Triolet

“ Those who are unaware of the rules that govern this little stanza, yet often fall in love with the verse itself, possibly because a good example has a pretty sequence of sound, that allures the ear by its musical jingle, and reads like a spontaneous and easy impromptu. Nevertheless, the subtle art needed to acquire the ease that is the charm of a good triolet is generally the result of infinite care. ”

“ To introduce the refrain naturally as the only thing to say, and yet with an air of freshness and an unexpected recognition of a phrase heard before, is in itself no mean difficulty, even in the ballade and rondeau; but when it comes three times in eight lines, and has a second line attached to it on its first and last appearance, it is a matter of small wonder that the successful triolets are not very numerous. That the ideally perfect triolet is as yet unwritten, or at least represented by very few, it may be urged ”

“ It might be pertinent to ask, if this is the chief objection, how many ideally perfect poems in any set shape, or in free form, the world acknowledges?
The triolet consists (to quote Mr. Dobson) of eight lines with two rhymes. The first pair of lines are repeated as the seventh and eighth, while the first is repeated as the fourth. The order of the rhymes is thus as follows:—a. b. a. a. a. b. a. b. The example (on page 214) by—of all persons in the world—a grave French magistrate, Jacques Ranchin, has been christened by Ménage the "King of Triolets." ”

“ The weak point of the Triolet being the monotony of its refrain, every attempt, at giving a new accent to the words, short of actual punning, is welcomed as a relief. There is an air composed by Charles Delioux, to which all triolets in the pure form may be sung. De Banville quotes the melody in his "Odes Funnambulesques." Most people who have attempted to make rhymes know that when once a haunting melody gains control the words and sentences will try and fit themselves to it ”

“ Boileau threw scorn upon the delicate art of these pieces, and mocked the memory of Clément Marot because he “ tourna des triolets,” but Marmontel recognized the neatness and charm of the form. They continued to be written in France, but not by poets of much pretension, until the middle of the 19th century, when there was a great revival of their use. ”

“ Sarrasin also left a curious specimen of the Glose, written on the famous Sonnet "de IOB" by Benserade. In [Pg xxxii] 1649 Gérard de Saint Amant wrote a volume of sixty-four triolets. From the seventeenth to the nineteenth century no important examples occur. About thirty years ago De Banville revived these old shapes, and initiated a movement that Daudet, Glatigny, Boulmier, and a host of others have helped forward, so that now modern French literature is flooded with examples of the forms-the ballade, rondeau, and triolet being the most widely used. ”

“ All this, the memory and the feel of it, are in Trilby's voice as she warbles that long, smooth, lilting, dancing laugh, that wondrous song without words; and those who hear feel it all, and remember it with her. It is irresistible; it forces itself on you; no words, no pictures, could ever do the like! So that the tears that are shed out of all these many French eyes are tears of pure, unmixed delight in happy reminiscence! ”

“ And the happiest day of all was when Trois Angliches took Trilby and Jeannot (for so the mite was called) to spend the Sunday in the woods at Meudon, and breakfast and dine at the garde champêtre's. Swings, peep-shows, donkey-rides; shooting at a mark with cross-bows and little pellets of clay, and smashing little plaster figures and winning macaroons; losing one's self in the beautiful forest; catching newts and tadpoles and young frogs; making music on mirlitons. Trilby singing "Ben Bolt" into a mirliton was a thing to be remembered, whether one would or no! ”

“ Loud and shrill and sweet beyond compare—drowning the orchestra; of a piercing quality quite ineffable; a joy there is no telling; a clear, purling, crystal stream that gurgles and foams and bubbles along over sunlit stones; "a wonder, a world's delight!"
And there is not a sign of effort, of difficulty overcome. All through, Trilby smiles her broad, angelic smile; her lips well parted, her big white teeth glistening as she gently jerks her head from side to side in time to Svengali's bâton, as if to shake the willing notes out quicker and higher and shriller.... ”

“ It comes straight through the heart; it has its roots in the stomach, and blossoms into music on the lips like the voice of Madame Alboni—voce sulle labbre! It is good production—c'est un cri du cœur!"
Trilby blushed with pride and pleasure.
"Yes, matemoiselle! I only know one person in the whole world who can produce the voice so well as you! ”

“ There is no high seriousness in most of them. And our triplex form came sliding into music on a burst of youth. A star danced and it was born.
What gave definite shape to this fundamentally simple form is the Italian love of melody. So far as it may be traced to the influence of one man, it may be traced to Giovanni Pergolesi, whose trio-sonatas first gave to the world as a prototype of the classical triplex form what is now known as the ‘singing allegro.’ Pergolesi was born in 1704 and lived to be only thirty-three years old ”

“ II It is a common custom to refer to the usual complication between one man and two ladies, or one lady and two men, or a lady and a man and a nobleman, or—well, any of those problems—as the triangle. But they are never unqualified triangles. They are always isosceles—never equilateral. So, upon the coming of Nevada Warren, she and Gilbert and Barbara Ross lined up into such a figurative triangle; and of that triangle Barbara formed the hypotenuse. ”

“ A representative recent work is the 'Trio in D Major' (opus 56) , for violin, violoncello, and piano, of which the leading characteristics are melodic spontaneity and freshness of musical impulse. Everywhere are buoyancy, directness of expression, motion, but little of thematic involution or harmonic or formal sophistication. It is the trio of a lyrist; from the standpoint of modern chamber music it might be called naïve, but the strength, sincerity and beauty of its melodies claim, and sometimes compel, one's attention. ”

“ If you could get hold of the right conductor, I fancy you’d do a precious deal better by playing second fiddle, or even by striking a note on a triangle every now and then, than by rattling off the best tune ever invented on your own.”
“My dear man,” cried Corin eagerly, “your theory is sound enough in a way; but if a man really lives to the highest in him, he’ll merely strike notes on a triangle if that’s his job.” ”

“ Even the words descant and treble go back to their time; for the jongleurs, singing their masters' songs, would not all follow the same melody; one of them would seek to embellish it and sing something quite different that still would fit well with the original melody, just as nowadays, in small amateur bands we often hear a flute player adding embellishing notes to his part. Soon, more than one singer added to his part, and the new voice was called the triple, third, or treble voice. ”

“ The triangle, suspended by a loop, is played by means of a steel stick with a wooden handle. Varied rhythmical effects and different grades of forte and piano can be obtained. A sort of tremolo or roll can be produced by striking each end of the triangle alternately in rapid succession. When the triangle is scored for on a separate staff, the treble clef is used, but it is more often included with the bass drum on the bass stave. The tone of the triangle is clear and ringing, but it should have no definite pitch. The small triangles are the best. ”

“ The triads in the minor scale are as follows:
[Listen]
199. A triad is said to be in fundamental position when its root is the lowest tone. It is said to be in the first inversion when the third is the lowest tone, and in the second inversion when the fifth is the lowest tone. Thus e.g., in Fig. 66 the same chord (C—E—G) is arranged in three different positions, at (a) in fundamental position, at (b) in the first inversion, and at (c) in the second inversion.
[Listen]
200. ”

“ She is now! But she had no more idea of singing than I have of winning a steeple-chase at the croix de Berny. She could no more sing than a fiddle can play itself! She could never tell one tune from another—one note from the next. Do you remember how she tried to sing 'Ben Bolt' that day when she first came to the studio in the Place St. Anatole des Arts? It was droll, hein? à se boucher les oreilles! Well, that was Trilby, your Trilby! that was my Trilby too—and I loved her as one loves an only love, an only sister, an only child—a gentle martyr on earth, a blessed saint in heaven! ”

“ The trippet is then placed upon the sloping side of the boulder, with the point overhanging; and the player, having provided himself with a long, flexible, heavy-headed club, gently taps the trippet so as to make it rise from the stone. As it falls, he strikes the trippet with all his might, and the player who drives it the greatest number of yards in a certain number of strokes wins the game. ”

“ I have not slain a single man of your troop. I have no arms, and carry nothing but this one brass trumpet." "That is the very reason for which you should be put to death," they said; "for, while you do not fight yourself, your trumpet stirs up all the others to battle." ”

“ The Scherzo in E flat minor, from the point where the triangle begins, I employed for the effect of contrast.
[a score appears here] As regards the triangle I do not deny that it may give offence, especially if struck too strong and not precisely. A preconceived disinclination and objection to instruments of percussion prevails, somewhat justified by the frequent misuse of them. ”

“ Sometimes the latter half of the score, including the second triad of long notes, is repeated before the soloist stops to take breath. It will be seen that the regular song consists of four distinct phrases, two triads and two trills. About one-third of the songs are opened in a little lower key than the rest, the remainder being correspondingly mellowed. The opening syllables, and, indeed, some other parts of the melody as well, are very like certain strains of the song-sparrow, both in execution and in quality of tone; and thus even the experienced ornithologist may sometimes be led astray. ”

“ And the wife stares at the old man, and then at the blond organist. And the blond organist stares at the mother of his beautiful children, and then at the bearded interloper. And they all stare at each other and feel very embarrassed.
The story is familiar to you? Well, perhaps so. It is the story of the eternal triangle, the most useful [82] pattern of geometrical forms in the construction of a romantic pattern.
Heigho! the trouble with human triangles is that they are never equilateral. Two sides together are invariably greater than the third side. ”

“ In this world heer, and cause of armonye.” [19]
Only in unusual circumstances can the music of the spheres be heard by mortal ears. In the lines just quoted the celestial melody is heard during a dream or vision. In Troilus and Criseyde, after Troilus’ death his spirit is borne aloft to heaven whence he beholds the celestial orbs and hears the melody sent forth as they revolve:
[Pg 17] “And ther he saugh, with ful avysement,
The erratik sterres, herkeninge armonye
With sownes fulle of hevenish melodye.” [20]
3. ”

“ Then she rose, and showed them how to drink healths a la Francaise; and keen were her little admirers to touch her glass with theirs. And the pure wine she had brought did Mrs. Triplet much good, too; though not so much as the music and sunshine of her face and voice. Then, when their stomachs were full of good food, and the soul of the grape tingled in their veins, and their souls glowed under her great magnetic power, she suddenly seized the fiddle, and showed them another of her enchantments. ”

“ MRS. T. Ay do, husband! that often helps you in your writing. (Triplet plays a merry tune dolefully.)
TRIP. It won’t do, music must be in the heart, or it will never come out of the fingers (puts fiddle down—boy takes it and puts it in the cradle) . No! let us be serious and finish the comedy—perhaps it hitches because I forgot to invoke Thalia—the Muse of Comedy, Mrs. Triplet; she must be a black-hearted jade if she won’t lend a broad grin [Pg 42] to a poor devil starving in the middle of his hungry little ones. ”

“ The instrument of the Trigonon species was held horizontally, and was twanged with a rather long plectrum slightly bent at the end at which it was held by the performer. It is of frequent occurrence on the bas-reliefs. A number of them appear to have been generally played together. At any rate, we find almost invariably on the monuments two together, evidently implying “more than one,” “a number.” The left hand of the performer seems to have been occupied in checking the vibration of the strings when its discontinuance was required. ”

“ Snarl and Soaper conducted the criticism of their day with credit and respectability until a good old age, and died placidly a natural death, like twaddle, sweet or sour.
The Triplets, while their patroness lived, did pretty well. She got a tragedy of his accepted at her theater. She made him send her a copy, and with her scissors cut out about half; sometimes thinning, sometimes cutting bodily away. But, lo! the inherent vanity of Mr. Triplet came out strong. Submissively, but obstinately, he fought for the discarded beauties. ”