# Best Melodists, AFTER Some of the Best



## Bevo (Feb 22, 2015)

Well I think we can all agree that some of the best melodists of all time were Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Saint-Saens, Mendelssohn, (I would include Haydn), and from the looks of previous posts, many of you would also say Schumann, Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, Brahms, and some Wagner and Puccini. Now my question for you all is, AFTER these great melodists who would you consider to be the next few in line, and what are some particular pieces to support your claims? (For the record, to me a great melody is one that easily gets stuck in your head, and without listening to the music at the same time it is easy to hum/whistle/sing. It's just very lyrical and naturally flowing, but that doesn't mean it has to be slow).


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Schubert should be on the list, above most of those mentioned above. I'm not sure if I accept your "I think we can all agree..." list (even if I play along with your definition of melody).


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## Proms Fanatic (Nov 23, 2014)

Sibelius - thinking of Symphony No. 2 and No. 5 for example.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Many of the Russian romantics come to mind - Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin and even Prokofiev wove memorable melodies. Composers from other Eastern European countries drew on their own melodic folk music, Dvorak, Suk and Enescu for example.


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## Faustian (Feb 8, 2015)

Proms Fanatic said:


> Sibelius - thinking of Symphony No. 2 and No. 5 for example.


And the Violin Concerto, the Lemminkäinen Suite, the Symphony No. 1, Pohjolas Daughter, Valse triste, etc., etc. Haha. But yeah, absolutely. As Stravinsky put it, "I like that kind of Italian melody gone north."


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Great melody to hum by:


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Handel was a gifted melodist too.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Not all great melodies are readily recalled or hummed. Some are long and convoluted; others have peculiar harmonizations which defy expectations, making them more striking or poignant but less immediately memorable. I find Prokofiev's highly original melodies falling into the latter category.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Ravel, Debussy, Brahms


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## Guest (Jul 12, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> Not all great melodies are readily recalled or hummed. Some are long and convoluted; others have peculiar harmonizations which defy expectations, making them more striking or poignant but less immediately memorable. I find Prokofiev's highly original melodies falling into the latter category.


Agreed. Schoenberg was a natural at this stuff.


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

Proms Fanatic said:


> Sibelius - thinking of Symphony No. 2 and No. 5 for example.


How about the opening melody of Kullervo symphony 




I've always thought that is the most immediately memorable melody by Sibelius.


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## Arsakes (Feb 20, 2012)

Adding to the above (specially Sibelius)...

Mussorgsky:






kinda similar to the above work:


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Running off some names, in combination with "Well I think we can all agree that..." always leads to problems. Obviously, we do not agree. Although not a personal favourite, the absence of Verdi in the initial post is rather shocking.

Personally, I would include JS Bach.


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

Bevo said:


> Beethoven, Brahms


To me these two represent the "I'll get away with the use of boring themes because I do 'interesting' things with them" - school of composition. Not all that great melodists IMO... I am trolling DiesViraeCX again


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

:lol: Beethoven wrote a good theme once in a while, evidently by accident. But overall I prefer the "boring themes interesting things" school to its opposite.


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## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

Brahms is an interesting case. He definitely made a career out of doing "interesting things" but boy oh boy could he produce gorgeous melody when he wanted to; just consider his String Quintet No. 1 in F major, op. 88-- just bursting from beginning to end with powerfully affecting melody! 

The late, great clarinet chamber works are another case in point...


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## Musicophile (May 29, 2015)

Schubert & Händel by far for me.


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

Hummel. Hummel was very gifted. And in a lot of work, Raff's melodic genius can be found.


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## Skilmarilion (Apr 6, 2013)

Is the fact that Bruckner and Mahler haven't been mentioned after 19 posts of this thread actually indicative of something, or are all you of you guys simply bonkers?


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Art Rock said:


> Although not a personal favourite, the absence of Verdi in the initial post is rather shocking.


Let's repair that oversight - and with it the overlooking of all the great tunesmiths of Italian Romantic opera, from Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini to Puccini. Long, elegiac, delicately embellished melodies like "Casta diva" and "Qui la voce" inspired another great melodist, Chopin.


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## Guest (Jul 12, 2015)

Glaring omission: verdi


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## notesetter (Mar 31, 2011)

Bizet (probably belongs on the A list)
The Viennese Strausses
Copland
Leroy Anderson
Sousa


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Lord Lance said:


> Hummel. Hummel was very gifted. And in a lot of work, Raff's melodic genius can be found.


Raff is all right. I heard some pieces and they were very nice. Like the classical music equivalent of Muzak.


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

Albert7 said:


> Raff is all right. I heard some pieces and they were very nice. Like the classical music equivalent of Muzak.


You haven't hear enough Raff in that case.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Bizet, Chabrier, Gounod and Offenbach. Especially Offenbach out of these three frenchmen, is put down because of the light nature of his music. Rossini and Verdi are excellent as well. Johann Strauss too.


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## Ben Gessel (Jul 19, 2015)

Just sticking with the classical/non-film composer folks, I'd say these composers tend to have the strongest/most enjoyable, most memorable melodies, for me personally (NOT in order, these are not necessarily my favorite composers/in the order they would be in):

1.) Beethoven
2.) Rachmaninov
3.) Handel
4.) Tchaikovsky
5.) John Rutter
6.) Borodin
7.) Ravel
8.) Bach
9.) Debussy
10.) Faure
11.) Copland
12.) Gershwin
13.) Holst
14.) Elgar
15.) Grainger
16.) Wagner
17.) Rimsky-Korsakov
18.) Vaughan-Williams
19.) Grieg
20.) Morten Lauridsen
21.) Leroy Anderson
22.) Dvorak
23.) Chopin
24.) Mussorgsky
25.) Mozart

Of these composers, Handel, Dvorak, Grieg, Wagner, Copland, Gershwin, Mozart, Debussy, Ravel, Borodin, Beethoven, Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Chopin and John Rutter are among the stronger melodic writers of this bunch. Hard to say of course. Bach's music is, of course, contrapuntal, polyphonic, and highly cerebral. Faure has some great melodies, as do Holst, Grainger, Mussorgsky (distinctively Russian), etc. Elgar is whimsical and carefree, and quite taken with Delibes-his music is often "breezy", "soulful" or "stately". Vaughan-Williams is "epic" and often somewhat "biblical"/Shakespearean, also the folksy English thing, but not always the most memorable of composers. L. Anderson is very light classical (like Gilbert and Sullivan)-Sleigh Ride has to be one of the most memorable melodies of all time. Lauridsen (his tonal music) is more harmonically/choral/voice driven, those 1st inversion triads and 9ths...  Of course I have left out many composers here, but I daresay that Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov are still the masters of the most memorable melodies. But I still personally dislike Wagner...


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## Proms Fanatic (Nov 23, 2014)

Welcome to the forums!

Creating lists like that means you're always going to be leaving out people who deserve to be on the list!

When I think of Debussy - melodies aren't the first thing that spring to mind for me. I would say he's very lyrical, but maybe I'm just being nit-picky about the definitions!

I'd agree with your penultimate sentence. Tchaikovsky is the king of melody in my eyes.

Going back to the topic of the thread, you've got some interesting dark-horses that I haven't heard too much music from e.g. Rutter, Grainger, Lauridsen, Anderson. Have you got any recommendations on some of their more melodic works?


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## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

My vote is for Hector Berlioz, particularly for his Romeo and Juliet (check out the Love Theme and the music just before & after). I prefer the Charles Munch, Boston Symph version that was finally made available on CD. Of course, the Symphonie Fantastique, Harold in Italy, the overtures and the operas have great melodies.

Also, would include Bellini for particularly Norma which has some astounding melodies in the 2nd Act. Interestingly enough, Berlioz was influenced to write his Romeo & Juliet after seeing Vincenzo Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi.


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

Glazunov comes to mind (a plethora of great melodies and melodic invention).
Kurt Atterberg also,
Myaskovsky (great slow movements),
Rachmaninoff (as mentioned),
Bax,
John Ireland,
Samuel Barber,
Paul Creston,
William Grant Still,
David Diamond,
Eduard Tubin.


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## pianississimo (Nov 24, 2014)

Prokofiev, Sibelius and Tchaikovsky are probably my favourite melodists. 
Beethoven and Schubert stand out for (among their many other attributes) their ability to work with small bits of theme and make it do amazing things. This has always been taken as a greater gift than original melody which some purists tend to sniff at.


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## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

Two more pages and we should be able to name every composer imaginable.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Avey said:


> Two more pages and we should be able to name every composer imaginable.


With Schoenberg, Raff, Lauridsen, Myaskovsky, and Tubin already nominated, the addition of Dittersdorf and Xenakis should suffice to prove either that all melodists are great melodists or that great melodists do not exist. Either conclusion should set our minds at ease.


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

Why am I suddenly afraid to ask any more questions? :lol:


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## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

A few of the composers being mentioned tends to make me think that the concept of what constitutes a melody is being s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d really thin...


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

Avey said:


> Two more pages and we should be able to name every composer imaginable.


Woah, there are only three dozen composers in the past 1000 years?


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