This is interesting. But, what of the vast repertoire of works that doesn't actually use melody in this manner? I'm referring to works that utilize motives and 'germs' as opposed to fully structured melodies.
And here's to another 170 years of him being dead!
Why celebrate 170 years again? Isn't it better to do it every 100 years? Or do people just don't want to wait around?
As for the composer itself, poor guy. But honestly I've literally walked out on every single performance I've heard from him so it's not like I care.