Tuneful? The Importance of Melody
“Melody is the essence of music,” said Mozart. "The true goal of music—its proper enterprise—is melody," said composer, theorist and pupil of Bach, J.P. Kirnberger. For millennia, right across the world, pretty much everybody agreed with this. Folk songs, religious chant, the music of the indigenous people of every continent, the classical music of China, the Middle East and most other parts of the world – all these have always consisted essentially of melody. Still today, the great majority of music sung, played and heard throughout the world – pop music, musical theatre, jazz, classical, film music, "world" music – whether heard live or via recordings, emphasizes melody more than the other elements of music. Of course there are exceptions. Some world music is based [...]