The rising gesture of the basic motive x also occurs at the beginning of all the melodies of the songs in the oratorio representing the optimistic atmosphere of the oratorio. For example, in song no. 1, the melody sung by the bass leaps up fifth at the beginning of the melody and leaps up a sixth at the beginning of the melody sung by the choir, and in song no 5, the melody sung by the choir leaps up an octave. Only the melody of song no. 4 does not have a rising gesture, however, the cheerful march-like rhythm compensates for the unavailable rising …show more content…
The extension of the basic motive x occurs in song no. 1 shown in fig. 3 as the top voice, in song no. 6 shown in fig. 4 representing the singing nightingale mentioned in the poem of the song, and in song no. 7 (fig. 5).
Fig. 3: Motive x embedded in the pastoral melody of song no. 1. Fig. 4: The extended version of motive x is played by the English horn in song no. 6.
The first and the fifth scale degrees extend the basic motive x in song no. 7 as shown in fig. 5. In addition, the basic motive x also appears throughout song no. 7 with many different alterations while maintaining the ascending five pitches. The diminution of the basic motive x occurs in song no. 4 rehearsal 52 m. 102 until the end of the song played by the strings where it is written in 16th notes instead of in 8th notes. Fig. 5: Motive x in song no. 7.
The abridged version of motive x appear in song no. 2 played by the strings in mm. 74-77 and mm. 128-129 (fig. 6). Fig. 6: Abridged motive x in song no. 2 mm.