# who wrote the most original melodies?



## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Hi all, hope that someone could help me. I have a soft spot for twisted and sophisticated and at the same time clear melodies and when i think of original melodic ideas with unexpected turns i think of jazz and some composer of the american songbook. 
Stuff like that:























http://www.jeffcrompton.com/JazzWaltzforaFriend.mp3
http://www.divshare.com/download/12421195-a26

Now, i'm a relatively newcomer for what concerns classical music, so i don't know what to listen, and i'd really like some suggestion. I've read that William Lawes has done music with "strange" melodies, but i'd like to hear something more modern (possibly of the last century). Thank you in advance (and sorry for my english)


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

Arnold Schoenberg.


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## Argus (Oct 16, 2009)

A lot of this will depend on how inclusive or exclusive your definition of melody is.

I'd look into any composer with the tag 'avant-garde' or 'experimental'. The early serialists were definitely original but I'm not sure how original they'll sound with modern ears. The post-WW2 period is full of strange melodies as well as strange everything else musical.

Anyway some names: Babbitt, Xenakis, Ligeti, Messiaen, Carter, Nono, Boulez, Schaeffer, Monk, Cage, Feldman, Stockhausen, Schoenberg, Webern, Berg, Stravinsky, Ligeti, Penderecki, Partch, Scelsi, Ferneyhough, Jeck, Ives, Ferrari, Wolff, Tenney, Schnittke, Bartok, Lucier, Radigue, Ussachevsky, Riley, Berio, Varese, and I think I'll stop there.

These are most of the composers who I can vouch for and say there is some very original and interesting melodic ideas going on in their music. A problem is that whilst some of these are original compared to what came immediately before, they can occasionally sound similar to each other, especially the total serialists. 

Seeing as your quite new to classical I'd recommend starting with Bartok and Stravinsky's orchestral works, Ligeti and Messiaen's chamber works and the electronic music of Xenakis.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Aramis said:


> Arnold Schoenberg.


is the moment of the wisecrack reply really inevitable?


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

norman bates said:


> [...]
> Now, i'm a relatively newcomer for what concerns classical music, so i don't know what to listen, and i'd really like some suggestion. I've read that William Lawes has done music with "strange" melodies, but i'd like to hear something more modern (possibly of the last century). Thank you in advance (and sorry for my english)


"the most original melodies" can be parsed as seeking either a quantitative or a qualitative response. 

An excellent source for both number and quality/originality is Prokofieff, even though some folks have difficulty recognizing many of the melodies as melodies.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Argus said:


> A lot of this will depend on how inclusive or exclusive your definition of melody is.
> 
> I'd look into any composer with the tag 'avant-garde' or 'experimental'. The early serialists were definitely original but I'm not sure how original they'll sound with modern ears. The post-WW2 period is full of strange melodies as well as strange everything else musical.
> 
> ...


well, i've listened to some works of many composers you have mentioned, but i don't think that serial or twelve tone music is really what i'm looking for (babbitt, schoenberg, webern, boulez etc: no). Monk of course, but it's a jazz musician (and i've linked one of his pieces). Messiaen, Stravinsky, Bartok and Ives maybe, but they are musicians that i think in particular when i think of harmony more than melody. Of course the two things are connected but you can use a lot of impressionistic harmony without a memorable melody, i don't know if is clear what i'm saying. I absolutely love composers like Ligeti and Scelsi but onestly the melody in their music is the least interesting thing and even less for radigue, tenney, riley and others (how can you consider la trilogie de la mort as a melodic piece?)
Try to listen the examples


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Schubert and Puccini.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Art Rock said:


> Schubert and Puccini.


great melodists, but at least for schubert for what i've listened (winterreise, the string quartets, a piano sonata and few other things) i don't feel that sense of unexpected that i'm searching for. I don't know, can you make me some examples?


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## Argus (Oct 16, 2009)

norman bates said:


> Monk of course, but it's a jazz musician (and i've linked one of his pieces).


Meredith, not Thelonious.



> I absolutely love composers like Ligeti and Scelsi but onestly the melody in their music is the least interesting thing


Nothing more original than Quattro Pezzi su una nota sola.:tiphat:

I was focussing on the 'original' part of the OP, but thinking about it Bartok was greatly influenced by folk melodies. I wasn't naming great melodists, like Schubert or Gershwin, but guys who I thought did something a bit different. My definition of melody is the inclusive one. Sounds through time (horizontally) as opposed to harmony which is sounds through space (vertically), but there is overlap between the two as both are dependent on each other.

Your opening post gave me the impression that you were a newcomer to classical music but you clearly know more than most.:trp:

A few I forgot: Nancarrow, Zorn, Ashley, Branca and Palestine. I'll remember more as soon as I press the reply button. Maybe Liszt and Alkan.


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## SuperTonic (Jun 3, 2010)

I've always thought that Prokofiev was an underrated melodist (is that a word?).

One of my favorite all time melodies is from the slow movement of his 5th Symphony. There are some nice melodies in Lieutanant Kije as well, particularly the Romance.


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## mueske (Jan 14, 2009)

I think Scriabin has a very unique voice when it comes to melodies, both in his early more romantic period as in his later period.

And to me personally, Medtner. Seems like a strange answer, but there's just something about his melodies that seems different, which is possibly why I like his music so much. A really enjoy the third movement of his first violin sonata because of a theme he uses throughout, maybe check it out?

Though Medtner doesn't really fall into the modern category though.


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## Guest (Aug 31, 2010)

My dad got me a CD of Medtner's piano concerti and I wasn't that impressed. But as far as 'original' melodists go, I would probably give my vote to Prokofiev.


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## mueske (Jan 14, 2009)

Jeff N said:


> My dad got me a CD of Medtner's piano concerti and I wasn't that impressed. But as far as 'original' melodists go, I would probably give my vote to Prokofiev.


I love his second concerto, the intensity of the first movement never fails to captivate me.  Try his piano sonati, a whole different world.


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## djmomo17 (Aug 12, 2010)

To add to the above: Kurt Weill, maybe early Copland, Bernstein. I say these because your samples are jazz-based. For bizarre melodies I would say Rite of Spring is pretty great.

Beethoven Opus 111, 2nd movement has a swing backbeat too in case you're interested.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

If you are looking for complicated meandering melodies, try Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No 2, especially the 3rd movement, parts of which I believe were made into a pop song in the 1940's or 50's.


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## Meaghan (Jul 31, 2010)

Benjamin Britten's operas contain lots of unpredictable and unconventionally beautiful melodies and are pretty eclectic. There are some very accessible ones and others that dabble in atonality, but they all showcase Britten's gift (IMO) for writing captivating vocal lines.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

SuperTonic said:


> I've always thought that Prokofiev was an underrated melodist (is that a word?).
> 
> One of my favorite all time melodies is from the slow movement of his 5th Symphony. There are some nice melodies in Lieutanant Kije as well, particularly the Romance.


I second that! And melodist is a word. 

Prokofiev made some of the most ingenious melodies to fit any character or emotion. What really makes him special is his huge range of emotions: joy, mania, rage, grief, calm, everything. Truly original, no one compares exactly. Some examples are the themes that go in and out for the ideas/characters in Romeo & Juliet, and Cinderella.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

Janacek's music is filled with fascinating,quirky melodies based on Czech(specifically Moravian) folk music and the speach cadences of the Czech language. 
Some years ago I saw a Czech film. The interesting thing was that it sounded like Janacek without music ! I was struck by how well this unique composer captures the speech rhthms and melodic contours of the Czech language.


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## Webernite (Sep 4, 2010)

I agree. Among well-known composers, Prokofiev stands out as the most original melodist.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

superhorn said:


> Janacek's music is filled with fascinating,quirky melodies based on Czech(specifically Moravian) folk music and the speach cadences of the Czech language.
> Some years ago I saw a Czech film. The interesting thing was that it sounded like Janacek without music ! I was struck by how well this unique composer captures the speech rhthms and melodic contours of the Czech language.


Excellent comments; the string quartets contain many unusual (and effective) melodic lines. If fact, if anyone reading this hasn't heard them, they oughta. They remind me, possibly for no good reason, of some of the more emotion-loaded sextet recordings of Schoenberg's 'Transfigured Night'; only the Janacek is better made. If Schoenberg had stayed tonal, he could have been somebody.


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## vamos (Oct 9, 2009)

wow. i think we have much in common, op. i believe you would enjoy my music very much. these are the same kinds of melodies that i obsess over.

my favorite melodies are written by jazz folk like andrew hill, dolphy, thelonious, davis, and other more "alien" sounding works

my favorite classical melodies are in pieces by


schoenberg
webern
satie
scriabin
ravel


all essential in adding up the full picture


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## vamos (Oct 9, 2009)

Argus said:


> A lot of this will depend on how inclusive or exclusive your definition of melody is.
> 
> I'd look into any composer with the tag 'avant-garde' or 'experimental'. The early serialists were definitely original but I'm not sure how original they'll sound with modern ears. The post-WW2 period is full of strange melodies as well as strange everything else musical.
> 
> ...


i'm going to listen to all these names now

i forgot to mention some from yours that i especially like.

cage, partch, ligeti, messiaen


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## vamos (Oct 9, 2009)

i think prokofiev will become an obsession for me very quickly


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