the greatest melodist since rachmaninov?

[stevie]

john williams? paul mccartney?

thine choiceth be yourseth

[Waldszenen]

John Williams

Hans Zimmer

Nobuo Uematsu

[brewtality]

Eddie Van Halen

[alzado]

Is it okay to have some reservations about the question itself?

Don't get me wrong -- I like Rachmaninoff.   However . . .

His melodies -- e.g., the concertos, Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini, etc -- are rather saccharine and very sentimental.  I'm not sure I would find him a great melodist.  Although I'm not very familiar with that word.

It's appropriate that you compare him to pop composers, and the readiness of pop orchestras to transcribe his themes reflects the kind of "movie theme" aspect of his melodies.

I would say Ralph Vaughan Williams would be a good choice to answer this question, although he took many of his themes from English folk music and arranged them.

[arensky]

Eddie Van Halen

Yo, excellent dude, super rad!!!

Everybody wants some, I WANT SOME TOO!!!!!

HOWABOUT U!!!!!!!???

aw shucks I'll just pay ya for it....

OH, OH JAMIE'S CRYIN'   

Brings  back great memories...

[arensky]

Is it okay to have some reservations about the question itself?

Don't get me wrong -- I like Rachmaninoff.   However . . .

His melodies -- e.g., the concertos, Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini, etc -- are rather saccharine and very sentimental.  I'm not sure I would find him a great melodist.  Although I'm not very familiar with that word.

It's appropriate that you compare him to pop composers, and the readiness of pop orchestras to transcribe his themes reflects the kind of "movie theme" aspect of his melodies.

I would say Ralph Vaughan Williams would be a good choice to answer this question, although he took many of his themes from English folk music and arranged them.

I think a melodist is a composer who can write a good "tune", and the great melodists are the composers who write tunes people remember, such as Mozart, Schubert, Chopin Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Brahms  Schumann. Alzado your analogy to pop music is dead on, if a composer's pieces end up in commercial arrangements, (painful though it is)they are probably a great melodist, because the great majority of listeners (not wonks like us) respond primarily to melody. So do we, but we're distracted by subdominants and row inversions and developments and bitonality and 2nd subsidiary subjects and stuff like that.

But to answer the question; first Puccini comes to mind, but he is a contemporary (roughly) of Rachmaninov. McCartney is definitely up there, but he's not a composer he's a songwriter; composers build and constuct music, songwriters or "tunesmiths" like Sir Paul, Stevie Wonder, Richard Rodgers, Irving Berlin, Billy Joel, just write melodies and chords, which is an art of building or constructing too, but does not involve counterpoint, development, orchestration, or any complex use of form.

Nothing wrong with songwriting, I'm a songwriter first composer second. But I will restrict myself to composers in answering this.

                                            George Gershwin

[mikey6]

It's appropriate that you compare him to pop composers, and the readiness of pop orchestras to transcribe his themes reflects the kind of "movie theme" aspect of his melodies.

Well in that case -  Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Orff would all come under this category. (and more whose tunes have been turned into over-blown pop insults)
But I was told that it's not Rachmaninoff's melodies that make him great, it's the harmony under neath it.
It is interesting how most people have listed movie composers as the most melodic of the later 20th century onwards- so there's no 'classical' composer living who can right a good melody? (this isn't my strong point so i'd be interested to know).

[stevie]

maybe they CAN but choose not too, because eiother they dont want to or they dont want to be labeled 'old fashioned'

[arpeggiosnake]

John Corigliano  and his " Red Violin".

[presto agitato]

The answer is very easy:

Keith Jarrett and Michael Nyman by far.

[kriskicksass]

Most contemporary composers don't write good melodies because they don't want to be labeled as "obvious" or "movie music." Sad but true.

[brahmsian]

Steve Vai. Download "For the Love of God".  :oAwesome tune. Great melodist.

[nightingalesong]

Easily Bernard Herrmann for me.

[perfect_pitch]

JOHN WILLIAMS!!!! I think he has really got a true Brilliant spark at composition. He's doing well too.

[brewtality]

Steve Vai. Download "For the Love of God".  :oAwesome tune. Great melodist.

Great song but Vai is often too quirky to be considered the greatest melodist imo. I think Yngwie J Malmsteen very often comes up with tunes that are just pure ear candy (for me at least). Same thing goes for Timo Tolkki of stratovarius, great stuff.

[brahmsian]

I think Yngwie J Malmsteen very often comes up with tunes that are just pure ear candy (for me at least)

Aaaahhhh Yngwie. Gotta love how he steals Bach's and Paganini's motifs. His concerto for electric guitar and orchestra is pretty cool though.

P.S.- are you Zakk Wylde fan?

[kghayesh]

Hey why didn't anybody mention Gerswhin

[BoliverAllmon]

Hey why didn't anybody mention Gerswhin

for sure

[mikey6]

Arensky did.  Plus Gerswhin died before Rach did so I don't think he could really be considered in this post.

[darkthrone666]

Some how I knew people would say steve vai and yngwie, and yet im still disappointed that people listen to that.  (common they make Dio look serious, and thats just wrong )
       Well Im going to have to bring up Miles, cause its Miles and if you don't like Miles....I don't even know.  There's something wrong with you. 

Perhaps you just don't know how to chill


Oh yeah and i think Flipper takes the cake here   Im sure you all know who Flipper is

[thierry13]

Some how I knew people would say steve vai and yngwie, and yet im still disappointed that people listen to that.  (common they make Dio look serious, and thats just wrong )

Hrum. Malmsteen is an AMAZING musician. And it's quite funnier to listen to than any Jazz or Bach/Mozart music. I like a lot Trilogy suite op.5 !! And arpeggios from hell is definately amazing.

[brewtality]

Aaaahhhh Yngwie. Gotta love how he steals Bach's and Paganini's motifs. His concerto for electric guitar and orchestra is pretty cool though.

P.S.- are you Zakk Wylde fan?

haha yep, my username is a bit of a giveaway huh. Zakk rocks.

[klavierkonzerte]

korngold
william walton
shostakovich

by the way i don't think that rachmaninov is a great melodist but i LOVE the intro of his third concerto.

[Bouter Boogie]

Hey why didn't anybody mention Gerswhin

GERSHWIN! DEFINITELY GEORGE GERSHWIN!

- BB

[arensky]

Hey why didn't anybody mention Gerswhin

Uh, look up, I did first...maybe I should write BIGGER...

[Bouter Boogie]

Uh, look up, I did first...maybe I should write BIGGER...

I've seen that reply, though. Just thought I could underline it in this way

- BB

[BoliverAllmon]

korngold
william walton
shostakovich

by the way i don't think that rachmaninov is a great melodist but i LOVE the intro of his third concerto.

I would have to agree on the shostakovich. He wrote some amazing melodies.

[stevie]

i randomly agree with myself, the 2 that i said-

mccartney and williams

[arensky]

i randomly agree with myself, the 2 that i said-

mccartney and williams

McCartney is genius from on high....

Williams is a plagarising corporate hollywood hack. (sorry, s'what  I think...)

[sharon_f]

Britten, Barber, Menotti, Copland, Bernstein all wrote wonderful melodies.

[ahinton]

McCartney is genius from on high....

(excusing your word order)...high on what, exactly?

Best,

Alistair

[arensky]

(excusing your word order)...high on what, exactly?

Best,

Alistair

LMAO!!!! I almost rewrote that, but I let it stand, wondering if anyone would catch it...

[musicsdarkangel]

*sigh* no one.

[Bouter Boogie]

Not to forget Dmitri Kabalevsky (1904 – 1987) Haven’t heard that much of him yet, but you have to check out his 4th piano concerto, especially the 1st movement. I think it’s awesome

- BB

[rimv2]

MOI

[jehangircama]

john williams even if he composes for hollywood.

[randmc]

Stevie Wonder?!?
John Legend