Final answer:
A melody should align with the mood, time signature, and author's intention, as it greatly influences the emotion and narrative perception in musical compositions, including film soundtracks and poetry.
Step-by-step explanation:
A melody should align with various aspects of a musical composition including the time signature, the mood it conveys, and the author's intention. A great example to illustrate how melody affects perception can be seen in film soundtracks. When a soundtrack contains slow and mournful notes in a minor key, it can indicate that the protagonist is in danger. Conversely, if the notes are high, bright, and the melody bouncy, it suggests a happy moment. This shows the importance of rhythm and melody fitting not just the physical structure of the piece, like the time signature, but also its emotional content and narrative purpose.
The harmony of a song ties the rhythm and melody together, enhancing the emotional connection and often reinforcing the underlying message or theme of the piece. As Michael Tilson Thomas suggests, music has evolved through time, and with it, the profound relationship between music and our emotional responses. In poetry, as Ezra Pound notes, rhythm must have meaning and is crucial in conveying the emotional weight and thematic elements of the text, as seen in examples ranging from Tennyson's "The Charge of the Light Brigade" to free verse poems like Pound's "In a Station of the Metro".