Most Beautiful Melody in Western Music?

[jurajjak]

An open and entirely subjective question:  What is the most beautiful melody in Western music?  You can decide yourself what are the definitions and criteria of "beautiful" in terms of melody (I'm not terribly interested in a philosophical debate).  I might at first suggest:

Ravel: The Valley of the Bells (esp. as orchestrated by Grainger)
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto #4, Second Movement

[jochanaan]

Varèse: Density 21.5.   (At least, that's what comes to mind at the moment. )

[PerfectWagnerite]

The opening of Parsifal, or the so-called motif of the Sacrament

[karlhenning]

Why the question?  How can there be a single "most beautiful melody"?

I can understand that a lot of the 'definition' of beauty has context.  It puzzles me, this underlying idea that one melody, in all the rich world of music, "could be" the most beautiful.

[hornteacher]

The question is a personal one, as my answers will be different than others, but the most beautiful melodies FOR ME are:

Mozart's Clarinet Concerto - mvt 2
Mozart's Marriage of Figaro - Finale to Act IV
Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata - mvt 2
Beethoven's Archduke Trio - mvt 3
Beethoven's SQ 13 - Cavatina
Mendelssohn's VC - mvt 2
Dvorak's Cello Concerto - mvt 2
Dvorak's Piano Quintet - mvt 1
Dvorak's 8th Symphony - mvt 2
Dvorak's 9th Symphony - mvt 2
Rachmaninov 2nd PC - mvt 2 and 3
Holst's Planets - slow part of Jupiter
Copland's Tender Land - The Promise of Living

[jurajjak]

Why the question?  How can there be a single "most beautiful melody"?

I can understand that a lot of the 'definition' of beauty has context.  It puzzles me, this underlying idea that one melody, in all the rich world of music, "could be" the most beautiful.

The question can obviously be rephrased in a number of less romantic, hyperbolic, and/or extreme ways; the mere phraseology of the question was not intended to provoke ideological argument, and I didn't really mean to emphasize the notion of "singularity."  If the question came off that way, it's because I carelessly phrased it; I was more interested to learn which melodies, in certain people's minds, transcend conventional notions of beauty, or at least the kinds of beauties normally expressible through language.  If the notion of the "most beautiful" seems horribly conservative--and indeed it is--I'd settle for any melody that has great personal significance, above and beyond everyday prettiness or attractiveness.


Andrew

[S709]

Prokofiev: Piano Concerto #4, Second Movement

YES! I adore that.

Some of my most cherished choices:

The 2nd movement of the Shostakovich 2nd Piano Concerto.
The slow movement of Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major.
The conclusion of the Bach St Matthew Passion.
The solo violin melody from Glass's Einstein on the Beach.
The opening of Mahler 9!
The main theme and "Juliet's Death" from Prokofiev's Romeo & Juliet.
The Dance of the Blessed Spirits from Orphée et Eurydice by Gluck.
The distant, exotic melody from the 1st movement of Debussy's Violin Sonata.
The slow movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 14 (someone fill in the K number please!).
The quiet opening and then the 'suddenly lively' tune from Copland's Appalachian Spring. Adorable.
Opening and slow movement from the Barber Violin Concerto.
The first movement of Mozart's Clarinet Quintet!!
Slow movement of Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 7.
The 3rd movement bassoon & oboe duet melody from Haydn's No. 63 "La Roxelane".
The 2nd movement soprano melody of Bernstein's Chichester Psalms.

...and finally...
The conclusion of Pettersson's 6th Symphony.

[Gurn Blanston]

The question is a personal one, as my answers will be different than others, but the most beautiful melodies FOR ME are:
................
Dvorak's Piano Quintet - mvt 1
......................

The very first thing that came to my mind.

[BachQ]

Why the question?  How can there be a single "most beautiful melody"?

I can understand that a lot of the 'definition' of beauty has context.  It puzzles me, this underlying idea that one melody, in all the rich world of music, "could be" the most beautiful.

Karl ........ Do you realize how much easier it would have been to simply identify a melody ......... It's not that difficult, really ........ You just name a melody and be done with it .........

As for me, I believe that "beauty" has both a linear appeal (Mozart, Schubert, etc.) as well as an architectural, functional, motivic appeal (LvB, Brahms, Bruckner) ........  After all, some of the most "beautiful" architecture is that which spans great spaces and reaches lofty heights, and is not limited to a mere linear design that begins and ends divorced from an overarching architectural grandeur ..........

[BachQ]

The very first thing that came to my mind.

I disagree. 

[Larry Rinkel]

I disagree. 

You think something else was the first thing that came to his mind?

[BachQ]

You think something else was the first thing that came to his mind?

Yes! 

[Mozart]

Mozart pc 21-2

[btpaul674]

Braga Santos Symphony 2 2nd mvt

[Gurn Blanston]

Yes! 

Well, you were wrong.   

[Bonehelm]

Mozart's A major sonata, K331

[max]

Silly question! This place is running out of ideas. Maybe it should be changed into a philosophy forum!

[Justin Ignaz Franz Bieber]

An open and entirely subjective question:  What is the most beautiful melody in Western music?

the aria from the goldberg variations?

[Renfield]

Well, if we're going for a melody, as in theme, I'd say the opening string theme of Bruckner's 7th Symphony, hands down.

If by "melody" you mean something more consistent and of a longer duration, I might as well be cliché and nominate that extended theme from the fourth movement of Beethoven's 9th, as well as the opening movement of Brahms' 4th, the second movement of Beethoven's 7th, and probably the entire 4th and 6th Symphonies by Piotr Illyich Tchaikovsky.

Also the main theme from the opening movement of Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto, the opening theme of Sibelius' Violin Concerto, and the distinct and prominent violin theme from the opening movement of Beethoven's Violin Concerto, as well.

Finally - and even though this is likely more of a "personal" thing - I'd like to make an additional "honourable mention" of the third movement (Scherzo) from Mahler's 5th Symphony.

[Que]

Silly question! This place is running out of ideas. Maybe it should be changed into a philosophy forum!

Indeed, a ridiculous question even. Classical music has hundreds of immortal melodies and I wouldn't have the slightest clue why I should chose one melody over all others - which is a useless exercise anyway.

Q