What is the most beautiful tune you have ever heard?

[Michael]

The thread title tells it all.

It doesn't have to be a symphony, a concerto, a song, a pop song, a song from a musical or an opera or an oratorio or even an advertisement.

Don't be shy.

My choice (and I'm incredibly biased - with good reason) is the Shepherd's Hymn from ( guess who?) Beethoven's 6th Symphony.
I first heard it 50 (or maybe more) years ago and nothing has matched it since (IMHO)

The YouTube version is fairly random - as it's quite late. And I've been celebrating 50 years of that cantankerous musician!

[Megan]

Oh Michael, so much to choose from. Classical and Pop.

What springs to mind at the moment would be, Beethoven's Piano concerto no. 4. And I will also go along with Symphony no. 6.


Samuel Barber - Agnus Dei


That beautiful touching moment in Mozart's Magic Flute, when Papagena discovers Papageno, that magical moment still casts a spell on me. I love it.


Next... a hymn for St. Paddy's Day. I will add, Be Thou my Vision , Irish version.












.

[Michael]

Nice choice, Megan. I totally forgot about St Patrick's Day!
Now where did I put me shamrock?

[Peter]

You're teasing us Michael, you know you've asked an impossible question! All I can say is that at the moment I'm enjoying this Russian folksong:
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_A0sUithFY[/YOUTUBE]

[Jacred]

Hmm... I am currently leaning towards the Heiliger Dankgesang from op. 132.

I also love the entire last act of Mozart's Marriage of Figaro. It's the most beautifully controlled chaos.

[Enrique]

You're teasing us Michael, you know you've asked an impossible question! All I can say is that at the moment I'm enjoying this Russian folksong:

I entirely agree with Peter. At the moment enjoying The Moldau (three tunes).

AMMENDMENT: last variation in the ninth, 3rd movement. But fisrt, you should listen to the theme and preceding variations.

[Michael]

The last variation of the Ninth's 3rd movement reminds me very much of my own favourite tune: the last movement of the Pastoral. They are both beautiful soaring melodies.

[Sorrano]

There are three that come to my mind that I like nearly equally.

3. 2nd Movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20
2. 2nd Movement of Beethoven's Appassionata Piano Sonata
1. 2nd Movement of Beethoven's 5th Piano Concerto

Not sure if the last two qualify as "tunes". But they are some of the most beautiful passages of music to me.

[Albert Gans]

That's such a difficult question to answer..... depends on the mood, I think.
Here are a few:
The famous Arietta from Op. 111, no prizes for who guesses whom from.
"Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen", one of the Rückert-Lieder by Mahler
For me the transition between Movement 3 & 4 in LvB's 5th Symphony is one of the most exhilarating pieces of music I know.
Also exhilarating, but in a different way: the end of the Auferstehungssymphonie (Mahler again, No 2)
Yes, Piano Concerto N°4, Opus 58
What about 'Les Indes Galantes' of Rameau?
Händel's Messiah... plenty of 'tunes' to choose from there. But I also adore Lascia qu'io pango or Ombra mai fu...
I never mentioned Nimrod yet, or the second movement of Grieg's piano concerto.
And so on.....

[Chris]

This is indeed a difficult question to answer, and I've been thinking about it ever since this topic was posted. Often I find the slow movement the least interesting part of a piece, and when I really love one the reason is usually because of a very beautiful melody. Thinking back, what are the slow movements that have really struck me? And what else, purely on account of the beauty of the melody?

Tchaikovsky - Violin concerto in D major, second movement - This is one of the first times I was really captivated by a melody.

Tchaikovsky - Piano concerto no. 1 in B-flat minor, second movement - Back in the 90s, I even made a complete MIDI version of the orchestral part so I could play along with it, I loved this movement so much. I put a lot of work into that MIDI, and it actually sounded really good!

Beethoven - Piano sonata no. 23 in F minor "Appassionata", second movement - I never did get around to learning this entire piece, but I did play the second movement because I thought the theme was so beautiful.

Beethoven - Piano sonata no. 27 in E minor, second movement - This is a frequent ear worm for me!

Schubert - Piano sonata in A major, D 959, fourth movement - I think the first time I heard this rondo melody was in an arrangement for cello and piano that served as the theme song to the American sitcom Wings in the 90s. It always stuck with me.

Mozart - Piano concerto no. 27 in B-flat major, K 595, third movement (also the tune to "Komm, lieber Mai", K 596) - I don't know if "beautiful" is exactly the right word for this melody, but it is extremely charming.

There are many Irish and Scottish folk song melodies that would qualify as well.