Just a few personal favs from simply oodles and oodles to choose from. All music is beautiful.
Puccini- Coro a bossa chiusa (Madame Butterfly).
Puccini- O Mio babbino caro (Gianni Schicchi).
Donizetti- -Una Fortiva Lagrima-(L'Elisir D'amore).
Verdi- Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves-Nabucco.
Massenet-Meditation (mutter-tear to a glass eye).
Barber-Concerto for Violin Op14- II.Andante (Hilary Hahn- tears to both glass eyes).
Vivaldi-Gloria in Excelsis Dio in D (RV589) |
Herbert Howells English Cathedral Music,especially the "Collegium Regale"(King's College) service.
Mozart's Requiem,possibly the most important piece ever.
Beethoven's 9th symphony.A turning point in history.
ahh so much music, so little time.
e |
Copland, Gershwin, Louis Armstrong, Rogers & Hammerstein (and several others) should be required listening in grade school since their music is such a part of our national character. Make civics, a foreign language, and art/music appreciation (humanities) mandatory from an early age for a better America! |
three diverse selections off the top of my head:
Beethoven Symphonies No. 4 & 6 (Pastorale), Bruno Walter, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Crossing the Waters, Steve Schuch & The Night Heron Consort
and yes, Joni Mitchell's Blue (o: |
Dan Fogelberg - Leader of the Band
Perfectly conceived and written from the heart.
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Mercedes Sosa, her powerful, musical and sweet voice, her entire career towards human justice...always Mercedes!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyOJ-A5iv5I |
Leslie Mills, "The Keeper". |
Enjoyed reading this thread. Here are some additions.
1. Spanish Harlem - Rebecca Pidgeon, Leiber, Jerry
2. Harvest Moon - Cassandra Wilson, Young, Neil
3. The Priests (album) by THE PRIESTS |
Tons of classical pieces but, in the more modern world Jeff Buckley singing Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" The first time I heard it I was frozen on the spot and yes, crying. It's an amazingly moving song. |
Appalachian Spring by Copland recorded by Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Orchestra on RCA. With a great system the experience in nothing short of fantastic.
Beethoven's Piano Sonata #30 by Wilhelm Kempff on DG. The third movement seems to place us on a plateau rarely visited.
Franz Schubert's Death and the Maiden Quartet by the Takacs Quartet on Hyperion. The music is beautiful and angry, and the recording realizes the tremendous angst of the composer. |
3) Harold Melvin "If You Don't Know Me By Now"
2) Simon and Garfunkel "The Only Living Boy in New York"
1) Leonard Cohen "Famous Blue Raincoat"
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Listen to Liz Carroll, most moving music I have ever heard. Crow in the Sun is an amazing piece of music. |
Nice to see that people like Arvo Pärt. |
"Let's Go Away for Awhile" - Beach Boys from Pet Sounds (That melody, those vibes and strings...always been killer to me). |
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White Dove by Starsailor from Silence is Easy. |
I didn't read through all these posts, but here's mine;
Wagner- "Flight of the Valkyries"
Springsteen- "Thunder Road"
Pink Floyd- "Wish You Were Here" |
ARVO PART "TABULA RASA" get it at all costs! |
Man-Erg - Van Der Graaf Generator.
Beautiful in quite an aching kind of way. |
Persephone has some great vocals and feel to it. I also like the previous track and that killer guitar solo over a sparce instrumental background. Soul searing.
Enjoy,
Bob |
Lately, Patricia Barber's "Persephone" from Mythologies has been slaying me -- there's ache for you.
I've noticed that folks hereabouts are mixed on Barber, and on this album in particular. I think it's a flat out masterpiece. Just another one of those cases where I can't get my mind around what the "opposition" is thinking -- an apt seasonal sentiment. |
try..Vassilis Tsabropoulos[piano] either solo or with Anja Lechner[cello]
on the album "chants,hymns and dances". preview a song at.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbYkHjSERsI |
1) Maurice Ravel's "Daphnis and Chloé", especially the second set (lever du jour/ pantomime/ danse générale) takes longing, yearning, tension and release to an extreme. Choose a recording where they did not leave out the choir! The Furtwaengler recording from March 1944 (label: Archipel) carries more energy than all the others I have heard. I can compare its unbelievable crescendos only to, er, an erotic encounter. Furtwaengler teaches everybody a thing about interpretation and even makes you forget the permanent coughs from the audience and the heavy overdrive of the recording equipment at the climaxes when the concert hall seems to come down. But do yourself a favour and buy a good contemporary recording, too, e.g. Kent Nagano's. Daphnis and Chloé makes you want to put flowers onto Ravel's grave. Quelle beauté! Quelle tendresse! Merci, monsieur Ravel!
2) Max Reger's very short song (or lied) "Aeolsharfe" (aeolian harp) opus 75 no. 11, sung by Fischer-Dieskau. A tiny little gem, German romantic sentiment triple concentrated.
3) The third ache generator is a tie between a) "Wind on Water" by Robert Fripp and Brian Eno (album "Evening Star") with its unforgettable, inspired e-guitar line; b) "Mirage" for cello, keyboards and e-guitar by Terje Rypdal and David Darling (album "Eos", label ECM) which is an idyll with focused energy and plenty of space; c) "Mannelig", an ancient Swedish song, sung by the great Lena Willemark on the album "Nordan"; d) "O sacrum convivium" for mixed choir by Olivier Messiaen (e.g. on the label Catalyst) with one final 45-second "aleluia" that floors even an agnostic like me; and e) some recurring moments of LaMonte Young's special version of the Raga Sundara, regrettably not published yet. Awesome and deeply moving just with its beauty.
Sorry for writing so much, but these are the gems from my 20 years of collecting music. Sharing them is important to me. |
Allegri's Miserere performed by The Tallis Scholars (listening to it as I write this) certainly fits the bill. 'The Great Bear and Pleides' from Britten's Peter Grimes (and much more from that work too). 'Marche Funebre' from Beethoven's 3rd. John Dowland's 'In Darkness let me Dwelle'.
For me 'achingly beautiful' describes classical, choral and opera, but in a different way, Van Morrison's Astral Weeks, Tom Wait's 'Alice' and some Joni Mitchell stuff (try 'A Case of You' from her album 'Blue'). |
Several years back on this thread, someone mentioned "Terrapin Station" by the Grateful Dead.
I happened to be re-visting this work for the first time in a while. It had caught my attention years ago and I hear why. It is a most interesting piece. Lots of progressive rock and classical elements (the Dead really did that?) with quite poetic lyrics. Very unique + very enjoyable. Achingly beautiful? Well, yes I suppose so in the Dead's typical low key manner though..... |
I keep on promoting this Øystein Sevåg:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTeWo83I-_A&feature=related |
1. "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face." Roberta Flack version 1969. Written in 1957 by Ewan MacColl for his wife.
2. "Forever Autumn" from Jeff Wayne's 1978 album "War of The Worlds"; sung by Justin Hayward (Moody Blues).
3. "I'm Goin' Back To Harlan" Emmy Lou Harris from "Wrecking Ball" album 1995.
4. "Its Only Make Believe" Conway Twitty 1958.
5. "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" Simon and Garfunkle 1966. SF is a tradional English ballad. The counterpoint "Canticle" was written by Simon and Garfunkle later altered lyrics to include anti-Viet Nam War stuff. |
"Motherless Child".
I'm thinking of the Van Morrison version in particular.
Or is "gut wrenching" a better term? |
Chopin's nocturne op9 no.2 performed by Arthur Rubinstein, Schubert's Ave Maria, and Hot For Teacher by Van Halen.
Sorry, but the last one is very dear to me...... |
Whispering Pines-The Band |
Just reviewed many of the posts and all have so much merit.
Notationally the length of the piece plays a good bit of what is so beautiful about classical music or baroque for that matter -- but in reality the feeling and sensations of vocals delivered with pure emotion compress that feeling and drive it into you in such a short span that I fully understand the votes for these as well. The lyrics have to reach and touch in order for this to work, thus the subjectivity of the vocal votes presented is likely greater than those for classical, instrumental offerings.
All of that said -- I think for me the candidates come from a variety of sections but there is one -- particularly when reproduced on my system that for me does it all -- Woman of Heart and Mind by Joni Mitchell. Should I ever find the woman who exists in those lyrics -- well -- that would be my ideal. But that speaks only for me. |
Here`s a site where you can pre-listen music; Like this "Visual" I mentioned w. Sevåg/Patey. Look out For others from Sevåg too!
http://www.musikkonline.no/shop/displayAlbum.asp?id=27078 |
Forgot to mention:
John Dowland, Lacrimae, for consort of viols. The Fretwork version is pretty good. |
Gorecki, Symphony #3
Vaughan-Williams, The Lark Ascending
any number of movements from Mahler: last movement 3rd; Adagietto 5th; slow movement 6th; large parts of 9th...
also check out R. Strauss's Death and Transfiguration |
"By Your Grace"
Beaver & Krause / GANDHARVA / Warner Bros. CCM-461
Recorded in Grace Cathedral, San Francisco
This is pretty obscure. Anyone else know this recording?
BTW, I love this thread. It's a gold mine of pleasure. |
Øystein Sevåg/Lakki Patey : Visual on a good system ;) |
Chris Isaak-Wicked Games
Cowboy Junkies-The Trinity Sessions
Dead Can Dance-Aion
Lisa Gerrard Duality/The Mirror Pool
Lonely Is An Eyesore
Mojave 3-Ask Me Tommorrow
Mazzy Starr-Among My Swan/So Tonight I Might See
This Mortal Coil-It'll End In Tears/Filigree And Shadow
Recoil-Hydrology And 1 + 2 |
Billie Holiday:Lady In Satin. So dramatic and so aesthetic. Billie + Jazz combo + Strings. Sometimes you feel like you're Alice in Wonderland here.
Ray Charles: That Lucky old son, Eleanor Rigby, Born to lose, etc. This guy gives me chicken skin.
Rickie Lee Jones: ditto title album. Well composed pop songs.
Beethoven: Missa Solemnis: this one brings me straight to heaven...
Debussy: La Damoiselle elue: beautiful solo voice, choir and orchestra. Romantic.
Puccini: La Boheme with Callas. Boy does this story and music make you want to cry for beauty and aesthetics.
Henryk Gorecki: Symphony 3. Solo female voice and minimalist orchestra. Makes you want more... |
Any noise after having a nice kraut dog. |
Achingly-beautiful soundtracks?
"The Road to Perdition"
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Ennio Morricone's "The Mission" soundtrack. Yo Yo Ma also did a nice interpretation of the main track "Gabriel's Falls." |
Soundtrack from "The Last Samurai" Very beautiful. Another great one from Hans Zimmer. |
Hello! New member here. I have been cruising the forums here the past few weeks and finally registered this evening. Back on topic! I have been playing with my home stereo more often lately and I have always been partial to Pop Music and things like that, never a huge fan of Classical although I do enjoy it. Well, last night I listened to some Beethoven and it sounded great through my crappy 189$ pair of Sony floor standing speakers. My choice for most achingly-beautiful music would have to be the following:
Imogen Heap - Hide and Seek
Jack Johnson - Adrift
Live - Lightning Crashes
Kenna - Hell Bent
Sigur Rós - All of their albums
Anyone else with taste like my own? |
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what a great thread, loving the clasical music pointers
Hurt - nine inch nails cover on jonny cash american 1v man comes around - killer |
Audiofeil - LMAO!
Also add Anita Baker and Diana Krall....
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As I am perusing this forum, and this topic comes up, "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" by Ralph Vaughan Williams is playing now on XM Pops.... |
Here's a gentleman that I'm sure could offer some unique recommendations:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/video/?slug=bal-collector-video |
The entire Bill Evans/Tony Bennett album. |
