Almost anything by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg is sublime.  Many folks
are familiar with the Peer Gynt Suites, especially "Hall of the Mountian
King." (I think even the Who covered it..:)  I'd start there, but for me one
of the coolest, most melodic works of his (which are far less known) are
found in his piano pieces for beginners.  I have two cd volumes ofthese and
learned many of these pieces as a young man learning the piano.  They are
haunting and lovely in their simplicity.

Grieg's mixture of Norway's indigenous folk music with European classical
strains is quite unique compared with many other composers of his day.  His
Piano Concerto in A is also highly recommended.

Other composers/works I like: Handel's Water Music, Mozarts late string
Quartets, Debussy, Chopin, Scarlatti.  There's a lot of great melodies out
there for pop fans to discover within classical music, but much like
progressive rock, you have to spend some time with it to really get inside
the music.  

Luckily, I had 10 years of classical piano training as a kid, so I gained an
appreciation for it at an early age...but much of this music was the "pop"
music of the time, so it makes sense that many here like the strong melodies
of the masters.  I just see Brian Wilson, the Zombies, the Beatles and other
favorites with as an extension of it...always have.  Great topic.


Brian