Akino Arai - Furu Platinum - Orange Noel -
Japanese Female vocalist with the prettiest voice in
the world, and the best arrangements ever.
Most of her career has been spent singing theme music
for anime movies, and TV show theme songs. |
Barber's "Adagio for strings". "Wolf Eyes" by Paul Winter,I have played this at some important dog's funerals,yes,I'm crazy but if you have ever loved a dog I bet you'll tear up when you hear this music. "You Can't Resist It" by Lyle Lovett,if you have ever fallen in love, period. I saw Lyle and Leo Kottke play this song with just 2 acoustic guitars, it was incredible. "The Koln Concert" by Keith Jarrett. I love this thread. I haven't finished all the responses yet, but I will. It is very informative. |
Lucinda Williams' "Essence" |
Mozart Piano Concertos No.20 in D minor, K.466. |
There are many but the one that really sticks out in my mind is "The Lark Ascending" by Vaughan Williams. |
Female vocals. Pat Benatar, Sarah McLachlan, Linda Rhonstadt, Enya. These female vocalists all have perfect pitch and perfect voices and with the right song, can be very moving to listen to. Patti Smyth did a great duet with Don Henley and some great songs of her own. Classical music can also be very moving with Chopin's minor music being very emotional or Bach or Beethoven. |
Rimsky-Korsakov
Scheherazade (Symphonic Suite), Op.35* |
I must add a couple to the previous response: Allegri's Miserere, Pachelbel's Canon, Beethoven's 7th Symphony.
The emotional loading of every piece is very listener dependent, but I still find browsing through other people's postings enchanting. What a great source of ideas for expanding one's CD collection this forum is! |
Paganini Violin Concerto No 1 op.6 |
Vaughn Wiliiams symphony #5 particularly the romanza section.A favorite recording is Menhuhin and the royal phil on virgin classics vc7 90733-2 |
barber's adagio is great, also the vangelis soundtrack to bladerunner track 5 (love theme). this is a great album to turn down the lights to. |
The cavatina from Beethoven's late string quartet opus 130 perfomed by Berlin phil with Furtwangler. Or performed by the Hungarian String Quartet. |
States of Grace CD (esp tracks 1, 4 and 6) by Paul Schwartz, and Tale of the Whales by Michael Gettel |
J.S. Bach Polonaise in G Minor(^119)
From the Magdalena Notebook (#10) |
Faure's Requiem. (Also harmonic singing by M. Litwinski, except it's unavailable commercially save a pale imitation with a fusion jazz group, "Two Suns". There might still be streaming files of Litwinski at wnyc.org's "New Sounds".) |
Franz Shubert
Symphony No. 8 In b
"Unfinished", D. 759 |
Thank you all for a gold mine of music suggestions. I don't think I found one of my favorites: Jennifer Warnes with Leonard Cohen, singing "Joan of Ark" on her Famous Blue Raincoat album (all L. Cohen songs). Always give me goosebumps - I feel like Joan wins in the end... |
Johann Sebastian Bach / Goldberg Variations piece by Glenn Gould - may they rest in peace.
2002 marks the 20th anniversary of Glenn Gould's death. Moreover, on September 25, 2002 Glenn Gould would have celebrated his 70th birthday. |
Ben,
Siesta is the whole album where the pieces are put together as one. Rare issue that exists on LP and CD.
Do the search on Siesta album on cdnow.com or better at half.com since I believe it's out of print. |
Is this the longest running thread on Audiogon? A latest suggestion are the songs of Renaldo Hahn sung by Susan Graham. What a mezzo! |
Marakanetz-what Miles album is that on? |
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For a start, "Snow Queen" from Tom Rapp's "Beautiful Lies You Could Live In" LP Reprise 1971 |
Mozart Requiem - Lacrimosa. |
Patti Smith Gone Again in particular My Madrigal. If this doesn't tear your heart out you have to be dead. |
#1 Tchaikovsky's Symp. No. 5 in E Minor (Mstislav Rostropovich conducting the London Philharmonic is exemplary)
#2 Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola (as performed by Henryk Szeryng and Bruno Giuranna with the New Philharmonia directed by Alexander Gibson)
#3 Dire Strait's Brothers in Arms |
John Williams "Cavatina", the classical guitar theme from the movie "The Deerhunter" with Robert De Niro. Heard it 20 years ago, still haunts me to this day. |
The Songs of Crazy Horse by J. D. Blackfoot. Have loved it for almost thirty years. |
The Marriage Of Figaro (Act 3: Duettino) Most of you remember this from the movie The Shawshank Redemption. This beautiful music was played over the prison P.A. system and brought the entire prison to a standstill, and almost created a riot. |
...Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" on her "Live at Blues Alley" CD. Simply the most beautiful, evocative and emotionally connected vocal performance of this song that I've ever heard. Brings tears to my eyes every time. The rest of the CD is phenomenal as well. |
The 2nd movement of Rodrigo's "Aranjuez" is the specific melody I had in mind. But I will shamelessly use this opportunity to mention another hauntingly beautiful melody: Massenet's "Meditation" from Thais... |
Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez" is simply The most haunting and beautiful melody I have ever heard...
Bach's "Air For the G String"
For popular music... any ballad played by the late cornetist Bobby Hackett (who can be heard on most Jackie Gleason recordings, "Music For Lovers Only", etc.) |
Verdi's Requiem - the whole thing. |
1) Liszt - Benediction de Dieu dans la solitude. Favorite recording by Garrick Ohlsson on EMI/Angel, unfortunately OOP.
2) Durufle - Requiem. Robert Shaw, Telarc
3) Mozart - Ave Verum Corpus. Robert Shaw (again.) This should have been the closing theme for Amadeus...
4) Okay, so I cheated. Morten Lauridsen - Lux Aeterna. Paul Salamunovich with the Los Angeles Master Chorale. Proving (once again) Maestro Salamunovich to be the finest choral director ever to have graced our planet...
If these don't move you, you have no soul. |
My three choices are Ravel's String Quartet in F major by the Ad Libitum Quartet,Bela Bartok String Quartet No. 4 by the Juilliard String Quartet, and Shostakovich String Quartet No. 8 in C minor by the Emerson String Quartet.
One thing I have just learned about classical music is that one piece played by different musicians can affect you differently.The musicians that I named seem to play the pieces that I named just a bit more effectively than some others that I have heard. |
Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Rubinstein)
Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue (Telarc) |
Bartok: The Miraculous Mandarin, Etc., Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Antal Dorati conducting, London 411 894-2, 1985. Track 10, the Allegro from Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, is the best test for bass response in full-range speakers and a powerful amp's ability to clarify extremely complex (and beautiful) orchestral passages. This cut also has the added benefit of driving most audio salesmen out of the listening room.
If you *don't* clearly hear the enormous bass drum that enters at about 3:00 minutes into the piece, then your system is simply missing the lowest octave. The entry of the bass drum should not just be a quiet suggestion of something going on in the bass, it should have the same full, expanding "bloom" as a large orchestral gong and be quite loud. Sometimes I do miss my Vandersteen 4's! |
Dave Van Ronk died of colon cancer on February 10, 2002, at the age of 65. He released more than 40 albums during his long career. I don't know if it ever came out on CD, but I'd love to get a CD or Minidisc copy of the early 1968 LP "Dave Van Ronk and the Hudson Dusters," in which he did the most achingly beautiful cover of "Clouds" (Both Sides Now), the Joni Mitchell classic. His recording finally gave a good song the piercing intensity it needed in that year we lost Robert F. Kennedy and what little was left of our national innocence.
Can anyone help me out? hubbard2@cox.net |
Miles Davis, Sketches of Spain.
Joni Mitchell, Blue.
Jefferson Airplane, "Comin' Back to Me" from Surrealistic Pillow.
Charlie Haden, Magico.
Nanci Griffith, "From a Distance," on One Fair Summer Evening.
Joan Baez, Diamonds & Rust. |
The Adagio from Mahler's uncompleted 10th Symphony, fabulously performed by the RSO Berlin under the baton on Riccardo Chailly, London 421-182-2, 1987 (two discs; with Schoenberg's Verklarte Nacht). Transcendent Mahler. |
Rachmaninoff: Sonata in G-minor, Op. 19, for cello and piano, performed by Stephen Kates and Carolyn Pope Kobler, on the Bainbridge label, BCD6272, 1981, utilizing the patented "Colossus" recording system -- one of the very best early digital recordings, and heart-breakingly beautiful, especially the third movement Andante. One of the small handful of CDs I take with me to audition speakers and components. Breathtaking recording of a 1739 Montagnana cello and a magnificent Bosendorfer Konzertfluegel grand. Don't know if it's still in print. |
J.S. Bach, Goldberg Variations (Glen Gould, first issue); Super Session, Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield with Steven Stills; Helter Skelter, The Beatles (not achingly-beautiful, but if you are not moving, you must be dead). |
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Much of Neil Young's catalog, most of Nick Drake's, some of John Coltrane's... This kind of list is so mood and situation dependent. Catch me at the right (or wrong) moment, even Meat Loaf can get to me. Since my father passed away last year, I cannot listen to Lucinda Willliams sing the title cut off "Sweet Old World" without getting choked up. It really is a sweet old world--music can show us the way. I guess that's why we're all here writing these posts, huh?
I enjoy getting ideas about new music to check out from all of you. Thanks. |
Eva Cassidy (Songbird), my wife and I were moved to tears listening to ("Stings" Fields of Gold) and (Autumn Leaves). The rest of the album is wonderful as well. The late Eva had the ability to convey emotion in a song that is truly remarkable. |
Pat Metheny and Charlie Haden, Beyond The Missouri Sky. See tracks 3 and 6. Also 9 and 13. This is heavenly music. Noone I've recommended this music to has ever been disappointed. Everyone from rock to classical listeners have at some point a mood for this special music. Enjoy. |
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star would probably induce weeping if sung by Mickey Newbury. I'm only half joking. Check out his early works. (Looks Like Rain/Live at Montezuma Hall, etc.) You will ache all night long! |
Right now--the new remaster, in the original jamacian release, of Bob Marley's "Stir It Up." Gorgeous, erotic, makes you wanna cry. I was devestated. |
Most of the TANGO is indeed. |
and Kool and the Gang have musical compositions /performances that I have found to be achingly beautiful. The Coltrane/Ellington rendering of "Sentimental Mood" is about as beautiful and piercing as it gets. Grover Washington, Jr. performance of "A Secret Place" was very fresh with melodic transitions and extremely soulful solos and a bass line that just takes you for a ride. Kool and the Gangs' two versions of Summer Madness (live and studio) contains drama that moves all over the place and is a very spiritual piece. These pieces have made me thankful that I got involved with high end stereo. |
