Most achingly-beautiful music

This could be a long list, but I'll mention only the ones that come immediately to mind: Miles Davis's album "Kind of Blue"; Bill Evans & Jim Hall's album "Undercurrent"; several cuts from Art Pepper's album "Shoes of the Fisherman"; Sibelius's "Swan of Tuonela"; duets from Puccini's "La Boheme"; Mozart's "Requiem"; Barber's "Adagio for Strings" (used as death theme in movie "The Elephant Man").

I made a post early in this thread, and it's been very interesting to watch the additions. I have a few additional individual pieces or songs that clearly belong in the "achingly beautiful" category: 1. Nina Simone's song in tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, which I think was titled "The King of Peace Is Dead". 2. Mark Murphy's rendition of "Ballad of the Sad Young Men" from his album "Murphy Sings Kerouac", dedicated to Jack Kerouac. 3. John Coltrane's rendition of his song "Alabama", dedicated to the 4 girls killed in the bombing of the church in Montgomery, and his song "Naima", dedicated to his wife. 4. Most of Bill Evans' ballad performances. 5. Much of Joan Baez's early work. 6. Recordings of Billie Holiday with Lester Young and/or Ben Webster.

The more I think about this, the more I recall of music that has really moved me going all the way back to the late 1950's. Many of Duke Ellington's songs and works define "achingly beautiful" music for me. When I am in a classical music mood and want violin, one of the best LP's of solo violin ever recorded was Kuijken's recordings of Bach's solo violin pieces, released on Harmonia Mundi in the late 1980's. Charles Lloyd also had a beautiful album released in the early 90's after many years away from the recording scene, called "Fish Out of Water". Another album that might fit this discussion is Jan Garbarek's album with the Hilliard Ensemble called "Officium". I used to be big fan of Chet Baker, and at times was deeply moved by his spare, melancholy sound. For more info about Baker and his recordings, check this Web site: http://home.ica.net/~blooms/bakerhome.html Last contribution: Stan Getz's album "People Time", with Kenny Barron. This was the last album that Getz recorded shortly before his death, and you can tell by his playing that he is reflecting on his life. Everything is stripped away, and there are some points where his playing falters slightly, almost as if were choking back tears. This is an album that you hear at night, with the lights out.........