Most achingly-beautiful music


Ultimately, we listen to music to be moved, for example, to be elated, exulted, calmed or pained. Which are the 3 most affecting pieces of music do you find the most affecting?
hungryear
I have just heard the V. Symphony of Shostakovitch, played by the Budapest Festival Orchestra, conducted by Pinchas Steinbert. Oh what a tragically painful music on dictatorship and terror and pain felt by people. Unfortunately, the CD version I have, the Leningrad Symphonic Orchestra conducted by Mravinskiy is nowhere close to the concert interpretation.
If you want to be amazed by real-time 6- and 12-string guitar musicianship ... no other instruments involved ... you MUST pick up "Deviations" by Dominic Frasca ... a true keeper that you'll play over and over ... and never tire from listening
Greetings, newbie here.

Robbie Williams, The Ego Has Landed, 4th track called Strong.
George Winston, December.
Fresh Aire II.
Gordon Lightfoot, Pussy Willows Cattails, and Affair on Eighth Avenue are fantastic. (Back when he was singing correctly, with support and an open throat.)

All of Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon, but specifically Us And Them, and That Great Gig in the Sky.

I will 2nd the Moody Blues nomination. To Our Children's Children's Children is an amazing effort, start to finish, but to stay with the category description, specifically the song "Out and In".

Don Quixote, with Richard Kiley and Joan Diener, Dulcinea, and What Do You Want of Me?

I am trying very hard to keep to the "achingly beautiful" songs, but there is just so much wonderful stuff out there...

Oh, Annie Lennox, Medusa, the songs No More I Love Yours, and Waiting in Vain. The latter is fantastic!
Also: First two movements of Schubert's C Major string Quintent and slow movement from Dvorak's string quintet.
# 9 Dream - John Lennon
Blue Sky - Allman Brothers
Can’t Find my Way Home - Blind Faith
Third Stone From the Sun - Jimi Hendrix
Easy Now - Eric Clapton
Return to Me - October Project
Wicked Game - Chris Isaak
A Kiss to Build a Dream On - Louis Armstrong

Daphnis et Chloe (suite #2) - Ravel
Sabat Mater - Karol Szymanowski
Maria - Leonard Bernstein
Fourth movement of Mahler's Second Symphony. Any one of the Four Last Songs of Richard Strauss. The Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana.
Ravel's Bolero, Quincy Jones Walking in Space, Pink Floyd's Grandchester Meadows, Wynton Marsalis the Death of Jazz, and New Orders Touched by the hand of God.
Keith don't go - Nils Lofgren - Acoustic Live
never heard anything as involving in a long time.
Beim Schlafengehen, 4 Letzte Lieder - Richard Strauss,Haitink CGOA, Gundula Janowitz, 1968 live
no comment necessary
Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral - Wagner arr. Cailliet Fennell & Eastman Wind Ensemble.
This last one because our wind ensemble has programmed it for many years and we have performed it on many funerals of wind band members that passed on. Moves me everytime I hear or play it

Lots of love

Phaedrus01
non multa scire scio
I agree with tou Capaudio. How about the slow movement of Haydn's quartet in G minor in Opus 20. Gets me every time.
How about Al D. and Paco D on al's Elegant gypsy; playing those two guitars?
or Cowboy Junkies, Trinity Sessions?
The Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm section isn't aching beautiful but the story of how badly he was "living" and the great recording that came from that nexis...?

Silly as it might sound, I think Andreas Vollenweider's "Behind the Wall......" is very beautiful.
In the classical realm, most anything by Mozart. I am especially fond of Piano Concerto 466k in D minor.

The two modern artists, who move me most are Alison Krauss and Norah Jones. When I want to be taken away to a world of wistful yearning, I put on Alison. For meditative relaxation, Norah's my girl.
I don't think I listen to music only to be moved by it. Not always. Sometimes it is to box with the music: to understand the aim of the composer and to judge if he achieved it.
"Giant Steps" is the one that moved me deeply, though.
The Barber and Albinoni adagios
Rachmaninoff PC #2
Canon in D -- Pachelbel
Katchaturian Masquerade Suite
Romeo and Juliet -- Prokofiev
Computerwelt -- Kraftwerk
Everybody's Talkin' at Me -- Nilsson
What You Gon' do? -- Lil' Jon and the East Side Boyz
Get Low -- Lil' Jon and the East Side Boyz
Salt Shaker -- Ying Yang Twins
Still Dre -- Dr. Dre
Some Cut -- Trillville
Still Tippin' -- Mike Jones
Branford Marsalis: "Eternal". Slow paced "beautiful" jazz. Great recording quality. Also, the soundtrack to "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon". If you like cello and flute you'll love this one.
Radiohead's Amnesiac, Nirvana's Nevermind, The Smiths Louder Than Bombs (especially Oscilate Wildly), The Cure's A Forest, Miles Davis Kind of Blue, John Coltrane A Love Supreme, The Clash's Sandinista, Otis Redding's Try a Little Tenderness, White Town's Your Woman, The Chemical Brother's Come Inside (remix also), Bad Brains Sacred Love, Canned Heat's On the Road Again, Shivaree's Goodnight Moon, Peter Murphy's Cuts You Up, Joy Division (all of their music espcially Dead Souls and Love Will Tear Us Apart), New Order's Bizarre Love Triangle and Blue Monday (of course), Kansas Dust in the Wind, The Damned In Dulce Decorum, The The's Dogs of Lust, Teddy Pendergrass Love TKO, Of Montreal's The Party's Crashing Us Now...I could go on and on!
"Love Will Keep Us Together" by The Captain(not really a captain) and Tennille.
So pretty it hurts.
Ouch.
Veljo Tormis: "The Lost Geese" from "Litany to Thunder" - by Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir - 2 sopranos in conversation with piano accompaniment

"A Feather on the Breath of God" - compositions by Hildegard of Bingen - sung by Emma Kirkby and Gothic Voices

"Zaide" the piece Arie Ruhne Sanft - my favourite is Sandrine Piau on her CD "Mozart Opera Arias"

Irina Mikhailova's CD "Russian Twilight". Several amazing tracks that are painfully beautiful: Zarya, Zurahvo

"Lux Feminae" by Montserrat Figueras.

Achingly-beautiful music to me always involves the female voice - nothing else comes close - I enter Angelic Realms and long to leave this earthly realm.
My recent find IDM " The kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble"
Modern Jazz sound form Nostalgia 77's " The Garden" and " Songs for my Funeral"
Dinner and Nocturn. Soundtrack to the Lady Caliph. Ennio Morricone, played by Yo-Yo Ma.
Silent Lucidity. Queensryche.
Love Theme. Soundtrack to Bladerunner. Vangelis.
Although I mostly listen to classical music, it is hard to beat Eva Cassidy's later recordings - particularly the album "Live at Blues Alley" when she already knew that she was dying (from melanoma).
1) Allison Krauss' "Ghost in the room" - better have a box of handkerchiefs on hand!

2) The entire CD of Jonathan Butlers' eponymous release (Jonathan) - Music so joyous that you'll laugh and cry at the same time.
'64 Miles Davis Quintet My Funny Valentine live. One of the most stunningly beautiful live jazz recordings of the 1960s. Miles and co. (esp drummer Tony Williams) are breaking out of the more confined song forms of the 50's but are still playing the classic Quintet repertoire. Miles' treatment of the melody is deep, introspective, and will make you weep at times and laugh out loud at others. When the tempo kicks up and Ron Carter comes in for the turnaround....watch out, you may jump out of your chair and cheer. I have the complete concert on a double CD set called the "Complete Concert", but the material was originally released on two separate albums, "My Funny Valentine" had all the ballads and med tempo stuff and "Four and More" had the burners. If you have not heard this please do yourself a favor and check it out.
"Not Alone" by Patty Griffin off of the Living with Ghosts cd.

(it's the last track and you don't want it to end)
I could cite many, many examples, but here are three that stand out:

Eva Cassidy's version of "Over the Rainbow." A sublime performance of a classic song by an unbelievable singer. This one always gives me shivers.

"Can't Hardly Wait" by the Replacements. One of Paul Westerberg's best songs, wonderfully recorded by the great Jim Dickenson.

"Backstreets" by Bruce Springsteen. Incredibly dramatic and dynamic track, with a tour-de-force vocal performance. This is the song that really got me to start LISTENING to music -- noticing how a song was put together, arrangements, instrumentation, harmonies, dynamics, etc. They don't call him the Boss for nothing.
Jlindquist - You are right on with Cassidy's Over The Rainbow! I can tear up just thinking about how she sings it, let alone listening to her actually sing it. Makes Judy's version sound like the idle dream that little girls have. Eva's IMHO expresses the yearnings of a grown woman! Hard to believe it was a 'production' as opposed to something spontaneous! :-)
Ditto Satie's Gymnopedies 1-3; add Prince's, When You Were Mine and The Rolling Stone's, Moonlight Mile.
anyone heard any jerry douglas lately on a nice system .. ..severely wonderful Dobro guitar that can send you other places...also the grateful dead movie soundtrack..superb
Haven't been following this thread, so apologies if it has been mentioned. In terms of achingly beautiful, how about Patty Loveless "They Never Left Harlan Alive".
Well, I expect to have stones thrown at me for these suggestions, but I think the melodies are simply and yearningly beautiful:

Canon in D -- Pachelbel

Waltz from Sleeping Beauty Ballet -- Tschaikovsky

As a conductor once commanded: OK, let's play it again, and this time with a little schmaltz!

Jim Crane
Agreed, Jim.

And I would add well recorded piano solos of Brahms Waltz No. 3 and Moonlight Sonata to your short list! While all of like to show off our system with some huge, spectacular piece, it is the simple melodies and performances that move us the most.

I just bought an XRCD recording Super Double Bass by Gary Karr off eBay. The recording quality is absolutely stunning and the first cut "Amazing Grace" overwhelmed me to the point of tears - not something that recorded music can't accomplish very often!

Bill
Mozart!!!
Clarinet Quintet, K. 581
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
Budapest Quartet.
This is my favorite classical-( Chamber Music) LP or CD. I don't listen to very much Clasaical. If I could find more of this emotional attack of everry note, strings laying sweet weavings of rocky layers, dancing, prancing clarinet creeping, flying- soaring- over the wonderful fabric that each of the 4 strings create before me, I would seek the music out with the same passion with which the artists perform.
This is magical.
I can't stop playing this song on Hank Jones (wonderfully lyrical pianist) For My Father cd. "Pauletta"
Jesse Sykes ' " Reckless Burning" and " Oh my girl" . Try to get Vinyl. Oh my my !!
Parts of The Swan are nice . Tchaikovsky has a few snippets in his ballets as well.
So many, so many, (lots of them by Puccini like Un Bel Di,but right near the top of my list now would be The Grey Havens from Howard Shore's soundtrack to The return Of The King.
This is a great thread! So many to write down and check out!
"Little Wing" performed by Eric Clapton, Sheryl Crow and David Sanborn on the "Eric Clapton and Friends" video. Eric and David mixed it up while Sheryl watched in awe!
Electronic (some acoustic instruments. Two Clarinet tracks are to die for)music genre: Felix Laband's "Dark days exit" . Better yet get on Vinyl. Absolutely beautiful music. You won't regret it.
Brook.
By John Reischmann, CD is North of The Border. One of the best mandolin Bluegrass/Jazz CDs I know of. A must!
Have not seen anyone mention the music of Renaissance, especially Scheherazade and Other Stories. Anyone agree?
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E Minor (op. 64)

Paganini Violin Concerto No.1 in E flat major

J. Micheal Haydn Concerto For Flute And Orchestra In D
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.
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Gemma3313…..Try the Anne Akiko Meyers CD (out of print but you can order it used on Amazon or chase it down on eBay) of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. She plays divinely. It is my favorite version the Mendelssohn of all the efforts I have heard to date including Heifetz, Szeryng, Pearlman, Oistrakh, Zukerman, Rabin, Shaham, Milstein, Stern, Vengerov, and several others.
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Ghosthouse, As an additional bonus, on the same Anne Akiko Meyer CD , there is a wonderful/ breath taking version of Ralph Vaughan Williams "The Lark Ascending" followed up by Dvorak Romance for Violin and Orchestra, and then finally Massenet's Meditation.
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I would say that the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto coupled with the Lark Ascending and the Dvorak Romance for Violin and Orchestra are just magical, mesmerizing and as good as it gets. This one CD (wish it was on vinyl) has great sound for a CD and will be one of your treasures.
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Rgds,
Larry
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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....".