I wasn't familiar with a song for you, but found michael buble's version with chris botti (love botti!) here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkjEILbesQ8

Moonglow is a beautiful melody, no doubt.

Perhaps one of the most beautiful lennon/mccartney melodies is here, there and everywhere.

A close second favorite melody for me is Stella by starlight.

Beyond the Sea...best by Bobbie Darin.

ML

There are 2 melodies that stop me in my tracks:
Shenandoah and
Londonderry Air (Danny Boy if you add the lyrics).

DH would select the Theme from Laura.

Hmm.... Hard to say really. I think it would depend on my mood. Two that come to mind right away are : Leonard cohens Hallelujah, the four tops (forget the composer) I'll be there.

But I think you are way too dismissive of rap. It is modern day jazz. The way they sample music shows a great appreciation for beats and rhythms and arranging. Sure the lyrics can be offensive but there are also great artists in that genre (tribe called quest, Talib kwelli, wutang clan, Aesop rock) as well as powerful political commentary.

Then again I generally dislike pop music and love the complicated back and forth extemporaneous conversation musicians can have with jazz...so it may be easier for me to appreciate rap.

This post was edited by iheartgiantschnauzer on Wed, Aug 28, 13 at 17:19

i heart, I wasn't dismissing rap, though it is clearly not my thing, but exhalting what a beautiful melody can do for the heart and the soul...melody being something that rap lacks.

Edelweiss, it only brings forth the noblest of emotions.

Does rap really lack melody...
What is melody anyway ?
A beat a hook ?
A pleasing succession or arrangement of sounds.(dic.)
Check out Macklemore &Ryan Lewis..
If this song doesn't do anything for the heart and soul
I just don't know...
It is important to me to point these guys out because they were just one of many of the performances overlooked because of the MC hoopla.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlVBg7_08n0

Oh No ~
In one fell swoop I imposed religion and politics....
Sorry
That was not my intent.......

maire cate, Londonderry Air/Danny Boy has always seemed beautiful to me too.

Annie, you said, "feel badly for these kids who are raised on rap and hip hop and miss the moving sensation you can get from a beautiful melody...the chills, your socks rolling up and down.". I think you underestimate kids raised on rap and hip hop and their ability to be moved by the sensation of a succession of chords, beats and rhythms. And I think some would argue that certain songs by the roots, kanye, common or de la soul have actual melody. I also think people don't realize how certain rap songs lead kids to explore so much other music because of a sample in a song.

I am not saying rap music doesn't have words and rhyming and rhythm and back notes and beat and can't be moving to people. I'm certainly saying nothing about the people who choose to listen to it or their capacity to derive emotions from it. (It certainly moves me...to change the station.) But it's hallmark is the spoken word, not melody. Just as poetry has words and rhythm and maybe rhyming and can move people in emotional ways, but lacks melody. It is a different experience. Rap consists of the spoken word, melody needs no words at all.

If exposure to rap encourages people to explore other genres of music, I'm delighted. However, if rap is all someone listens to, then I'm suggesting they are missing out on a different and very delightful experience that comes only from the twists and turns of major and minor notes coming together to create a moving melody.

And a powerfully written melody can survive many kinds of musical styles...from a slow solo to a fast jazz to complex orchestrations and a wide variety of instrumentations and rhythms and genres. But I don't think rap can live by melody alone. My understanding of rap is that it is characterized by speaking words to a rhythmic background. I don't think you can rap without words. Add a backbeat to Dr. Seuss and you have rap.

I disagree that rap is modern day jazz. Jazz is all about playing with a melody, straight on, then bending, twisting, and torturing it into something far afield from the original and then bringing it back around, much of which is instrumental...even to the point where voices are used as instruments as in scat. But at it's heart is the melody.

If you like rap music, more power to you. Clearly rap and hip hop are popular and successful as a musical genre. But it is not my thing. I was at a stoplight one day and a fellow in a car pulls up next to mine and he was listening to something. I couldn't wait for the light to change and get away from it because all it sounded like was someone very angry yelling at him. I just don't understand the attraction of being yelled at, with or without a backbeat. But hey, that's just me.

I do understand what a beautiful melody does for someone. We may not all agree on what particular melodies are beautiful, but I would hope we still understand what melody is.

This post was edited by AnnieDeighnaugh on Wed, Aug 28, 13 at 22:36

Edelweiss...beautiful...
Shenandoah, too. Right up there with Red River Valley.
Laura is a lovely melody too...as was Gene Tierney who played her in the movie.

I love music with minor notes as they do trigger emotions. I found it interesting on our vacation when the leader of the Slovak Folksong and Dance Ensemble talked about how they don't use minor notes at all because they tend to be sad notes. So their traditional music is all in major keys, all happy stuff.

Oh and Auld Lang Syne stops me in my tracks. Something about it, especially if pipes are playing, just touches me.

I can think of a couple I like to hum...and for me, I guess that's the true test.

Sunrise, Sunset
The Impossible Dream
My Way
You Are My Sunshine
Smile

My favourite classic melody is Panis Angelicus, sung by Pavarotti and Sting, the combination of their voices with that melody really moves me.

I am also moved by many pop songs, moved as in I want to get up and move, they energize me and get my heart racing and for me that's an important emotion- some of the classics named above I also appreciate but they make me nostalgic and sometimes sad.

Amazing Grace , I get chills when I hear it.

Forboystoo, I am also very moved every time by the song you linked, it speaks to me enormously as does the song True Colors.

And, of course, a most moving melody is Taps...it always seems so perfect to its purpose.

Amazing Grace is an interesting one as it is based on a pentatonic scale which seems to have global recognition almost on an instinctive level.

Here is a link that might be useful: Power of pentatonic scale

This may be a bit out of the traditional "genre" , but the piano solo at the end of Eric Claption's Layla is my favorite melody. I swear I can just feel his heart breaking everytime I hear it.

This is an interesting discussion, and I think it depends on your definition of "melody". To me, things like "Moonlight in Vermont" are old-timey pop songs (plus, I'm from Vermont, and we don't HAVE sycamore trees) and not "melodies", which are "Mary Has a Little Lamb" kind of stuff, so I guess we don't all understand or agree what melody is.

My music taste isn't static, I like many genres and artists, so I don't really have a favorite, and ones I do return to are hardly ever played on commercial radio (which has become sad and pathetic IMO), ever, and especially not on classic rock or "the music of your life" stations. Some of my favs are John Hiatt's "Feels Like Rain", Michael Franti and Spearhead's "Oh My God", Bonnie Raitt's "What is Success" and anything by Tanglefoot.

I feel about music as I do about other activities, if you enjoy it and aren't hurting other adult humans, animals or kids, have it at. Who am I to say that your favorite anything is anymore classic, worthy or cultured than mine?

sandyponder

I was trying to specifically highlight melody...the theme of the song, if you will...separate and apart from who is playing it or how it is being played....something that is special and powerful whether it is whistled or orchestrated. I think it is a very different question from "what's your favorite song" which for me includes the performers, the arrangement, etc.

Certainly this is not to judge anyone...rather it was just to share thoughts around favorite melodies that we enjoyed and thought were special.

I guess I did not understand the technical aspect of your question, as I have no idea what techniques composers use.

Wow, I don't know what I say or do that gets me so misunderstood. This is not a technical question or have anything to do with the techniques a composer uses.

I just thought it would be fun for us to spend some time sharing lovely melodies, the musical themes that move us. I didn't think it was complicated or going to become so.

Maybe you could just pose your questions and then let people reply and read their answers and not express your views on what everyone says. It often feels like there is a lecture involved in these threads.

annie, I think some of my answers veered into the favorite version, etc rather than favorite melody, but I don't think it was hard to understand what you are asking.

Did you, by chance, listen to On A Clear Day by the Peddlers?
It was recorded in the '70s- I think it's wonderful. Wonder if anyone else has heard it, and if you loved it too? :) I like any version of this melody, though.

I thought the original question was fairly straightforward and I enjoyed reading the replies, including the discussion on rap. Interesting.

It was hard for me to limit my melodies and I found myself thinking of others as I read the responses.

Thanks for the link to Bobby McFerrin. I haven't thought that much about the pentatonic scale since my keyboard composition classes in college.

Unchained Melody by the Righteous Brothers.

God Bless America always brings tears to my eyes, always.

My husband...anything Willie Nelson. LOL!!

Annie you said "I think it is a very different question from "what's your favorite song" which for me includes the performers, the arrangement, etc."

I mentioned the performers I preferred for Panis Angelicus,
and it was veering off your intended topic, I guess I didn't understand your above comment then, you're allowed to specify what your intentions were, but threads often run off in different directions...

Your thread is fun, and I do enjoy reading what songs touch people and stay with them-

I think some melodies would not be so interesting as such if we hadn't been touched by a particularly good interpretation.

It depends on the day, and probably what I've been exposed to. If I've seen a movie with the grands, I'll hum a tune for days! If I'm listening to a cd or radio in the car, that puts me on a roll. Whatever the pianist is playing at Nordstrom can get me started, or the piped in music in many stores gets me humming, sometimes singing~I'm not shy. I love music, wanted to be a singer, but no formal training, unless 8 years in Catholic school choir counts.

"Certainly this is not to judge anyone "
And it would have been a nice thread had you not judged.

" I feel badly for these kids who are raised on rap and hip hop ."
Enjoy and share your favorite melodies !!
It went off track when those who enjoy ALL music felt a need
to defend their choices ,which may include Rap and Hip Hop.
(By the way Hip Hop is rhymes and verses ...
Rap is more image then words.Not to be confused with the Gangsta Rap you may have heard from the vehicle next to you )
Without that one comment I think that the whole conversation
would have went another way..

Maybe because you don't have children you haven't been exposed to as much of their music as I have.
I gotta say, my son has only been alive since the onset of Hip Hop and Rap.(His pants are not bagging)
Still I believe that kids are so lucky today to have all the classics available at a click of a download.
My older son has an arsenal that ranges from Frank Sinatra to Sanborn and Kenny G moving to Eminem and all the Rock and Pop in between.I'll also be sending him a link to check out some of those mentioned here.

Well perhaps it was received as being judgmental, but that's not what was intended. I didn't think what I said was any more judgmental than to say I feel badly for people who don't like chocolate because it gives me such pleasure and I wish they could enjoy the experience as I do....as I'm sure others may feel badly for me because I don't golf and can't enjoy it as they do. IMHO, that is not a judgment but an observation.

Mitchdesj, I think you are right that some arrangements will impact the attractiveness or certainly the prominence of a melody. I was always surprised at the difference in the two versions Neil Sedaka did of his "breaking up is hard to do." Some other songs that come to mind include the Beatles' version of "a hard day's night" vs. the one Goldie Hawn did, and Harry Connick Jr's version of "if I only had a brain" vs. the original movie version. And, Donnie and Marie's version of Deep Purple was light but not moving as, say, Bea Wain's version.

Then there was "a fifth of beethoven" which took a bunch of classical themes and set them to a disco beat. That probably exposed a lot of people to classical melodies who wouldn't have heard them otherwise. Of course, I think I first heard classical music when watching the original Bugs Bunny cartoons....

Speaking of classical, no one has yet mentioned any classical or operatic themes. I always get chills when I hear "Nessun Dorma".

Here is a link that might be useful: Pavarotti's Nessun Dorma

Panis Angelicus is as classical as it comes, here's a link to a young Pavarotti singing it with a boy's choir in Montreal.

Here is a link that might be useful: Panis Angelicus

My apologies, mitchdesj...I missed it...of course you are right...beautiful melody for sure.

jenna1, unchained melody is beautiful for sure, and IKWYM about God Bless America.

Unchained melody, you're making me take a walk in the past and it's a tune that makes people want to belt it out, lolâ¦.

Nancybee, I'd not heard the peddlers' version before...very nice. Thanks.

Annie, I enjoy the thread, but I do understand the definition of melody. I ÃÂ even gave you two examples of melodies I love that would not make my list of top 15 songs. ÃÂ But I enjoy those melodies even by various artists in varied arrangements. ÃÂ However, you and i will just have to agree to disagree on this next point. ÃÂ I strongly believe that melody is present in many hip hop songs especially the roots and others I listed. ÃÂ It is not required to be in rap, but it can exist. ÃÂ

If we veer into the classical arena then I am partial to Schubert'sàTränenregen. àBeethoven's "Moonlight" Sonata, Lara's Theme from Doctor Zhivago,àWaltz of the Flowers by Tchaikovsky. On the nostalgia front, my mum sang me to sleep with Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ral and I continue to sing the lullaby to my son. àMore contemporary I love valparaiso by sting, into the mystic by van Morrison,fire and rain by James Taylor, yesterday by Lennon and McCartney, àbridge over troubled water by simon and garfunkel, the blowers daughter by Damien rice.

I couldn't pick just one, but here are a few that I like:

The main theme from Star Wars: Episode IV

"Somewhere" from West Side Story

Theme from Somewhere in Time

"Smoke Gets in Your Eyes"

I'd not heard blower's daughter before...very nice.

For some reason, it reminded me of another melody that I always loved...I go for those minor keys....Dan Fogelberg's Wisteria.

I don't have a favorite, but many I like . . .

-The Moldau (Smetana)
-O Mio Babbino Caro (Puccini)
- Sweet Lips (Monaco, aka New Order)
-Drowsy Maggie (trad. Irish)
-Pretty much any Andean tune
-Imagine (Beatles)

I also think Maroon 5 has a knack for great melodies.

Iheart, I made an arrangement of/played Hallelujah for a wedding for friends. I still smile when I hear that song!

Speaking of melodies....y'know those frustrations you have when you can't remember something and it eats at you? Well I have one of those. It's from years and years ago....I vaguely remember anything about it, but it was on the Today show when Jane Pauley was still around and she showed a film clip from maybe the 1940s of a woman singing a song into the telephone and she dared us not to sing along with it...I found myself singing along with it alright.

Can't remember the actress, the movie or the song. Not a clue....rats!

Into The Mystic: Van Morrison. Every time I hear it, it just does something to me.

A different twist to the question: every time I hear Just Like Heaven by The Cure, I need to dance.

"The Swan" by Saint-Saens" . Beautiful melody ! Link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Swan

I think the prettiest/most lovely melody ever written was in the old movie from the 1940ties, "Sun Valley Serenade"...."I know Why & So Do You". It has nice lyrics, but can stand on its own. I like the Big Band Glenn Miller version.

I like so many of those already mentioned, but for pure melody, I think I would choose this. I have a difficult time separating words from music and am often not sure if I would love the melody as much without the words-Beyond the Sea is one of those. Even if I am hearing an instrumental version or just humming to myself, the words are there in my mind.

Anyway, I love the New World Symphony, so here is a brief bit of it. I think it is evocative of the wonder and joy people like Lewis and Clark must have had as they beheld the grandeur of what nature has to offer on this continent (yes, thinking history now that school is about to start).

Here is a link that might be useful: Dvorak

The swan was lovely. Interesting to watch yoyo mas face as he was playing...he was clearly enjoying it as much as the audience was.

I'd not heard sun valley serenade before...nice. I was reminded of my dad tho as the video started with moonlight serenade which was another one he enjoyed.

Goin' home...very moving melody for sure.

I wasn't familiar with into the mystic, but it led me to another one of his I like...moon dance.

I so appreciate sharing these melodies and the memories they invoke. I'm also enjoying these new...to me anyway...melodies that you enjoy. Thank you.

I thought of another lovely melody...I song I used to listen to a lot oh so many years ago when I was still watching days of our lives...Friends and Lovers, Gloria Loring and Carl Anderson.

I think it's sometimes difficult to separate the words from the melody and I probably wouldn't be attracted to a song's melody if I disliked the words. However the first secular song I remember from my childhood is The Tennessee Waltz. At the time I had no idea where Tennessee was but I really liked the melody and it's still my favorite among many.

I wondered when I might have first heard it and the song was first released in December 1947 and became a multimillion seller via a 1950 recording by Patti Page. So likely I first heard it between the ages of 5 and 8. I know it's an early memory. Interesting tidbit from Wikipedia - as of 1974, it was the biggest selling song ever in Japan.

I have too many other favorites to list - I even like national anthems of several countries.

The Tennessee waltz would probably be 2nd on DHs list....

This post was edited by AnnieDeighnaugh on Sun, Sep 1, 13 at 18:15

Cat Stevens' Wind is a happy ditty that I spent a lot of time enjoying.

Mine would be either "Simple Gifts" or "Greensleeves." Many different sets of lyrics throughout the centuries, but the tunes are timeless.