The song opens with a short prelude based on the harmony and melodic contour of the accompanied recitative " And, lo ! the angel of the Lord came upon them " from Part I of George Frideric Handel's oratorio " Messiah " ( 1742 ).
32.
Showing a savviness for the machinations of musical theater that would serve him well in later life, Mozart slipped the bass line and the general melodic contour of the Gasparini entrance aria into his fifth and final version, and apparently d'Ettore never knew the difference.
33.
If some of his early music betrayed strong influences of Leonard Bernstein in its jazzy melodic contours and populist inspiration, as well as an occasional polemical shrillness, his Second Quartet demonstrates that Kernis, 39, has, in a relatively short time, evolved into a composer of real mastery and individuality.
34.
Adam Tierney and colleagues argue in a 2011 paper that the similar motor constraints on human and avian song drive these to have similar song structures, including " arch-shaped and descending melodic contours in musical phrases ", long notes at the ends of phrases, and typically small differences in pitch between adjacent notes.
35.
In the medieval church, all that portion of the liturgical song which was performed by the entire choir, or by sections of it, was called " concentus "; thus hymns, psalms, mass ordinary, and alleluias were, generally speaking, included under this term, as well as anything with more complex or distinctive melodic contours.
36.
David Dubal found the nocturne to be " of less importance, though characteristic in design and melodic contour . " However, he states the coda " completely shocks the listener out of reverie . " James Huneker found the F-minor section to " [ broaden ] out to dramatic reaches " though he still viewed the overall piece negatively.
37.
The similar motor constraints on human and avian song may have driven these to have similar song structures, including " arch-shaped and descending melodic contours in musical phrases ", long notes at the ends of phrases, and typically small differences in pitch between adjacent notes, at least in birds with a strong song structure like the Eurasian treecreeper " Certhia familiaris ".
