[Illustration: Example 8. Fragments of Beethoven.]
This example illustrates the interlinking of the figures, and suggests the difficulty that may be encountered in the effort to define melodic figures. The difficulty is probably greatest in melodies of a lyric character, where it is necessary to sustain the coherency of the sentence; for instance, in many of the Songs Without Words,—see No. 40, No. 22, and others, in which an entirely definite separation of the figures is well-nigh a hopeless task.
For this reason,—that is, because the melodic divisions are so minute and vague between these smaller particles of the musical sentence,—it is advisable to give no heed to any factor smaller than the "motive," and to undertake the analysis of nothing less than the latter; for even the most scrupulous "phrasing," in the playing of a composition, must avoid the risk of incoherency almost certain to result from distinctly separating all the figures. The melodies in Ex. 8 should not betray the secret of their formation.
THE MELODIC MOTIVE OR PHRASE-MEMBER.—This, as has already been stated, is a somewhat longer section, compounded of two or more figures. Being thus longer, the "breaks" or spaces between motives are generally more emphatic and recognizable than those between the figures, and therefore it is easier, as a rule, to define the extremities of motives.
Melodic motives differ in length from one to four measures; by far the most common extent, however, is two measures, and the student will do wisely to accept this dimension and analyze accordingly, unless there is unmistakable evidence to the contrary. The indications are precisely the same as those illustrated in the preceding two examples as guides for the definition of figures.
For example:—
