Most achingly-beautiful music

This is a really long thread. Don't know if anyone has already listed it, but if so, I 2nd or 3rd or 4th their vote for Vaughan Williams', "The Lark Ascending". I'll save my other 2 for later.

oops - make that movie reference, "Close Encounters....".

I always liked her single, "7 (?) Year Ache". Not sure I have that quite right. For whatever reason, don't own anything by her...must add her to the list. Thanks for the reminder, Rabco.

"Let's Go Away for Awhile" - Beach Boys from Pet Sounds (That melody, those vibes and strings...always been killer to me).

Bermudapilot - absolutely, "The River Man". Thanks for posting that. Great string arrangements on this and other tracks of this recording.

e - if you aren't familiar with Nick Drake, you are in for a treat (I hope). He's dead but his music lives on (to use a cliche). The River Man is on a recording called, Five Leaves Left. Hope you will check him out.

Well, maybe not "most" but make that only "achingly beautiful" and check out Tim Finn's "Imaginary Kingdom"...several tracks qualify for me (Astounding Moon; Salt to the Sea; Winter Light).

Bdp - your mention of the Beach Boys reminded me about "Let's Go Away For A While" from Pet Sounds.

Larry - thank you for the recommendations. My classical music education is very spotty and "happenchance". As I write, I am listening to RVW's "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" performed by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields with Neville Marriner conducting (who else?). This CD includes The Lark Ascending (Track 3). Violinists on the Thomas Tallis are Iona Brown & Trevor Connah. Iona Brown is violinist on the Lark. I do not know Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto or the Dvorak. For me, music is a window through which we occasionally glimpse Heaven. Listening to the Lark, I am reminded of a line from an early scene in the movie, "ET" where they find those guys in the Mexican desert and one tells the investigators (going by memory), "The Sun came down and sang to me....".

OK - so there's not one, top of the heap "most achingly beautiful"...many great recommendations as a result. A couple of things I'm listening to lately that seem to qualify for inclusion:

1) 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) from Springsteen's "The Wild the Innocent and....".

2) Fake Plastic Trees from Radiohead's "The Bends"

Apologies if I'm simply duplicating someone else's earlier suggesions.

Ciao.

Once again, maybe not 'most' but make that simply 'achingly beautiful' and check out Lucinda Williams' "Sweet Old World'.