=The Value of Imitation=.—We must understand, however, that mere Imitation is in itself not a remarkable phenomenon. We imitate, more or less unconsciously, in all arts, and even in our daily habits; but this would be of no lasting importance did we not take that imitation as a foundation for future development, as did the composers of this school. And in these polyphonic schools the imitation was unintentional, as a definite aid to the structure of a musical idea, until it was seen that the _imitation_ must be _confined_ to _one definite idea_ or melody. It was then that the original treatment of melodic development began, and the various devices for developing a melody, without changing its organic structure, inaugurated. This marked the beginning of a school of musical art, a school of definite, and not chance evolution; or in other words, arrangement and development of the earlier acquired ideas. =A Technical Principle=.—A little consideration will show how the principle of Imitation was developed. The first step was to imitate a melody at a lower or higher pitch and sing the two or more versions _simultaneously_; the next step was to bring in the second and other imitating voices _successively_, at the same or different pitch; thus making the imitation more prominent. So long as composers confined their efforts to using fixed melodies, they could not go far. When they began to adapt well-known melodies and later to invent their own it became possible to make a lengthy work, this leading to a composition in which each of the accompanying voices imitated the first; sometimes only two voices used imitation, the other having a somewhat free part. A next step was to _vary_ the _imitation_, by changing the motion of the imitating part; if the melody moved up, the imitating part moved downward and _vice versa_; sometimes the movement was reversed, the imitation beginning with the last note of the phrase and proceeding to the first; sometimes it was made in notes of smaller value (diminution), sometimes in larger (augmentation). These and other devices were experimented with and worked out by the Gallo-Belgic composers. One readily sees that this is _intellectual_ work, that it puts a premium on cleverness and lays expression aside. Yet the technic of an art must first be acquired and the composers of this period were doing this in working out a system of technic in composition with Imitation as the foundation. [Music] Illustration from Naumann, “History of Music,” page 321, Vol. I, showing at 1 and 2 the principal melody and its imitation, and at 3, imitation and inversion. The student should examine the entire example in Naumann.