Hector Berlioz was the first composer to call some of his compositions mÃ lodies . His Les Nuits d' Ã tÃ ( 1841 ) is one of the greatest of all song cycles . Perhaps the first mÃ lodies were those of Hector Berlioz ; he was certainly the first to use the term to describe his own compositions , and his song cycle Les nuits d' Ã tÃ ( 1841 ) is still considered an example of the genre .