Your favourite melodies?

[knight66]

The opening melody of the cello, which is repeated by the piano, in the second movement of Schubert's second piano trio. I like it even more when it's taken at a slightly faster pace in the last movement.

Yes, that is special. I like it at that pace, gives it time to breathe.

On the topic of trios. Mendelssohn: Trio in D minor 2nd mvt. Expressed by the piano, then meltingly repeated by the strings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNQZLn7YTVc

Mike

[Lisztianwagner]

Respighi's I pini di Villa Borghese, so impressive, harmonic and overwhelming!! Certainly an outstanding melody, showing a very beautiful, melodious orchestration. I absolutely love the introduction of the main theme by the use of brass and woodwinds, then followed by a change of the rythm for the arrive of the second motif, with the trills of the strings in the background, so poetical.

In I Pini di Roma, I pini della Via Appia: the massive crescendo, introduced by the horns, which all the other instruments gradually join to create then the powerful, passionate finale.

[Sergeant Rock]

Thank you for all those links, Sarge. Excellent choices! Particularly enjoyed the Rott - which I am still yet to listen to!!!! That now goes to my urgent wishlist!

I think you'll like it. At the very least it's a perfect piece to play "Spot the Composer." You'll hear Wagner, Bruckner, Brahms, Smetana and, of course, the infamous foreshadowing of Gustav Mahler. Great fun...but really, a worthy symphony. Makes me sad he didn't live to reach his potential; sad he ended up like this:




Sarge

[mjwal]

1.The tune of "Western Wynde", especially as it is heard throughout Taverner's great mass.
2.The long winding melody of "Mache mich mein Herze rein" from the Matthäus-Passion. (I would choose Olaf Bär singing this in a performance conducted by Gielen one Easter circa eight years ago, if I could find a recording of that.)
3.The variant of the main (in itself gorgeous) melody of K.304/2 that appears at about 2'20 in the Kagan/Richter recording (but Szigeti is even more touching).
4.The wonderful consolatory melodic suggestion that arrives and is gone as if between two heartbeats in the Adagio of Beethoven's Op.59 (starting at 6'40 in the Busch Qt recording).
5.The awestruck, yearning melody that unfolds as the old man begins his dying apostrophe "Du heilge Nacht" in Schubert's "Nachtstück" (Karl Erb,please).
6.The melody of Korngold's "Glück, das mir verblieb" from Die tote Stadt (sung by Lotte Lehmann, of course).
7.The great tragic rising and sinking melody of Berg's Lulu, e.g. as heard in the Adagio of the Lulu-Suite about 2'20 in (I checked Scherchen's version).
8.William Bolcom's Graceful Ghost rag (preferably with Sergiu Luca on the violin accompanied by the composer).

There, eight for the desert island, tomorrow it might be different choices. The recordings adduced to identify location within a piece happen to be on my laptop - timings will be different in other performances.

.

[Brian]

The 2nd motif of the first movement of Schubert's string Quintet.

Aha, glad you agree.

Also: the theme from Young Frankenstein

[some guy]

I don't really listen to music for melody. It happens. I don't have to do anything.

I do listen to music as an integrated structure consisting of melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre, space, time, as well as all the various emotional responses I make to all those sounds and shapes.

But every once and awhile, there are melodies that stand out from the rest of the elements, and three of my favorites are

the opening of Skalkottas' Little Suite

the opening of Santorsola's two guitar concerto

and the long, slow melody at the beginning of Jonathan Berger's Meteora, which takes almost a minute to unfold.

Of course, no examples of any of these are available online, not that I could find. Only the Skalkottas piece will be easy to find. I don't think there's ever been a CD of the Santorsola. The Berger's on a two disc set of Cultures Electroniques, a series that documents some of the highlights of the 38 year run of the Bourges' Festival Synthèse. Volume 2, which the Berger is on, is no longer available through Mnémosyne Musique Media, but there is one for sale on Discogs for 69usd.

That's a great pity, but there you have it. Do you only talk about music that people can hear on youtube, or do you open the discussion up to everything? I think the latter. Maybe more music would stay available if more people were listening to it and demanding it.

[Brahmsian]

I don't really listen to music for melody. It happens. I don't have to do anything.

Do you ever listen to music for the sheer joy, blissfulness, and how some pieces of music move you emotionally?

In other words, do you even enjoy music?  Have you ever listened to a piece of music more than once?

With the 10,000 different composers' music you have listened to, have you ever stopped to smell the roses?

I'm somewhat kidding, but serious with my questions too! 

[madaboutmahler]

The flute melody from the fifth movement of Mahler's 10th.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUqwILe0tO4

Yes!!!!!!
Another of my favourites.

I think you'll like it. At the very least it's a perfect piece to play "Spot the Composer." You'll hear Wagner, Bruckner, Brahms, Smetana and, of course, the infamous foreshadowing of Gustav Mahler. Great fun...but really, a worthy symphony. Makes me sad he didn't live to reach his potential; sad he ended up like this:




Sarge

Yes, I knew of the unfortunate tale of why Rott ended up in a mental institution... massive shame... I shall definitely take a listen to the Rott symphony soon, through the Listening thread, I gather that the recording to get is the Weigle, on Arte Nove?

[Sergeant Rock]

Yes, I knew of the unfortunate tale of why Rott ended up in a mental institution... massive shame... I shall definitely take a listen to the Rott symphony soon, through the Listening thread, I gather that the recording to get is the Weigle, on Arte Nove?

Well, Jens and I prefer Weigle. John of Glasgow prefers, I think, Davies or Segerstam. You're a percussionist, yes? As I think I once told you, Segerstam turns the symphony into a Concerto for Triangle and Orchestra    You might enjoy the instrument's prominence in the Bis recording more than I do.

Sarge

[madaboutmahler]

Well, Jens and I prefer Weigle. John of Glasgow prefers, I think, Davies or Segerstam. You're a percussionist, yes? As I think I once told you, Segerstam turns the symphony into a Concerto for Triangle and Orchestra    You might enjoy the instrument's prominence in the Bis recording more than I do.

Sarge

haha Yes, however, although being a percussionist (my love for the variety of instruments lead me to being teaching myself), I do find the presence of the triangle a bit irritating if too loud! It is so hard to get the exact right balance for the percussion section. One of the things I look out for in a good Mahler recording is the way the percussion is handled
Thanks Sarge!

[madaboutmahler]

Some great posts you have been sending, keep them coming! I do hope to see some more Mahler melodies mentioned here of course...

Now, for another of my favourites. Russian melodies are hard to resist, and a particular favourite of mine is from Glazunov. It is the main theme from the 4th symphony, which is first announced by the cor anglais towards the opening of the first movement. Such a beautiful melody - rather melancholic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LzWU4pVadI

Another Russian favourite. This time, it is the lyrical theme from Taneyev's Oresteia Overture. Such magical orchestration and sublime textures make this delightful, romantic melody all the more stunning... The melody starts from just before the minute mark in this extract video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83-hlCXAMA8

Another favourite - the lyrical melody from the finale to Bortkiewicz's first piano concerto. So romantic and beautiful. I couldn't find the concert uploaded on youtube, but have this video which includes an extract from the concerto, fortunately with nearly the whole melody that I am talking about! It starts from around 06:50 .  <3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPXzTv-swnI

Will post more comments soon, plenty more favourite melodies which I adore so much! Probably will have to dedicate a whole post to Tchaikovsky, and another whole one to the melodies from Rimsky Korsakov's Sheherezade!

[Lisztianwagner]

I imagine I'll be posting quite a few posts here - but I'll start off by expressing my love for the "Alma theme" from the first movement of Mahler's 6th. An absolutely beautiful melody - and the magical orchestration makes it even more romantic! Sometimes, I just subconsciously burst out singing this melody, and always recieve a few giggles when I miss the top Bb, even when I have transposed it down what must be 2 - 3 octaves

I surely agree with this, an absolutely stunning music

[some guy]

Do you ever listen to music for the sheer joy, blissfulness, and how some pieces of music move you emotionally?

In other words, do you even enjoy music?  Have you ever listened to a piece of music more than once?

With the 10,000 different composers' music you have listened to, have you ever stopped to smell the roses?

I'm somewhat kidding, but serious with my questions too! 

What strange questions!!

I only listen to music for sheer joy and blissfulness. All music affects me emotionally. Yes. I listen to everything over and over again. I live in the middle of a rose garden.

Here's a question for you: why would you have ever thought that my answers about would be anything other than what they are? (In other words, what could possibly have prompted you to ask any of those questions?)

[Lisztianwagner]

Rachmaninov's Variation XVIII  from Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini; I absolutely love the whole piece, but that section is particularly impressive....extremely passionate, intense, poetical and evocative!! The massive climax at the end, after the calm, harmonious beginning of the piano and the crescendo which gradually involves all the instruments, is so gorgeous and thrilling!
Whenever I listen to it, I'm always deeply touched by the huge beauty and the strong, powerful emotions this music expresses

[westknife]

The opening theme of the 2nd movement of Beethoven's 5th. I find myself whistling it all the time, like it's eternally stuck in my head...

[Brahmsian]

What strange questions!!

I only listen to music for sheer joy and blissfulness. All music affects me emotionally. Yes. I listen to everything over and over again. I live in the middle of a rose garden.

Here's a question for you: why would you have ever thought that my answers about would be anything other than what they are? (In other words, what could possibly have prompted you to ask any of those questions?)

I don't know?  I've never been able to figure you out, or figure out what makes you tick?  I don't need to either, it's just me trying to figure out what motivates you?  There is nothing wrong of course with anything you do - just so I make that clear. 

In many ways, I admire you, because you are very unique in your vast knowledge and tastes in music. 

*All sincere - there is no sarcasm at all in what I wrote*

You are one of many, of my GMG brothers and sisters.

[Mirror Image]

There are so many beautiful melodies, but one that came into my mind almost instantly was the opening melody of the movement Job's Dream from RVW's Job, A Masque for Dancing. This very short (maybe a minute long) introduction moves me each time I hear it. For this brief movement, the best performance I've heard is Hickox/Bournemouth Symphony on EMI. Hickox gives the movement more volume, which makes all those beautiful string textures audible in what, otherwise, is a very quiet introduction.

[Sergeant Rock]

Conor71 reminded me of another melody I love: the majestic main theme of the Sibelius tone poem The Wood-Nymph:

http://www.4shared.com/audio/x4uVB0G4/sibwoodnymph.html


Sarge

[madaboutmahler]

Conor71 reminded me of another melody I love: the majestic main theme of the Sibelius tone poem The Wood-Nymph:

http://www.4shared.com/audio/x4uVB0G4/sibwoodnymph.html


Sarge

Thank you for getting me started on Scandanavian melodies - Sarge!

So:
the poetic flute melody from the last movement of the Grieg Piano Concerto - so incredibly beautiful.
Sibelius: Symphonies 2, and 5 - the melodies from the finales.
Nielsen: Symphony no.4 - the main theme.
Yngve Skold: Symphony no.2 - slow movement. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLXGlmkIzKg

More soon

[Opus106]

The opening melody: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGJcEbAcYk