The most beautiful melody ever...

[upright]

Chorus of Hebrew Slaves

Delibes - Flower duet

Schubert - Ave Maria

Saint-Saens - The Swan

Meditation on Thais

Mozart PC 21 2nd mvt

Bach Cello Suite No. 1 prelude


I think these beautiful melodies. If you take out the accompaniment, if there is one,  it wouldn't detract too much from the melody. Although the Swan does benefit with piano.

Beautiful moments are like the first piano entry in Emperor's 2nd movement following the hushed passage from the orchestra. Or the ending of Rachmaninov's 2nd PC 2nd mvt where piano and strings play passionately and then slow down and quieten down. Also, the combination of the 2 violin melodies in Bachs double concerto makes the slow movement speical. They are less than the sum of their parts on their own. You could argue that these are beautiful pieces rather than beautiful melodies.

[ligurian]

That would have to be shcubert, either his Bb Major sonata, or is Gb Major Impromptu. However I'm not just saying he melodies however but the piece as a whole. You can't have a beautiful melody without a gorgeous harmony...

[pianocrazy]

hi.
im going to sound like a terrible noob, but i think some of the simplest pieces ever are the nicest.      like (omg, i m sooo embarassed) canon in d, (pardon me), ballade pour alise, and mariage de amour.

some other nice ones are :nocturne in c#minor (chopin), rhapsody no 1 (bhrams), moonlight sonata (1st and 3rd movements), fantasie impromptu (chopin), pathetique (2nd movement) and original nocturne op 9 no 2 (chopin)

[Kassaa]

Rachmaninov's third, first movement opening theme. The power in those few notes, incredible.

[fiveangles]

Wow....I think this post is great for a number of reasons, first of which is the value of melody itself.  It's the part of music that you don't learn, in the general sense or relatively speaking....ur born with it.  To me, it's my favorite part of music even though, to me, the piano is not a 'melody' instrument as much as it is a harmony instrument with all of the textures and such.  It's tone can not be modulated after a note is struck as all the pitch can do is fade away at various rates.  The inability to create vibrato makes it more difficult to convey feeling, yet that is not at all the case regarding all of these genius compositions mentioned.  And furthermore, what is even more amazing is how many compositions that were not written for the piano lend themselves better to the piano then their native instruments...for example, Rachm's 18th Varriation on Paganini is one of my favorites, and parts of the melody I like best when played on the piano, and other parts sound better in the orchestra.  Oh and BTW, Pianocrazy, I think ur right about simplicity being a big factor in many great melodies, my father certainly thinks so.

But I just wanted to mention something that may only be just me, but I wonder if anyone else feels the same.  I was amazed at the deversity of taste!!!!  As, I was looking at the peices listed of course I aggree with many of them, or if not, I understand why they have been selected.....but two really cool parts where that I saw almost zero of my favorites, and I saw a few that I just completly am missing the boat on.  And the point I'm trying to bring up is SIMPLY that this 'diversity' in taste is so wide, that I wonder what the reasons are for this.

Now, first the problem might be me in that, while I do play classical piano, mostly Chopin & a Beetvn Sonata or 2, the music forums that I have participated on until today have not been classical, like this one, so when my 'group' gets together the list looks entirely different, & perhaps this is the largest cause.  I'm not used to seeing some of these selections under the heading of most beautiful melodies, just as if I listed some of mine, maybe many of you think the same thing.  Well at least in adding my nominations, we'll deversify even more, so, speaking in terms of New York City, my home, we would still journey to Lincoln Center, but we won't find anyone in Avery Fisher or Allice Tulley as the Halls will be empty......but the House will be full, & if we're talking about the most beautiful melody, then The Metropolitan Opera House would be performing La Boheme by the composer that I believe (for me) wrote more beautiful melodies than anyone, then everyone, then anyone & everyone....Giacomo Puccini.  So which part of Boheme.....just the parts you can hear...the first note to the last and every single one in between. For anyone who knows the opera, the 'love theme' that appears in Che gelida manina and is used many times in many different forms for the rest of the opera, with no appearence more beautiful, more tender than  Puccini's flowering orchestration of it from Act IV when Rudolfo & Mimi are finally left alone to remember better times past.  But like I said earlier, this level of beauty (or just a mere fraction below that of Boheme) is achieved by Puccini in almost every thing he ever wrote, and I'm not talking about finding this in every opera, I'm talking about trying to go 5 min within most any of his operas with out hearing something just heart aching'ly beautiful.  There are of course, plenty of other operatic sections that are worthy to mention but I've already got carried away, but just a scuttlebut or 2 for any interested...L'Epilogo from Boito's Mefestofele, Vainement ma bien aimee from Lalo's Le Roi D'ys, & the entire opera Andrea Chenier by Giordano, which is considered to be "the best of the bad operas" by 'they', yet before the premier Verdi reviewed the score as a favor to a friend and said "...what man could write such music." and that is not at all taken out of context.  Oh yes, the above selections must be from the recordings of tenor Beniamino Gigli & you'll see why. 

There are a handful of composers who's music really 'makes sense' to me, understanding the composers musical language, but with Puccini the level and detail of understanding is far deeper, ah....never actully thought of this but how well one understands what the composer is saying/doing must play a huge roll in our preferences/passions simply because we can absorb more of the beauty of the genius.  So in closing, I can recall one of the other axioms said of melody/music.....sometimes the melodies that we are to love best, need to be listened to many many times before the magic happens.

[pianote]

liszt's sonata in b minor

[ralessi]

Chopin 2nd piano concerto, 2nd movement..without a doubt

[pianonut]

agreed with many of your points, fiveangles.  especially the one about listening to a piece many many times.  this is really a key to understanding the music.  you get to hear more intricacies of the melody or harmony.

rimsy korsakov is a favorite of mine - caprices espanole, i think.  he was quite a creative genius in orchestration and you can hear the instruments (as in mozart, puccini, etc).  i don't know which is more interesting ...orchestration or opera.  you have characters in both.

one thing that greatly effects melody and harmony is lightness of touch.  you can hear one person play a melody and not be dramatically affected.  then, another person plays it and you could listen forever.  maybe this 'butterfly effect' is a sort of connecting that you hear with violin (especially) or voice.

i am impressed also with folk song.  copeland, bartok, vaughn williams.  you can visualize the youngest child being enamored with the songs of youth, country, whatever.

ps  upright, i agree with the songs you chose, too!  they are cheerful and optomistic.  i am only beginning to explore the pessimistic songs that people also like, but am more drawn to optomistic ones.  maybe it is because music does affect my mood somewhat.  when i go through times of stress, try to listen to more mozart/beethoven as it cheers me up.

[mikeyg]

AIR on a *** G string

*** fine, I'll second it.  Now shut it.  :p

[pies]

­

[gorbee natcase]

I have many favourites beautiful melody , both from piano and other instruments.

For Piano :
- Faure's Barcarolle no 1, middle section, simply magical
- Faure's Romanse Sans Paroles no 3
- Ravel's Menuet from Le tombeau de Couperin
- Beethoven Emperor Concerto 2nd movement
- Rachamaninov 18th Paganini Variation
- Rachamaninov's Melodie
- Ginastera's Danzas Argentinas No 2
- Albeniz's Lavapies from Suite Iberia
- Prokofiev's Prelude from Suite op 10
- Ravel's Piano Concerto 2nd movement, the oboe melody in the middle of the movement

Non Piano :
- Barber Violin Concerto 2nd movement, the first theme sung by the oboe and later repeated by the violin near the end of the movement.
- Micaela's Aria from Carmen, first theme.
- Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, the haunting melody played by oboe.
- Faure's Romance op 69 for Cello and Piano
- Faure's In Paradisum from his Requiem, first theme

  I like your list

[nanabush]

For some reason I've become really fond of Chopin Etude in E minor op 25 number 5 I think something like that.  I don't know why the first two pages sounds so nice, xcept weird at the same time.

[musicsdarkangel]

Brahms - violin sonata D minor movement 1
Rachmaninoff - 18th variation Pag. variations.
Rachmaninoff - 3rd concerto opening theme
Rachmaninoff - op 23 no 7
Prokofiev - violin concerto no 2
Bartok - Romanian dance no 4
Rachmaninoff - 2nd sonata movement 2 opening


i have more but need to crap really bad.

[alraydo]

Two words......

   Waldstein  (third movement)

        -and-

   (Overture to) Candide    (Bernstein)

[viking]

I havent read this whole thread, so excuse me if this has been already debated.  I just remembered a phenomenal Sonata written by Rachmaninoff for Cello and Piano.  Im not sure which one, or if it is the only one he wrote, but the whole thing is absolutely gorgeous!! Even if you dont like cello, check it out.
SAM

[popndekl]

gewd mewnin' folx, ever listened to the music?

glenn miller - american patrol
acker bilk jazzband - dixie
elvis presley - i can't help falling in love
henry mancini - lara's theme (from dr. zhivago), pink panther theme
jimmy dorsey - clarinet polka
tchaikovsky - waltz from the sleeping beauty
van halen - big bad bill*

only few of my favorites...
p.s.: you cannot say "that's the most beautiful" because you'll get enough of it after n - listenings. but you can say "that's very good" because play count on your media player shows 300+... 

* - van halen - you have to listen to this - a good example of hard rock group, consisted of good musicians.

[dementedchord]

one big omission so far...

the melody from the middle section of Holst's "Jupiter."

I never get tired of it.

[dbrainiak914]

Liszt WALDESRAUSCHEN!!!

Brahms PS3 2nd movement


Mozart Clarinet Concerto 2nd mvmt
Copland Clarinet Concerto
Heavenly

[silverpeal]

I'm partial to vocal music because of my background.  These immediately came to mind:

"Casta diva"  Bellini's "Norma" -  Long, lush bel canto line; Joan Sutherland and Renee Fleming sing the pants off this aria.

"Morgen"  by Richard Strauss

"Meditation" from "Thais" by Massenet (a sumptuous baritone/ soprano duet in the opera; in addition to the famous violin solo)

"Una furtiva lagrima"  Donizetti "L'elisir d'amore"

"Laudate dominum"  Mozart

"Pur ti miro" from "'L'incoronazione di Poppea"  by Monteverdi

"Soave sia il vento"  (trio from "Cosi fan tutte" by Mozart)

[burstroman]

Can I pick 2? The song "Depuis le Jour" and the second movement of Bach's Emajor violin concerto.

[Aziel]

Chopin - Nocturne 9/1

[phil13]

These are just a handful...

Chopin: Impromptu No.3 in G-flat Major, Ballade No.2 in F major, Nocturne in B major Op.9 No.3, Etude in E major Op.10 No.3

Beethoven: 'Hammerklavier' 3rd movement, 'Pathetique' 2nd movement, 'Tempest' 3rd movement

Bach: Sleepers Wake, Piano Concerto No.1 in D minor (all of it)

Scriabin: Etude Op.2 No.1

Mozart: Piano Concerto No.21 2nd movement

Peace for now folks.

Phil

[donjuan]

I would say, off the top of my head:

"Un Belle Di" from Puccini's Madame Butterfly

"Isolde's Liebestod" from Wagner's Tristan and Isolde

Rachmaninoff: Etude Op. 23 No. 4, Mov 1+2 of Sonata No.1

Liszt: les Preludes , Un Sospiro, Fountains of the Villa d'Este, Sonetto 104 del Petrarca

Chopin: Aeolian Harp Etude, mov1 from Sonata No. 3, Gmin Ballade

Gardel: Por Una Cabeza
---
donjuan

[orlandopiano]

No brainer for me: Chopin 3rd Sonata, 1st mvmt in D major.

[orlandopiano]

Rachmaninoff - op 23 no 7

That's an awfully slow melody isn't it? (Or fast, depending on what you consider to be the melody)   

[rajordahl1]

Isn't melodic beauty in the ears of the beholder? I guess I'm puzzled by the interest in this question. After all, how do you define " beautiful "?

[Bouter Boogie]

What about Dvorak's 2nd movement in From The New World Symphony?

[jehangircama]

chopin ballade in G minor 2nd theme (I think its in E flat), Chopin fantasie in F minor the melody which is heard of and on throughout, Tchiakovsky PC 1 1st mvt (somewhere in the middle of it), begining o Waldstein sonata 3rd mvt, Chopin's third etude, mozart's 21st 2nd mvt, chopin fantasie impromtu middle part, practically all the Chopin waltzes,
Schubert impromptu in G flat(i think) etc.etc...

[ail]

The first one that comes to mind for me is the second variation on the second movement of Beethoven's Appassionata. That is one of few that almost make me cry when I try to play them.... doubly so, because I still can't play them.

Then,

crying beautiful:
   - Schubert Impromptu Op. 90 n. 3
   - Nocturne N.13 by Chopin (1st part)
   - Beethoven 7th symphony 2nd mov
   - in Loreena McKennitt's song Dante's Prayer, the chorus part that is taken from a CD called Russian Easter Festival (but which has nothing to do with Korsakoff's)

Evocative and dreamy:
   - about the first page of Chopin Nocturne N. 1
   - the very beginning of Mozart's Fantasia in Dm Kv 397 (?)
   - part (but unfortunately I don't remember which) of Beethoven's fantasy in Bm / G (guess it's the Op.77)
   - Grieg's Morning Mood
   - Schubert's Auf dem Wasser zu Singen (has to be heard to be believed)
   - Hoffman Tales: Barcarolle (Offenbach)

Others:
- Tchaik's theme in violin concerto (the one that resembles the music at the end of "The Empire Strikes Back")
- Princess's theme in "In a Persian Market" by Ketelbey.
- from Il Trovatore, Miserere (Verdi) (mostly the male part)
- parts in Bach's cello suites
- Haendel's "Ombra Mai Fu" from Xerxes
- Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus

[ail]

I second FiveAngles too. Let me just remember Oh Mio Babbino Caro as a worthy addition to the list and the eternal Un Bel Di Vedremo.

[jehangircama]

one big omission so far...

the melody from the middle section of Holst's "Jupiter."

I never get tired of it.

lovely piece.
 another one is John Williams's Jurrasic Park and definitely his Star Wars theme.

[musicsdarkangel]

That's an awfully slow melody isn't it? (Or fast, depending on what you consider to be the melody)   

It is somewhat on the slow side......... but amazing because of the harmonies within it. 


It's haunting, I fell in love with it the first time I heard it. 

[musicsdarkangel]

Anyone heard the 2nd movement to Dvorak's piano trio in f minor?


Everyone should listen to that........ I had the privaledge of playing it with two young virtuosos.   The piano part ROCKS and is beautiful.

[pabst]

Since somebody already mentioned Rach's Cello Sonata (which is non stop tearful melodical stuff), I'll come up with one this:

- Villa-Lobos: Piano Concerto n1, First, Second and Third mouvements (you know what i mean right BERNHARD, )

Pabst

[musicsdarkangel]

ooooooooo I can't believe I forgot this, but another thread reminded me.......


Liszt - Valee de Obermann (misspelling?)

[pianowolfi]

Rachmaninoff 2nd Symphony 2nd mvt. clarinet theme

[avetma]

1. Rachmaninov - 2nd piano concerto, 2nd movement  - that melody 'g# f# g# | g# a f# e | g#...

2. Beethoven - 5th piano concerto, 2nd movement

3. Liszt - Liebestraum - notice six times repeated tone 'c' with such beautiful hamonies...

[sevencircles]

Tchaikowsky:Violinconcerto (Finale)

Tchaikowsky: Swan Lake (The Intro)


Piano: The first 15 bars of hungarian Rhapsody no. 2 by liszt is brilliant and and many works by Beethoven to of course.

I always love melodies that change from major to minor (or opposite sometimes)  but I can´t come up with any good examples right now.

[gymnopedist]

Prokofiev: 3rd Piano Concerto, 3rd mov. middle theme. breathtakingly beautiful.
Prokofiev: 2nd Sonata, 1st movement, 2nd subject.
Ravel: Piano Concerto for the left hand: the "Piú lento" part.
Ravel: Lever du jour from Daphnis et Chloé
Ravel: Pavane de la belle au bois dormant
Ravel: Trio, Passacaille
Debussy: 3rd mov. from String Quartet
Debussy: 1st Image oubliée
Debussy: D'un cahier d'esquisses
Chopin: Scherzo no. 2, middle part.
Chopin: middle part of 25/5.
Chopin: 2nd nouvelle étude
Chopin: Trio from Scherzo of 2nd Sonata
Arensky: 1st mov. from Piano trio in d minor
Brahms: 1st mov. from violin sonata in d minor
Medtner: "Night Wind" Sonata
Rued Langgård: 2nd mov. of insanity fantasy

phew.

[sissco]

Chopin 2nd piano concerto, 2nd movement..without a doubt

Yes yes yes yes I wanted to say that  The little theme that returns 3 times is beautifull  Also the first PC first and second movements, beautifull melodies. I'm listening to Gulda's aria at the moment, that one goes on the list to....

[xavierm]

can't believe no one has said this...

Prokofiev's 2nd Piano Concerto - Theme of the first movement, and second theme of the last movement. It's too bad this isn't a more popular concerto as it is one of the best ever written, and in a way more romantic than Rach 2.

[nanabush]

3rd movement of Rach's 2nd concerto, the theme that keeps returning, first the orchestra plays, then the piano repeats it, it's pure genius.  Also, pavane pour une infante defunte by Ravel has to be top for me...  A sad melody in a major key, nothing more beautiful than that 

[houseofblackleaves]

The most beautiful melody I've heard... 3rd mov. of Rach 2.

I think that the most awsome part of any peice ever is the "Maestoso" from the first movement, so short yet so powerful.  I find myself listening to the whole first movement in anticipation for this short little bit of the concerto....

Other ones I recently discovered...

-Slow melody in Liszt Funerailles
-"Montagues and Capulets" from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet (!!!!)
-Chopin etude op.25 no.7 (The ULTIMATE Romantic peice)

[blu217]

Nessun Dorma.

Nothing else guts me absolutely every single time I hear it like this song does. I sat in front of my computer speakers one night and played Pavarotti's recording of it over and over at least 5 times; you'd have thought I was having a religious experience.

[hodi]

medtner night wind sonata- first movement
alkan symphony for piano solo - first movement opening

[donjuan]

Something everyone knows:  The ballad section of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody"  I love the lyrics especially; the melody is very simple, but Freddie makes it something truely magical.

video-

[jre58591]

medtner - fairy tale op 20 no 1. nuff said.

[phil13]

medtner - fairy tale op 20 no 1. nuff said.

Oh yes, I agree.

BTW I just realized that I posted earlier in this thread, but that my musical tastes have changed so dramatically that some of my previous opinions are now moot. I suppose this is one of those ever-changing opinions that you just cannot settle upon permanently.

Phil

[pianohenry]

A melody on its own, a solo line wont do it though? i mean just on its own. but its the chords, the harmony underneath that make it interesting and beautiful. thats why i like so many of debussys works, the melodies are nice, but however simple they are, the harmonies he uses are always original and interesting to listen to.

i agree with the person who said bachs goldberg variations - the aria bit.

[damien]

chopin nocturnes op55 2,op 48 2,op 32 2 and 1 and intermezzo from faschingsschwank aus Wien and schubert g flat impromptu and hungarian dance #15 Brahms