MUSICAL COMPOSITION

MELODIES AND THEIR TREATMENT 37it is helped by a good and suggestive bass. The bestexample for our purpose will be the theme from theballet of The Men oj Prometheus, by Beethoven,which he utilised both for pianoforte variations andfor the finale (in variation form) of the EroicaSymphony. The theme is as follows:AB~~b-.- 1.11. U:=­~~~n~j=7j===~~cThe number of phrases is the same as in theexamples from the Ruins oj Athens. But the firstfour notes are the key to the tune, and their repetitiona tone higher emphasises this. The first phrase (A),therefore, is a compound of two shorter phrases. Thisis 'the husband of Hans Sachs' sermon. The secondphrase (B) is in one uninterrupted run j but it hasa new feature of its own in the three repeated B's inthe fifth bar, while it shows its relationship to Ain the seventh bar (compare bars three and one).This is the wife. The next two phrases (C andD) recall the repeated B's in the second phrase,and are closely like each other, and the lastphrase (E) resembles both the husband (A) in the