Your favourite melodies?

Started by madaboutmahler, November 18, 2011, 08:42:05 AM

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ibanezmonster

That one melody in Beethoven's Waldstein Sonata hasn't been mentioned yet? Hm, then I guess it'll be up to me to mention it...  ::)

starrynight

Quote from: some guy on November 19, 2011, 09:06:50 AM
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.

Melody can be listened to as part of an integrated structure too though.  For instance some melodies are longish and have more of a structure and journey to them.  There can be a counter melodies which they interact with, they may be developed in some way.


Amfortas

#43
Quote from: mjwal on November 19, 2011, 06:42:16 AM

6.The melody of Korngold's "Glück, das mir verblieb" from Die tote Stadt 


This would be on my list too, an incredible melody.

I would have several by Mahler (just a couple here):

Symphony 5, opening funeral march

Symphony 9, Movement I Andante comodo - sighing theme heard first in second violins

Kurt Weill: The Ballad of Mack the Knife (Moritat), just can't get this one out of my head

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109, movement III variations theme
''Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age.'' - James Joyce (The Dead)

TheGSMoeller

Burlesque de Don Quixote by Telemann
Performed by VERNER COLLEGIUM

http://www.youtube.com/v/ux55l69TdFY&feature=related


Burlesque de Don Quixote by Telemann is full of wonderful melodies. I found this great video and performance so I decided to post the whole piece with the separate movements listed. Mvts. II and IV are the two that I originally wanted to post, but I find the entire suite to be exceptional. Both recordings I own do not use winds, but strings only, so it's nice to hear it with different instrumentation.
I hope you enjoy it.

0:00 - I: Overture
3:05 - II: Don Quixote awakens
4:39 - III: His attack on the windmills
6:09 - IV: Sighs of love for Princess Dulcinea
8:06 - V: Sancho Panza tossed in a blanket
9:11 - VI: The galloping of Rosinante
10:58 - VII: Quixote asleep

madaboutmahler

Quote from: Amfortas on November 26, 2011, 02:26:37 AM
I would have several by Mahler (just a couple here):


Wait for me!  ;D

I'll report back with my favourite Mahler melodies soon! :) I'll add the first movement of the 1st symphony to your list for now though. :)
"Music is ... A higher revelation than all Wisdom & Philosophy"
— Ludwig van Beethoven

some guy

Full of memorable melodies.

I remember them, anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7AIiTeKBUc

And for something older, how about Stravinsky's Le Sacre du printemps? I remember a conversation with my uncle many years ago about how melodic that piece was. "Everyone thinks of it as rhythmic and percussive, which it is, but the lasting impression one takes away from it is how full of melody it is."

And for something more recent, perhaps Martin Kalve's Earthing. The clip on Amazon is of course only thirty seconds, but it does give a bit of a taste.

Amfortas

Quote from: some guy on November 26, 2011, 04:35:22 PM
Full of memorable melodies.

I remember them, anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7AIiTeKBUc

And for something older, how about Stravinsky's Le Sacre du printemps? I remember a conversation with my uncle many years ago about how melodic that piece was. "Everyone thinks of it as rhythmic and percussive, which it is, but the lasting impression one takes away from it is how full of melody it is."

And for something more recent, perhaps Martin Kalve's Earthing. The clip on Amazon is of course only thirty seconds, but it does give a bit of a taste.

Agree completely, Le Sacre is very tuneful. I have a friend who can 'sing' the entire piece. If it wasn't melodic, it would not be as effective, imho
''Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age.'' - James Joyce (The Dead)

Florestan

Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Florestan

Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

madaboutmahler

Quote from: Florestan on November 28, 2011, 08:47:35 AM
Amen, brother!

:)
Thank you for your excellent post above, by the way! :)

This has reminded me of some more absolutely beautiful Russian melodies - the ones from Glazunov's Concert Waltzes. So delightful and wonderful! :)
"Music is ... A higher revelation than all Wisdom & Philosophy"
— Ludwig van Beethoven

Mirror Image

#51
Revueltas' Janitzio has been running around my mind for awhile today:

http://www.youtube.com/v/tf8sn8E0El8

I especially love the part from 3:58 - 4:30. Absolutely gorgeous.

Polednice

#52
I often think about what my favourite melodies are and single a few out, but then I hear some pieces I haven't listened to for a while and think: "Ah, but there's this!", "and this!", "and that!" Still, I do know that this one melody - from the final movement of Schubert's Piano Sonata in A, D. 959 - has gone round in my mind (without annoying me) at least a hundred times more than anything else I know.

http://www.youtube.com/v/39Cn76IRCpc

Opus106

Regards,
Navneeth

Florestan

Quote from: madaboutmahler on November 28, 2011, 08:56:20 AM
:)
Thank you for your excellent post above, by the way! :)

A post in which at #7 should of course be Leoncavallo, not Puccini. Mea culpa. :)

Speaking about Russian music, Stravinsky's Petrushka is filled to the brim with gorgeous melodies, but I especially like the one at 1:57 to 3:05 here and the two ones at 03:27 to 04:40 here

Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

North Star

Quote from: Florestan on November 28, 2011, 08:47:35 AM
Amen, brother!

Shouldn't that be comrade?

There are so much great melodies, that listing favourites seems almost pointless.
Some of the best melodies flew from the pens of Purcell, Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Chopin, Brahms, Saint-Saëns, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Janacek, Rachmaninoff, Sibelius, Mahler, Prokofiev, and Stravinsky.
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

My photographs on Flickr

PaulSC

#56
Here are a few personal favorites that haven't been mentioned yet. Unless I missed them. My brain is distracted by hunting for YouTube clips.

1. Brahms Piano Trio Opus 8, first movement, opening theme
(The Trio of the Scherzo also deserves a mention!)
http://www.youtube.com/v/LNEn3DZZB-o

2. Mozart Piano Concerto #23, Adagio, the opening solo piano statement and the orchestral response
http://www.youtube.com/v/6l0bsTNsnX0

3. Schumann "Mondnacht"
http://www.youtube.com/v/N2Ju2D0UlUU

4. Duphly Allemande from Suite in D minor
The especially appealing part for me occurs for the first time halfway through the first repeated section, after the half cadence in the relative major. I suppose it's not just the melody, but I like how the pedal tone at the top plays off against the stepwise bass motion.
http://www.youtube.com/v/yd-ch44f9b8

5. Ferneyhough, Études Transcendentales, 6
This is obviously not the kind of melody that you find yourself humming in a precisely replicable way, but I find it extraordinarily beautiful, like so much of this composer's music.
http://www.youtube.com/v/LSz42tDqLeY
Musik ist ein unerschöpfliches Meer. — Joseph Riepel

starrynight

Quote from: North Star on November 29, 2011, 08:16:12 AM

Some of the best melodies flew from the pens of Purcell, Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Chopin, Brahms, Saint-Saëns, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Janacek, Rachmaninoff, Sibelius, Mahler, Prokofiev, and Stravinsky.

No Haydn?

some guy


Lisztianwagner

#59
In Beethoven No.9, the last part of the finale of the 4th movement, from the crescendo of the strings: it's so incredibly poetical and evocative, so full of intense beauty, power and passion! The orchestra and the chorus joining together in a so lyrical way for the final declaration of Joy, so striking and overwhelming!! Whenever I listen to it, it's like to be in a wonderful dream :)
It definitely strikes fire from my heart! :)
"Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire." - Gustav Mahler