# The Most Beautiful Melody in the World



## Xavier

An interesting article by Jan Swafford:

_In other words, a succession of notes that sounds to you like a tune is a tune. As goofy as that is, I can't think of anything better, because we're dealing with an exquisitely subjective and mysterious phenomenon, one universal yet elusive, like love and God and other enigmas. You know it when you hear it-according to how you've been conditioned by your culture and experience to hear it._

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/...is_it_gershwin_brahms_the_beatles.single.html


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## GreenMamba

I read this the other day and thought it was good. It's not really about finding the most beautiful melody, but more a rumination on melody and music. I've always thought Swafford writes well.

_"Mack the Knife," was a hit in the '50s for Bobby Darin. I'm kind of flummoxed by my own affection for this song, because there's practically nothing to it: two simple little phrases mainly designed to project a long and nasty lyric. My favorite version of it is the scraggly and vital rendition, with equally scraggly pit band, by Lotte Lenya, Weill's wife, for whom the song was written. The words are a narrative of rapine and murder, set with bitter irony to a sweet pop tune-that being Brecht and Weill in a nutshell._


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## Couchie

I always thought it was the opening to Tchaikovsky's 1st Piano Concerto. So good. _Too _good in fact - the rest of the concerto can't help but be one big anticlimax.


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## DavidA

Most tunes by Mozart - the ultimate tunesmith.


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## Aries

Some ideas:
- Wagner: Rienzi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC87_tX9738#t=0m3s
- Wagner: Götterdämmerung: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTvmDq65REw#t=3m57s
- Wagner: Tannhäuser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHqr-mszLIs#t=0m33s
- Rimski-Korsakov: Scheherazade: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQNymNaTr-Y#t=1m01s
- Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 Adagio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krsFA53ZlhM#t=31m44s
- Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 Adagio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBT4WrJl85M#t=2m46s
- Bruckner: Symphony No. 6 Adagio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4Jh2mvLass#t=2m27s
- Tschaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 Adagio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAotb3P4VPg#t=20m19s
- Furtwängler: Symphony No. 2 Finale: 



- Beethoven: Symphony No. 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0_yQQN54Gg#t=0m13s
- Puccini: Turandot: Nessun Dorma: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0Sx5lbVlQA#t=2m17s
- Holst: The Planets: Jupiter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz0b4STz1lo#t=2m54s
- Grieg: Peer Gynt Suite No. 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2gDFJWhXp8#t=28m19s


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## drpraetorus

Every time I think I have heard the most beautiful melody ever, I hear a new one. I like the list in the preceding post. I would add a few, if I may. 
Faure, Pavan (you gotta have the chorus for that to really work)
Leoncavallo, Vesti la giuba from Pagliacci
Tchaikovsky Andante Cantabile from the string quartet. Andante Cantabile from Sym #5, Pretty much every melody from Sym#6, Romeo and Juliet theme, Main theme (opening theme of Act 2) Swan Lake, 
Dowland, Flow my Tears.
Bach, Komm Susser Tod, Air from the third orchestral suite
Irish folk songs Carrickfergus, Aileen Aroon, The Dear Irish Boy, Oro ma Bhaidin
Welsh folk songs All through the Night (Ar Hyd y Nos), Myfanwy, Mountain Stream (Nant y Mynydd), National Anthem
American folk songs Shennendoah, Deep River, I am a Poor, Wayfaring Stranger
Foster, Beautiful Dreamer
Schubert, second theme from Mvt 1, Unfinished Symphony
Beethoven, 7th Sym, mvt 2
Wagner, Tristan und Isolde Prelude and Liebestod (you gotta have the vocal in that too), Prelude to Parsifal
Mozart, Lacrimosa from Requiem, Clarinet concerto 2nd Mvt, 
Moody Blues, Knights in White Satin
Sacred Harp, Evening Shade
Simon and Garfunkle, Bridge over Troubled Waters.

Well, that should suffice for the nonce.


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## PetrB

Xavier said:


> An interesting article by Jan Swafford:
> 
> _In other words, a succession of notes that sounds to you like a tune is a tune._


I'll be the pedant purist in this thread. With that above description / definition, I immediately think of _a completely unaccompanied line_, and nothing else. Barring Gregorian chants, there are very few unaccompanied lines in classical music.

No matter how strongly the melodic comes at you, if it has the minimum accompaniment, it is no longer "just the melody" that has gotten to you.

... point weakened to a point of disinterest.


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## Ingélou

Different tunes haunt me at different times. But currently:

Classical music - something by Lully; maybe the second Air des Espagnoles from the suite for Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme; or his Loure pour les Pecheurs.

Other - this one's easy; the strathspey 'Struan Robertson's Rant', from the country of my Scots-side ancestry. It's in my bones.


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## Pastoral

Once I listened to Beethoven String quartet in F major Op. 59 No. 1 3rd movement Adagio molto e mesto repeatedly for about one month, thinking Beethoven was exceptionally generous in allowing us to indulge in a beautiful tune for a longer duration. Usually, I feel he doesn't linger on beautiful tunes long enough.

If anyone is interested, try playing the 3rd movement of Appassionata Sonata very slowly. It takes away all the rage and frenzy, and becomes simply the most beautiful lament. Not that I want it that way all the time.


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## Jobis

This is my current favourite melody






J C Bach 

Also this


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## Musician

The most beautiful melody in the world is the one that you discover within yourself.


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## PetrB

drpraetorus said:


> Every time I think I have heard the most beautiful melody ever, I hear a new one. I like the list in the preceding post. I would add a few, if I may.
> Faure, Pavan (you gotta have the chorus for that to really work)


The chorus in the Faure Pavane is a gratuitous after the fact add-on, some patron requesting it be performed with a choir and text... Gaby had to eat, like everyone else.


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## drpraetorus

While that is true, the chorus takes a beautiful piece and raises it to something metaphysically wondrous. Of course, that's just my humble opinion. 

Patrons can be of great use to composers with their sometimes odd requests. There is, of course, Mozarts Man in Grey, but even Beethoven, bowing to a patrons request created something he would not otherwise had. One patron wanted something very loud from Beethoven. From that request came the 5th Symphony with it's addition of trombones, just for more noise.


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## HaydnBearstheClock

Tchaikovsky's 'Pas de Deux' from the Nutcracker Suite?


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## Couchie

PetrB said:


> The chorus in the Faure Pavane is a gratuitous after the fact add-on, some patron requesting it be performed with a choir and text... Gaby had to eat, like everyone else.


And the Brandenburg Concertos were a job application, and the Mass in B Minor was more or less thrown together from old cantata material at the last minute to heap on his legacy. Your point?


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## DavidA

Couchie said:


> And the Brandenburg Concertos were a job application, and the Mass in B Minor was more or less thrown together from old cantata material at the last minute to heap on his legacy. Your point?


Yes! The greatness of the music depends on the genius who wrote it not the situation in which it was written


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## PetrB

Couchie said:


> And the Brandenburg Concertos were a job application, and the Mass in B Minor was more or less thrown together from old cantata material at the last minute to heap on his legacy. Your point?


Hey, sometimes the most immaculate of craftsman cannot hide, in the job done, their lack of interest or distaste in it. The Faure added sentimental chorus with not so great poetry I believe is one of those rather obvious cases of just that.

Other times, you take the job _because if you don't, what was requested done will be done but not be done by the composer_: the composer will not only lose control, but miss payment... so it is a matter of acquiescence, not complaisance.


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## david johnson

...much beauty in this one


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## Tristan

I don't know about in the world, but I am absolutely addicted to the first 4 minutes or so of the first movement of Paganini's 3rd violin concerto (before the violin comes in). It sounds like something out of bel canto opera. But maybe the reason the melody has been on my mind like no other is because it's really annoying


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## Skilmarilion

drpraetorus said:


> Tchaikovsky Andante Cantabile from the string quartet. Andante Cantabile from Sym #5, Pretty much every melody from Sym#6, Romeo and Juliet theme, Main theme (opening theme of Act 2) Swan Lake


The man was a melodic genius, no doubt. I don't know where a list of beautiful Tchaikovsky melodies would end.

Just a few more from some 'big' works:

Sym #1, mvmts. 2 + 3
Sym #3, mvmt 2 + 4
Sym #4, adagio
Piano concerto 1, essentially every melodic line 
Piano concerto 2, andante for piano trio
Piano concerto 3, opening theme
Violin concerto, especially mvmts. 1 + 2
Nutcracker suite, "Waltz of the flowers" + "Pas de deux"
Sleeping beauty, "Waltz"


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## themysticcaveman

at the moment for me its Denn Alles Fleisch, Brahms requiem, and then that crescendo with the timps, and then bam tutti and choir come in at a forte, damn gets me going, but yes that violin melody is to die for


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## GiulioCesare

It is a crime that Händel hasn't been mentioned in a thread about beautiful melodies.


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## Cheyenne

GiulioCesare said:


> It is a crime that Händel hasn't been mentioned in a thread about beautiful melodies.


Indeed.. First one I can think of: concerti grossi op.6 number 2, movement 1. 
I don't particularly like Tchaikovksy's melodies - too sweet, perhaps. My favorite tune-smiths are Haydn, Corelli, Mozart and Brahms. My favorite (for quite some time now): 



 (If it doesn't work: 6:48). Unfortunately, it's the initial appearance is not even 15 seconds long, and it is only repeated once! (The added orchestration there makes it for me the most beautiful moment in the symphony.) Amidst my other favorites is, strangely enough, the Sacrifical Dance from _The Rite of Spring_.. It always pops into my head!


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## eighthundredfortynine

Theres a nice melodie in here (not going to the great, greater, greatest place):
edit: the timestamp link doesn´t seem to work. Jump to 13m28s.


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## brianvds

Couchie said:


> I always thought it was the opening to Tchaikovsky's 1st Piano Concerto. So good. _Too _good in fact - the rest of the concerto can't help but be one big anticlimax.


For me, something similar happens in the last movement of Saint-Saens' Organ symphony: such a glorious melody could have withstood a few repeats through the movement, and then he robs us of it.

Not sure whether Borodin has been mentioned on this thread yet: surely came up with some of the most ravishing melodies ever. Almost intoxicating stuff here and there. 

Seems to me one should also mention folk music. Folk music melodies become so popular precisely because they are memorable. Greensleeves comes to mind. Some time ago I discovered a bloke named Arany Zoltan on YouTube: he plays a lot of medieval and folk music from all over the world, and much of it is quite thoroughly seductive.

Hey, wait a minute, why hasn't anyone mentioned Schoenberg yet!? Surely one of the most inventive melodists of our age! :angel:


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## drpraetorus

PetrB said:


> Hey, sometimes the most immaculate of craftsman cannot hide, in the job done, their lack of interest or distaste in it. The Faure added sentimental chorus with not so great poetry I believe is one of those rather obvious cases of just that.
> 
> Other times, you take the job _because if you don't, what was requested done will be done but not be done by the composer_: the composer will not only lose control, but miss payment... so it is a matter of acquiescence, not complaisance.


You're right about the poetry being not of the best quality. And their is obviously nothing wrong with making a bit of money with ones art. however, I doubt if Faure, or any other composer, would consent to altering his or her music if it would damage it. On second thought, Hollywood composers do it all the time. That aside, I just can't hear the Pavanne without hearing the chorus. The addition of the human voice adds the ineffable, where it fits, as it does in this case. Regarding the text, a wordless chorus would be even better. Less concrete more haunting.


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## PetrB

drpraetorus said:


> You're right about the poetry being not of the best quality. And their is obviously nothing wrong with making a bit of money with ones art. however, I doubt if Faure, or any other composer, would consent to altering his or her music if it would damage it. On second thought, Hollywood composers do it all the time. That aside, I just can't hear the Pavanne without hearing the chorus. The addition of the human voice adds the ineffable, where it fits, as it does in this case. Regarding the text, a wordless chorus would be even better. Less concrete more haunting.


I have nothing against the human voice, use of chorus with instruments, etc. That includes the instant quality of its being a human voice, even without text, and that does have the 'hook' you cited -- on almost all of us: it usually gets me.

But for the Faure Pavane, for me, the instrumental piece is perfect, the one with the choral arrangement just strikes me as sentimentally hokey / corny -- hokey / corny being the flip side of use of chorus / voice if one is not careful..


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## SiegendesLicht

BWV 639 "Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ" is one of the most beautiful I can think of.


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## Weston

I'm afraid Swafford lost me with his link to _Wildwood Flower_.


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## aleazk

Ravel wrote very beautiful melodies:

-Ma Mère l'Oye - VII. Petit Poucet: 




-Le Tombeau de Couperin - III. Menuet: 




And what about Ligeti : 



, 



 (more a motif, but catchy)


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## Mahlerian

brianvds said:


> Hey, wait a minute, why hasn't anyone mentioned Schoenberg yet!? Surely one of the most inventive melodists of our age! :angel:


I can call dozens of distinct melodies from Schoenberg to mind in an instant. If I try to do the same with, say, Philip Glass, I run them into each other instead...and I'm dead serious.


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## brianvds

Mahlerian said:


> I can call dozens of distinct melodies from Schoenberg to mind in an instant. If I try to do the same with, say, Philip Glass, I run them into each other instead...and I'm dead serious.


I confess that I actually do not know Schoenberg's work well, but he does not strike me as primarily a melodist.

Neither does Glass, for that matter. I like his music in more or less exactly the same way I like New Age music: very relaxing and attractive; not necessarily particularly "deep."


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## CypressWillow

I think the melody in the first of the Trois Nouvelles Etudes is gorgeous (performed here by Arthur, not Idil):






And the opening and closing melody here, especially as performed by the soprano for whom it was written. When Bidu goes from the penultimate to the last note I could swoon:






And here JCB tosses off a lovely little ditty that can bring me to tears unless I'm very, very stern with myself:






...and the list goes on...


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## elysimonoff

Without question the evaluation of what is beautiful in music must be filtered though the necessarily subjective soul of the listener, nevertheless I believe that the slow movement of Mozart’s A major Clarinet Concerto would rank among the most sublimely beautiful pieces of music ever written.


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## Mahlerian

brianvds said:


> I confess that I actually do not know Schoenberg's work well, but he does not strike me as primarily a melodist.


You're right, in the sense that his music is primarily contrapuntal and motivic rather than melodic. That doesn't mean that the melodies are not memorable, though. Think of Bach or Beethoven, both of whom concentrated on the motivic and contrapuntal as well. Schoenberg had a very distinctive voice as a composer, and that extends to his melodic material as well as harmonic.


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## Forte

I've been hooked on the melody from Chopin's Op. 10 No. 3 for a while now, it's so beautiful :angel:


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## CypressWillow

And this, which I fell in love with whilst watching "Madame Sousatzka" - that Shirley can really tickle the ivories, eh?
I liked the film a lot, too.


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## schuberkovich

At 1:51 has to be a contender


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## Llyranor

Elgar's 1st Symphony. This part kills me everytime.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Am4gJYezMeI#t=6m16 until around 7:23



Aries said:


> - Holst: The Planets: Jupiter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz0b4STz1lo#t=2m54s


Yup, one of my favorites too.


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## DeepR

Scriabin - Piano Concerto - Andante.

When it returns at 7:25 is what gets me everytime.


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## LordBlackudder




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## neoshredder

Pachelbel - Canon
Corelli - Christmas Concerto
Bach - Air
Mozart - Piano Concerto 23 second movement
Mozart - Symphony 41 Final Movement
Vivaldi - Winter Second Movement


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## JCarmel

Some first thoughts....
A bit of a Corny choice though it is...the Andante from Mozart's 21st Piano Concerto puts me into a mood where I can immediately appreciate the sheer loveliness of Mozart's melody & immediately puts me 'at rights' with the world...not a mean feat, I can tell you?!!

And then there's the middle movement of Bach's Double Violin Concerto...another piece that gets right to one's heart by the most direct route!


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## Warp Zone

One melody that had always struck me as particularly beautiful is the oboe solo from Borodin's Polovetsian Dances (aka "Stranger in Paradise"). In a more "dramatic" sense of beauty, I also love the opening melody to Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto no. 2, especially when it's repeated later with the piano playing the march-like counterpoint part; it seems like the perfect depiction of intense passion and emotion.


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## kv466

For me it's a toss up between Debussy's Reverie and the aria to the Goldberg Variations.


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## PetrB

LordBlackudder said:


>


Apparently, there really is no end to the final fantasy posts in classical, and it also seems there is no convincing you this music is more in the arena of pop contemporary piano than classical.... oh well. It is hoped one would expand their horizons just a titch, though.


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## Celloman

*shields face from rotten tomatoes being thrown at him

But I really do like this piece.


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## Warp Zone

Celloman said:


> *shields face from rotten tomatoes being thrown at him
> 
> But I really do like this piece.


Rotten tomatoes? I think this piece is rather interesting, actually. I'm not able to discern an actual "melody," though.


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## techniquest

I'd consider these to be among the most beautiful:

Faure - Sicilienne





Wagner - Wotan's Farewell





Also, I find this absolutely beautiful...


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## PetrB

*Found it!*






*uh, oh... seems like there is more than one Most Beautiful Melody In The World...*


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## Dustin

I've got to go with the melodies in the middle slow movement of Beethoven's 5th Piano Concerto. Its mind-boggling how someone could come up with something so beautiful.


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## brianvds

Hey, what about this:






:devil:

Runs and hides.

:devil:


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## aleazk

PetrB said:


> *Found it!*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *uh, oh... seems like there is more than one Most Beautiful Melody In The World...*


No, it's the same, only that the second is in HD.


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## JCarmel

Another candidate, perhaps....Schubert's Impromptu in G flat.






though Curzon's best performance is on this cd, I think.









My Apologies...if someone has posted this suggestion before...


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## neoshredder

Here's one from Xenakis...


Just kidding.


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## Garlic

Xenakis has written some great melodies (not kidding)


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## QuietGuy

I've lost count of the times I've mentioned this work, but I'll gladly mention it again. The Lever du Jour section of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe. Just beautiful. Gets me every time...


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## Morimur

Melodies are overrated. Music is more than 'pretty' melodies. :tiphat:


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## PetrB

Lope de Aguirre said:


> Melodies are overrated. Music is more than 'pretty' melodies. :tiphat:


That reads like you channeled me (or I channeled you, LOL.)


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## Piwikiwi

Verklärte Nacht


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## hpowders

Speak English.


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## Serge

Lope de Aguirre said:


> Melodies are overrated. Music is more than 'pretty' melodies. :tiphat:


I don't know, I'm a sucker for a great melody.


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## Il_Penseroso

Piwikiwi said:


> Verklärte Nacht


You mean the melancholic final melody?


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## Il_Penseroso

Schubert Auf dem Wasser zu singen.


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## hpowders

The opening oboe solo from the second movement of Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony.


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## Itullian

Middle movement Emperor Concerto.


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## moody

PetrB said:


> Apparently, there really is no end to the final fantasy posts in classical, and it also seems there is no convincing you this music is more in the arena of pop contemporary piano than classical.... oh well. It is hoped one would expand their horizons just a titch, though.


What is it---sounds like nothing music to me.


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## Oskaar

This is one of the most beautiful pieces I know

link


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## Woodduck

Lope de Aguirre said:


> Melodies are overrated. Music is more than 'pretty' melodies. :tiphat:


I'm not sure what you mean by "pretty" melodies. It sounds as if something, or someone, is being disparaged. So I'll ignore it and look at your first sentence.

Music obviously may consist of more than melody. But, most of the time, melody is important. The more music fails to offer memorable and expressive melody, the less people in general care to listen to it, and for obvious reasons. Melody and rhythm are the primal ingredients of music, the ones that, as song and dance, issue from the expressive body of the human individual and give the most direct voice to feeling. We cerebral, civilized moderns haven't lost those primal impulses, though we may be more apt to ignore or suppress them than our forebears. When people hear a sequence of tones, they want that sequence to satisfy them both as an abstract structure (which they may not be aware of) and as a felt expression (which they will be) - and they want to be able to remember and recognize it with pleasure through its permutations in the course of a musical work. In most styles of music, works that achieve widespread recognition fulfill these requirements to a significant degree, whatever their other interesting traits. A melody by Albinoni may be very different from a melody by Sibelius, and a simple, strophic hymn tune may be very different from an adagio movement by Bruckner or a song by Richard Strauss, but all are easily recognized as beautiful melodies and all determine to a great extent the quality and viability of the works in which they occur.

Nothing as crucially important in music as melody can be overrated.

Or maybe you were just kidding?


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## Woodduck

_Londonderry Air_ (O Danny Boy).

I could have chosen lots of others just as fine, or maybe better in some way or other, but can't seem to get away from that one.


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## science

I am an absolute sucker for Greensleeves, and I am without excuse. 

Within the classical tradition CPP... let me thing about it. There's a lot of sweet ones. 

But I'm a "music is more than melody" guy too. Brahms usually doesn't make great melodies, but he makes great music. He takes ideas and he does wonderful things with them. I'm more about that kind of thing than about good melodies. 

If I was all about melodies, to be honest I'm not even sure classical music would be my preferred tradition. Of course I'd enjoy Für Elise and Brahm's lullaby and all that, but that kind of thing seems to me to be a smaller part of classical music than of other traditions.


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## Petwhac




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## science

drpraetorus said:


> While that is true, the chorus takes a beautiful piece and raises it to something metaphysically wondrous. Of course, that's just my humble opinion.
> 
> Patrons can be of great use to composers with their sometimes odd requests. There is, of course, Mozarts Man in Grey, but even Beethoven, bowing to a patrons request created something he would not otherwise had. One patron wanted something very loud from Beethoven. From that request came the 5th Symphony with it's addition of trombones, just for more noise.


It's interesting to argue in some contexts that autobiographical or historical information ought not make music more interesting, but then in other contexts to use autobiographical or historical information to suggest that some music ought to be less interesting.

I think I'm precisely the opposite: autobiographical or historical information can never make the music itself less interesting to me, and at least sometimes that kind of thing makes it more interesting.


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## Blancrocher

"La folia"

Corelli does wonders with it:


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## Marschallin Blair

hpowders said:


> The opening oboe solo from the second movement of Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony.


. . . which James Horner misappropriated as his own for the film _Willow_.


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## Mahlerian

Marschallin Blair said:


> . . . which James Horner misappropriated as his own for the film _Willow_.


Have you read this article by Alex Ross before? He has a go at Horner's kleptomania.
http://www.therestisnoise.com/2004/05/oscar_scores.html


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## Couac Addict

I don't know about most beautiful but it's what I'm listening to at the moment. Arnie wearing his Wagner hat (probably a magic helmet).


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## schuberkovich

I've been listening to this movement a lot recently - the opening melody with the cellos/violins and the response in the clarinets is very beautiful.


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## Il_Penseroso

Blancrocher said:


> "La folia"
> 
> Corelli does wonders with it:


Also Liszt in his Rhapsodie espagnole!


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## Couac Addict

Mahlerian said:


> Have you read this article by Alex Ross before? He has a go at Horner's kleptomania.
> http://www.therestisnoise.com/2004/05/oscar_scores.html


If I poached some of Horner's scores, should I expect a call from his lawyers?


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## Petwhac

Couac Addict said:


> If I poached some of Horner's scores, should I expect a call from his lawyers?


Unfortunately the scores that Mr Horner borrows from are out of copyright. Unfortunately for us but fortunately for him.


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## Alfacharger

Morricone's theme to "The Mission" should be in the top ten.


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## Celloman

The second act of _Tristan und Isolde_. One of the longest, most beautiful melodies in the world.


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## Ukko

In the slow mvt of Weber's clarinet quintet...


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## Dustin

The melody from Chopin's Op 10 No. 3 Etude, "Tristesse". You all know the moment I'm talking about. The 10 seconds or so of absolute heaven that occurs starting about 1 minute into the piece after the big buildup calms back down.


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## jmaloney

2nd subject of 1st movement of Schubert's string quintet in C.* No contest!


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## isorhythm

jmaloney said:


> 2nd subject of 1st movement of Schubert's string quintet in C.* No contest!


Yes, this is an indisputable fact.


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## scratchgolf

isorhythm said:


> Yes, this is an indisputable fact.


Meh, keep the movement number, remove a Cello. I'll take his SQ14 mvt 2, both for melodies and as a movement overall. For the works as a whole, maybe a tie.


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## Ilarion

3rd movement of Rachmaninov's 2nd Symphony - That melody is unending I tell ya...:cheers:


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## DeepR

Scriabin Concerto middle movement (favorite version: Ashkenazy conductor, Jablonski pianist).

His early music is full of wonderful melodies. Scriabin was a great melodist. Here's an intimate piece with beautiful melodic line:


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## jenspen

The melody whose beauty has haunted me most is the opening theme of Schubert's Piano Sonata in B-flat major, D. 960. Here's Richter breaking his heart over it:


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## MoonlightSonata

The Romance from Prokofiev's lovely _Lieutenant Kijé_ has a truly beautiful melody.


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## calvinpv

Stanchinsky's Prelude-Canon No. 3 in E Mixolydian


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## Gustav Mahler

It is quite hard to choose, But among many others, Those are some very beautiful melodies:
-Love theme from Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet (This descending, romantic melody... Hmmm...
-Schubert's Ave Maria 
-Waltzes from Tchaikovsky's 5th and 6th (Though it is not a pure waltz in the 6th, But it feels like one)
-Brahms's 3rd symphony, 3rd movement-I feel like he put all of his suffering in this movement, Altogether with all of the sadness in the universe.
-Schubert's beautiful 21nd sonata
-Rachmaninov's 2nd piano concerto, 1st mov.
-The godfather soundtrack-Absolutely amazing (The composer Nino Rota is a classical musician)
-The love theme from the movie vertigo, Composed by Bernard Hermann.
-About all of the slow movements in Mozart's mature works-From the concertos and symphonies.

There are so many, This is what jumped in my head at the moment.


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## Gustav Mahler

jenspen said:


> The melody whose beauty has haunted me most is the opening theme of Schubert's Piano Sonata in B-flat major, D. 960. Here's Richter breaking his heart over it:


This is one of the most beautiful themes ever to be written-
The soft, Lyrical theme, That has a flying-like quality is just so heavenly. It is flowing like water in a river, But the river is a little one with pure water, It flows fluently but without any rage.
The theme rises after a while to some excitement, And rests a little on a minor chord that was led by the dominant of this chord, But then returns to it's relaxed major state.
Then comes a little unclear, Maybe alarming trill, That makes us wonder where we are heading, 
And it leads us to the lively second theme, With the quavers, Like a river that flows faster, But with the same purity-
While the first theme was relaxed and full of thought, Like a philosopher singing about how he found the meaning of life and its beauty, The second theme is more "active"-And not passive as the first theme. This contrast makes a wonderful beginning, Which after a while leads us to the development, Which begins with a touching and heart breaking minor version of the first theme.
After the development we return to the peace of the beginning, To heaven.

Thank you Schubert. You and this sonata will live forever.


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## johankillen

Beethoven Pastoral V. The part when it sounds like a river is flowing.. damn


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## Ariasexta

Most beautiful melodies? 

A moonlit midnight, starry nightsky, riding a bike, hearing the crickets. 

The pronuonciations: Orlando Di Lasso, Guillaume Dufay, Johann Sebastian Bach.....


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## Ilarion

Last movement of Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time entitled "Louange a l'immortalite de Jesus" - Tears of quiet joy and goosebumps every time my wife and I perform it(myself at the piano and she on the violin) for friends or acquaintances. We played it yesterday in memory of those who perished in the aircraft disintegration over the Sinai peninsula


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## Richannes Wrahms

A good candidate


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## DiesIraeCX

This is an easy one for me. the first movement of Beethoven's 28th Piano Sonata, Op. 101. Just listen to the first couple of minutes of this: 




It still kinda bothers me when I read that Beethoven wasn't a great melodist, he absolutely _was_, you just haven't truly listened to Beethoven yet.


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## Brahmsian Colors

Here are just five that immediately come to mind:

Several throughout Dvorak's 8th Symphony
The soaring melody in the first movement of Tchaikovsky's 6th("Pathetique")Symphony
The third movement adagio of Rachmaninoff's Second Symphony
The noble melody in the second movement andante of Brahms' 4th Symphony
The passage for cello in the third movement andante of Brahms' 2nd Piano Concerto

Too many more to mention.


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## Francis Poulenc

Starting at 2:46:


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## Varick

"Memories" From CATS!!!!

Did I win!!?????

V


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## Bettina

Varick said:


> "Memories" From CATS!!!!
> 
> Did I win!!?????
> 
> V


That's ironic--it's actually a song about the _loss _of beauty. Grizabella laments her fading looks: "I can smile at the old days, I was beautiful then." But yes, it is a beautiful melody!


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## Judith

For me, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Always in tears when I hear that. Reminds me of a weepy film called Somewhere in Time with Chrisopher Reeve and Jayne Seymour!!


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## hpowders

So many I could write about, and the topic has an impossible outcome, but the gorgeous second movement opening melody of Mozart's Keyboard Concerto No. 23 stands out.


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## Pat Fairlea

Shostakovich from me, again. 2nd movement of his gorgeous 2nd piano concerto.

And a late entry from Sergei Rachmaninoff who, after hearing the premiere of Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music, wrote to VW thanking him "For the most beautiful music I have ever heard"


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## Lodewijk

If you want to hear the second most beautiful melody in the world, listen to this:

Ruhe sanft - Mozart






If you want to hear THE most beautiful melody in the world, this is it!

The most beautiful melody in the world

Melody - Glück


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## Op.123

Puccini! Puccini! All of his arias! Puccini must be the greatest melodist


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## Bettina

hpowders said:


> So many I could write about, and the topic has an impossible outcome, but the gorgeous second movement opening melody of Mozart's Keyboard Concerto No. 23 stands out.


Just a few seconds ago, I mentioned this movement in the "greatest slow movements" thread. You and I share similar tastes.


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## hpowders

Bettina said:


> Just a few seconds ago, I mentioned this movement in the "greatest slow movements" thread. You and I share similar tastes.


Yes. We share similar tastes. I noticed that too.


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## keysandlove

I have a melody I worked a lot on. I don't expect it to even measure to the greats, but yet I thought it was worth sharing in this thread, since I see lots of ancient classical talk and not much new stuff. What do you think? 



 :tiphat:


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## DeepR

Well, I think it's quite charming, but I would've prefered the piece to be more free and diverse in rhythm. But posting it here was perhaps not the best idea.


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## Ariasexta

It is like reading preliminary textbooks for whole life for the sake of enjoying literature, melody is the as superfacial to music as memorization of latin alphabet to professional literature. Melodies are foundamental and indispensible but the greatest source of inspiration and enjoyment is other than melodies, if one judge musical works based on melodies than, he/she is missing a lot of enjoyment in music.


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## Pugg

keysandlove said:


> I have a melody I worked a lot on. I don't expect it to even measure to the greats, but yet I thought it was worth sharing in this thread, since I see lots of ancient classical talk and not much new stuff. What do you think?
> 
> 
> 
> :tiphat:


Always mice to hear something new, welcome to Talk Classical by the way.


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## Ariasexta

I can not answer such a question, even weaker versions of it like the best melody by JS Bach or A.Mozart ot J Pachelbel like that, let alone contriving a favorite from the ocean of individual pieces. I would appreciate more varied styles if their quality is at the same level just like early music. I will not enjoy a composer from which I can pick better works or less favorite works, I do not care if he composed one or two very famous works if his other works are mediocre, I will simply put this composer as talentless and all his works will be forgotten. If I admire a composer means I enjoy every piece he composed.


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## Ariasexta

I am telling people if you are into picking melodies, you are not yet a serious music lover.


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## pcnog11

Musician said:


> The most beautiful melody in the world is the one that you discover within yourself.


The most beautiful melody is yet to come.


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## hpowders

The most beautiful melodies are both from songs found in West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein: Maria and Somewhere.

My eyes well up whenever I'm fortunate enough to hear them.


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## Pugg

pcnog11 said:


> The most beautiful melody is yet to come.


I am not sure...but you could be right.


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## Brahmsian Colors

1957---theme from the movie, Peyton Place, composed by Franz Waxman.


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## TwoPhotons

The flute solo from Mahler's 10th (57:31):






*sniff*


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## hpowders

"I know that my redeemer liveth" from Handel's Messiah is a worthy candidate.


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## hpowders

Another worthy candidate is the soprano aria "Et incarnatus est" from Mozart's Great Mass in C minor.


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## Pugg

Renee Fleming - Rusalka ; song to the moon.


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## Dim7

"Morgenlich leuchtend im rosigen Schein" / The "Prize Song" from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg


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## jenspen

hpowders said:


> Another worthy candidate is the soprano aria "Et incarnatus est" from Mozart's Great Mass in C minor.


Perhaps you were aware that this singer, Sylvia McNair, was the the soprano soloist in the 250th Anniversary performance of Handel's Messiah in the Point Theatre, Dublin?

Here she is from that performance singing your previous worthy candidate - "I know that my redeemer liveth".


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## hpowders

jenspen said:


> Perhaps you were aware that this singer, Sylvia McNair, was the the soprano soloist in the 250th Anniversary performance of Handel's Messiah in the Point Theatre, Dublin?
> 
> Here she is from that performance singing your previous worthy candidate - "I know that my redeemer liveth".


Thank you. I like her.


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## Richard8655

Also agree that My Redeemer Liveth is a worthy candidate. I think melody is what made Handel an exceptional Baroque composer and in a way sets him apart from the others. He didn't have the analytical-like technique of Bach, but no one surpassed in melody.

Another appealing candidate for me is Lascia ch'io pianga from his opera Rinaldo. Also from an earlier period, Purcell's Fairest Isle.


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## DeepR

Alfacharger said:


> Morricone's theme to "The Mission" should be in the top ten.


I would nominate Gabriel's Oboe from that movie:


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## Judith

hpowders said:


> The most beautiful melodies are both from songs found in West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein: Maria and Somewhere.
> 
> My eyes well up whenever I'm fortunate enough to hear them.


Love West Side Story. My favourite musical. Have you heard West Side Story Suite performed by Joshua Bell? I cry when I listen to that one.


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## Isiah Thanu

Prelude to Parsifal, and Korngold's Marietta's song, sung by Schwartzkopf.


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## Pugg

Christa Ludwig sings "Cäcilie" by Richard Strauss


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## jdec

TwoPhotons said:


> The flute solo from Mahler's 10th (57:31):
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *sniff*


Oh yes, that movement and specially that specific flute solo has always moved me deeply.


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## Poodle

Any of Mozart piano sonata, I love them


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## hpowders

Judith said:


> Love West Side Story. My favourite musical. Have you heard West Side Story Suite performed by Joshua Bell? I cry when I listen to that one.


No. I haven't had the pleasure. Thanks! I will look into it!


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## Judith

hpowders said:


> No. I haven't had the pleasure. Thanks! I will look into it!


Please let me know what you think!


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## pcnog11

jenspen said:


> Perhaps you were aware that this singer, Sylvia McNair, was the the soprano soloist in the 250th Anniversary performance of Handel's Messiah in the Point Theatre, Dublin?
> 
> Here she is from that performance singing your previous worthy candidate - "I know that my redeemer liveth".


She has the grace and spirituality that cannot be seen/heard in other Messiah performances.


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