Most achingly-beautiful music

"Cat Scratch Fever"Ted Nugent
It such sounded fitting!

I will stand on the adagios on Schubert's late string quartets, see above. Lately though,I have really gone back to very early American music like Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family. Call it country music or even hillbilly music, I really do not care. But I have been quite smitten by the Hank Williams, Sr mystique. His acoustic music with just him and his flat body Martin/ Gibson has to be the most achingly beautiful music around. Hauntingly beautiful.
Even goose bump beautiful. Pitiful beautiful, what ever. He LIVED his songs. The original recordings are scratchy, lots of wow and flutter, but his voice does shine through. About the only two people I know on Audiogon who actually listen to Hank are myself and Albert. Most people probably are not familar with his body of work or do not care to know. But I will say this: 100 years from now, in America, at least, if not England, too( yes the Brits love Hank, for some strange reason the Swiss do too, maybe its the yodeling) Hank's music will be around.

surf by roddy frame,
O by damien rice
anything sad off american 4 by johhny cash.

Adagio from Albinoni's Concerto for Oboe in D Major

Rachmaninoff's 2nd Symphony 3rd movement is the pinnacle as far as I'm concerned. As for "pop" music, off the top of my head I think of "When We Dance" by Sting, but there are many others. Then there is the achingly beautiful compositions in the filmusic genre. Bernard Herrmann's love theme from "White Witch Doctor" (get past the title) or finale from "Fahrenheit 451"....and there is Victor Young's hearbreakingly beautiful love theme from "The Left Hand of God" or Franz Waxman's theme from "Peyton Place" or Alex North's deeply emotional theme from "Spartacus."