foundation
voice, and yet these are entirely ignored by the average listener.
Then what of the inner voices; and what--most important of all--when
there are beautiful melodies in _all parts_ of the musical fabric,
often sounding simultaneously, as in such well-known works as Cesar
Franck's _Symphony in D minor_ and Wagner's _Prelude to the
Mastersingers_! As we face these questions squarely the need for the
listener of special training in alertness and concentration is
self-evident. A very small proportion of those who attend a symphony
concert begin to get their money's worth--to put the matter on a
perfectly practical plane--for at least 50% of the musical structure
is presented to ears without capacity for receiving it. In regard to
any work of large dimensions the final test is this: can we sing all
the themes and follow them in their polyphonic development? Then only
are we really acquainted with the work; then only, in regard to
personal like or dislike, have we any right to pass judgment upon it.
The absurd attitude, far too common, of hasty, ill-considered
criticism is illustrated by the fact that while Brahms is said to have
worked for ten years on that Titanic creation, his _First Symphony_,
yet persons will hear it _once_ and have the audacity to say they do
not like it. As well stroll through Chartres Cathedral and say they
did not think much of it!

[Footnote 17: For a simple, charming example of persistent use of a
motive see Schumann's pianoforte piece _Kind im Einschlummern_, No. 12
of the _Kinderscenen_.]

We must now speak of the two other manifestations of the principle of
_repetition_. Fundamentally, to be sure, they are not connected with
polyphonic music; the third type, in fact,--restatement after
contrast--being instinctively worked out in the Folk-Song (as will be
made plain later) and definitely ratified as a structural principle by
the Italian opera composer Alessandro Scarlatti in the well-known Aria
da capo. These further applications of the principle of imitation are
_Transposition_, _i.e._, the repetition of the melodic outline, and
often of the whole harmonic fabric, by shifting it up or down the
scale; and the _Restatement_ of the original melody after an
intervening part in contrast, thus making a piece of music, the
formula for which may be indicated by A, B, A. Anyone at all familiar
with musical literature must have observed both of these devices for
securing coherence and organi