DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: Histologically confirmed unresectable stage III or stage IV melanoma Patients who are disease free following surgical resection or chemotherapy for stage III or IV disease also eligible HLA-A201 positive

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: Age: 18 and over Performance status: Karnofsky 60-100% Life expectancy: At least 5 months Hematopoietic: WBC at least 3,500/mm3 Platelet count at least 75,000/mm3 LDH no greater than 2 times upper limit of normal No active bleeding Hepatic: Albumin at least 3.5 mg/dL Renal: Not specified Other: Not pregnant or less than 3 months postpartum Fertile patients must use effective contraception No serious underlying medical conditions No known immunodeficiency No active infection No retinal or choroidal eye disease

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: Biologic therapy: At least 4 weeks since prior immunotherapy and recovered No prior tyrosinase or gp100 peptides No prior Montanide ISA-51 No prior melanoma protein vaccine or melanoma whole cell vaccines No other concurrent immunotherapy Chemotherapy: At least 4 weeks since prior chemotherapy and recovered No concurrent chemotherapy Endocrine therapy: At least 2 weeks since prior systemic steroids and recovered No concurrent systemic steroids Radiotherapy: At least 4 weeks since prior radiotherapy and recovered No prior radiotherapy to the spleen No concurrent radiotherapy Surgery: Recovered from any prior surgery No prior splenectomy Other: At least 1 week since prior antiinflammatory drugs and recovered At least 1 week since prior antihistamines and recovered No concurrent antiinflammatory drugs No concurrent antihistamines No concurrent antimicrobial drugs