the more eloquent it is, the more sated should we become if it were
continued overlong. Monotony, furthermore, is less tolerable in music
than in the other arts because music cuts deeper, because the ear is
so sensitive an organ and because we have no way of shutting off
sound. If a particular sight or scene displeases, we can close our
eyelids; but the ear is entirely unprotected and the only way to
escape annoying sounds is to take to flight.[20] We inevitably crave
contrast, change of sensation; and nothing gives more organic unity
than a return to whatever impressed us at the outset. This cyclic form
of musical expression, early discovered through free experimentation,
has remained the leading principle in all modern works, and--because
derived directly from life and nature--must be permanent. We return
whence we came; everything goes in circles. We can now understand
still more the need of a strong and accurate memory; for if we do not
know whether or not we have ever heard a theme, obviously the keen
pleasure of welcoming it anew is lost to us. Furthermore, this
principle of Restatement has in modern music some very subtle uses,
and presupposes the acquisition of a real power of reminiscence. For
example, Wagner's tone-drama of _Tristan and Isolde_ begins with this
haunting motive

[Music]

which, with its dual melodic lines, typifies the passionate love of
the two chief characters in the story. After three hours or more of
tragic action and musical development this motive is again introduced
in the very closing measures of the drama, to show that even in the
presence of transfiguring death this love is still their guiding
power.

[Music]

[Footnote 19: For some additional comments on this broad principle see
the first Chapter (passim) of Parry's _Evolution of the Art of
Music_.]

[Footnote 20: Everyone has experienced the agony of hearing the
beginner practice, in an adjoining room, the same piece for hours at a
time!]

For those who can appreciate the significance of such treatment, this
reminiscence is one of the most sublime touches in all musical drama.
The fascinating orchestral Scherzo of Richard Strauss's _Till
Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks_ likewise begins with a characteristic
motto,

[Music]

which says, in the language of music--I now have a story to tell you
of a certain freakish character; and then we are regaled with the
musical portrayal of a series of Till's pranks. As an Epilogue,
S