Melody is the Breath of Music

A few years ago, I was taking a Yoga class.  The teacher, Elizabeth, asked the class, "When we spend 90 minutes in a class, flowing from one Yoga pose to the next, do you know what ties all those poses together?  Your breath.  You can pay attention to how each stretch feels, concentrate on your form, make adjustments to your position, but the whole experience won't feel connected unless you are aware of your breath.  Awareness of the breath is the thread that links all your poses."

I'm re-reading What to Listen for in Music, by Aaron Copland.  Early in the book, he urges the reader--if they do nothing else when listening to a piece--to listen to and follow the melody.  I'm paraphrasing somewhat, but Copland writes, "The thing that takes the place of a story in music is the melody.  The melody guides the listener.  If you can't follow the melody, you are just vaguely being aware of the music."

This tells me that melody is to music what breath is to yoga.  Awareness of melody is the thread that connects everything I experience when listening to a piece of music so that the entire piece becomes a "story".