piece OF music to be sung,
played on the organ, or by wind
instruments, or by strings.
The melody was still the
principal, although not the
only ingredient. I believe the
entire history of music can be
reviewed and the omnipresence
of melody proved. Also. 1t
seems that the composers who
could write more expressive
melodies than their fellows
have always been the ones ia
vored by contemporary listen
ers and admired by posterity.
When a person complains
that music - contemporary
music, for example - lacks
melody, he often means only
that the mslody is of a type
unfamiliar to him. If rhythm
is the element of music that
remains firmest in the men,
ory, melody is the element
that when it is recalled to the
ears eye gives the greatest
pleasure, and the element that
when it is unusual or unin-
telligible causes the greatest
repugnance and unease.
1t is possible that when you
hear the music of COPELAND this
Wednesday, you will not like
the composers melodies. or
that you will think that he
does not put in any for your
delectation. You can be sure.
however. that there is nobody
in Constitution Hall who loves
a good tune more than Mr..
COpland .-...