Melisma (the writing of a number of notes to one syllable) is a fundamental element in Howells's compositional style. We will examine its varied use, his motivation for using it, and its effectiveness. Saint Augustine famously wrote of singing without words as expressing feelings too deep for words. He was referring to the ecstasy of, for instance, a melismatic ‘Alleluia’ sung to Gregorian chant where the word is suspended mid-syllable and pure melody takes over. This is something Howells understood instinctively and often emulated. Melisma is a very common compositional tool and it may seem odd to focus on such a well-used feature in this chapter, but if the contrast is made with the word setting of Gerald Finzi (1901–56), a direct contemporary of Howells and another distinguished song-writer, it may help to clarify Howells's approach to word setting in general. Melismas have been divided into two types that set them apart from purely syllabic setting. These indicate scale: ‘neumatic’ having only a few notes to the syllable and ‘melismatic’ being a longer flourish.

Finzi consciously avoided melismas. It is hard to find a single example in either his choral music or his entire output of songs. The two exceptions are the word ‘weep’ at the end of ‘Come Away, Death’ from Let Us Garlands Bring and the famous eight-part contrapuntal ‘Amen’ in Lo, the Full Final Sacrifice. Apart from these there is just one single pairing of two notes (neumatic) hidden away in the middle of eighteen minutes of expansive, rhapsodic music in this much loved anthem.