Another strong link between the 2 pieces is the phrase lengths in the first half of both pieces. “Some Enchanted Evening” is a very short show tune with only 45 bars in total. Some versions may have the first 16 bars repeated but with different lyrics. The general structure can be broken down into 4 sections. Bars 1-16 is the chorus, it is the main melody of the show tune in which Emile to express his love for Nellie, then it is followed by 6 bars of a transitional verse with both Nellie ad Emile singing. Bars 23 – 38 is the repetition of chorus with an ascending finish. Bars 39 -45 is the coda is the piece, sang by both Emile and Nellie, concluding the piece. The melody is similar to the transitional verse. Moving on the phrase lengths of the show tune, they are grouped into 3 types 0f short (S), medium (M) and long (L). It has a pattern of SSSSMLSL from the chorus and verse (bars 1-22). Similarly, “The Fragrant Death” shares the same pattern for bars 4 -14 of the piece. The lack of regular phrases here makes it difficult to summarize but the 3 sections emerge, which is typical of Cantonese Opera songs. Bars 1-13 as the first section, bars 13-31 as the second section and bars 32-44 as the last section, it is color-coded in the following table – green as the first section, purple as the second section and brown as the third section. The male and female vocal parts alternate very often. The whole piece consists of 44 bars.

The following table helps to distinguish the patterns from the irregular structure of “The Fragrant Death”.

Table #1: Vocal parts of “The Fragrant Death”

Bars	Male	Female	Unison
Introduction (1-3)
4-11		✔
11-14	✔
14-17		✔
17-20	✔
20-27		✔
28-31	✔
32-34		✔
34-36	✔
37		✔
38	✔
39		✔
40	✔
40-41		✔
41	✔
41-42			✔✔
42	✔
43		✔
43-44			✔✔

The phrase lengths in the second and third sections (after bar 14) of “The Fragrant Death” decrease significantly, compared to the first section, due to the alternating male and female parts. It is also possibly equates to the importance of the lyrics, as it is a tragic ending. The short phrase lengths heighten the tension of the piece and contribute towards the climatic conclusion. Both of these sections are vocal parts with a melody instead of a monotone dialogue-based part of the song. The short phrase lengths normally consist of 4 to 8 beats. The medium phrase lengths consist of 9 to 12 beats and the long phrase lengths consist of 13 to 17 beats. Therefore, this is another strong musical link between the 2 pieces.