Did any composer have the gift of music as deeply as Schubert? Few come close. Perhaps Dvorak of whom Brahms said "If I could only write a main theme like one of his passing fancies..." Here's a clip of Death and the Maiden:
Originally posted by HandyAndy Rachmaninoff was no slouch either.
Indeed there were many. Mozart, Verdi, Dvorak, Brahms, Von Weber, Haydn, Mendelssohn. Of the Russians. Mussorgsky, Borodin, Glinka. Smetana and Mahler among the Bohemians. We are fortunate to have access to so much great music! Bellini, Donizetti, Puccini, Gounod, Massenet, Cilea among opera greats. Wagner could weave a mean tune! I dive into it all with gusto and enjoyment!
Originally posted by KazetNagorra Yes, for example [insert stuff I like].
Melody is in the ear of the beholder, I suppose. I think people like Neil Finn, Justin Currie, Stephen Duffy, Andy Partridge, Gordon Sumner, to mention but a few, also quite clearly had the "gift" of melody.
Originally posted by FMF Melody is in the ear of the beholder, I suppose. I think people like Neil Finn, Justin Currie, Stephen Duffy, Andy Partridge, Gordon Sumner, to mention but a few, also quite clearly had the "gift" of melody.
This thread is about classical music. You are of no use to this OP!
Originally posted by FMF It would seem the thread has drifted towards a broader view of 'composers' and the 'Gift of melody'.
How dare you compare these nobodies to Schubert! You're telling me they are at the level of a Schubert? What is this broader view you're talking about? Why must everything be broad instead of circumscribed to the greats of the past? No one today can compare. While many folksy people may possess the gift of melody they cannot compare to the great, sublime Schubert.
Originally posted by FMF They are not nobodies. I was able to mention them without having to look their names up.
But you are not answering the "broader" question as to whether you are elevating these people to the level of a Schubert or other great melodists of the past. Here's a test. You say you remember their names without having to look them up and this proves their somebody. Does even one melodic line enter your memory and sear itself like Schubert's Death and the Maiden, Verdi's themes from La Traviata or his Va Pensiero Chorus from Nabucco, Puccini's from La Boheme, Wagner's from the Ring, Beethoven's from his piano sonatas , symphonies, quartets, Mozart's from his operas, Mascagni's Cavaleria Rusticana and on and on and on?
Originally posted by scacchipazzo But you are not answering the "broader" question as to whether you are elevating these people to the level of a Schubert or other great melodists of the past. Here's a test. You say you remember their names without having to look them up and this proves their somebody. Does even one melodic line enter your memory and sear itself like Schubert's Death an ...[text shortened]... artets, Mozart's from his operas, Mascagni's Cavaleria Rusticana and on and on and on?
Perhaps my taste is different from yours. This means that "level" is just a subjective thing.
Originally posted by FMF Perhaps my taste is different from yours. This means that "level" is just a subjective thing.
Undoubtedly taste has lots to do with it. However, I looked up one of them, Andy Partridge. I picked a song aptly named Bland Leading the Bland. I have to admit he does not exactly knock my socks off. I assure you I also listened to a few of his other tunes. I am not exactly going to be whistling any of his tunes. I do accept that he is different and his lyrics are cool. He ain't no Schubert, though.
Originally posted by scacchipazzo Undoubtedly taste has lots to do with it. However, I looked up one of them, Andy Partridge. I picked a song aptly named Bland Leading the Bland. I have to admit he does not exactly knock my socks off. I assure you I also listened to a few of his other tunes. I am not exactly going to be whistling any of his tunes. I do accept that he is different and hi mething better than a street corner meoldy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eleqWoi-Ro&NR=1
So our tastes differ then. I do like Schubert though. Probably more than you like Partridge. So that's perhaps where the "broader" thing comes into it.
Originally posted by FMF So our tastes differ then. I do like Schubert though. Probably more than you like Partridge. So that's perhaps where the "broader" thing comes into it.
That does not broaden anything. It expands your musical horizons. I did not say I don't like Partridge, merely that he is so far removed from Schubert as to make the comparison strange. Of course we have different tastes. We all do. I don't mind folksy music one bit. Schubert did not either and took quite a few tunes then expanded them into his awesome melodic weave and variegated said tunes so much as to make them all his own. Beethoven probably lifted the theme for the Creatures of Prometheus from a folk tune. No music exists in isolation and through the ages composers have inspired one another. But you know all that already. Where I do find incredible melodiousness is in bluegrass. I'm especially fond of the Travelling MCourys!
24 Feb '11 03:46
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Gift of melody
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