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
Bermuda; You need to play the Allegri this Wednesday, since it was written to be sung on Ash Wednesday at the Sistine Chapel. Don't wash the ash off either.It makes for better listening.

e
Bermudapilot - absolutely, "The River Man". Thanks for posting that. Great string arrangements on this and other tracks of this recording.

e - if you aren't familiar with Nick Drake, you are in for a treat (I hope). He's dead but his music lives on (to use a cliche). The River Man is on a recording called, Five Leaves Left. Hope you will check him out.
Bermudapilot, the Alegri and the Faure and sublime. I count myself lucky to have performed them.
Who do you have doing them.

Don't know Nick Drake.

e
3. Beethoven - Cavatina from 13th String Quartet
2. Pearl Jam - Parachutes
1. Beethoven - Violin Concerto, 1st Movement
I talk to the wind, Court of the Crimson King, King Crimson
Watermark, Enya
On the turning away, A momentary lapse of reason, Pink Floyd.

You ask for three I believe. These three choices have moved me
and provoked me.
PMM, you may want to try the Rach piano concerto's on London with Ashkenazy.They are wonderful pressings of wonderful music.

Also just got a Harmonia box set of Purcell's opera "King Arthur", with The Arthur Deller Consort.This is a wonderful and sometimes funny piece,and the recording is amazing. These Harmonia Mundi/France pressings are some of the best.

e
Rachmaninoff Symp No. 2-Andre Previn, Royal Philharmonic Orch. CD, Telarc Label.
Awsome. Just like the Moodies, don`t get tired of it.
Rachmaninoff`s Symph #2
"Dance with a Stranger" - Yanni`s Tribute Album
"Captain of Her Heart"- Double
"Another Park, Another Sunday"- The Doobie Bros.
"Eternity Road"- The Moody Blues
"New Horizons"- The Moody Blues
anytime Bryon, welcome to the world of English Cathedral music. Yes I know a lot of it is Italian, but you will find that the best recordings and performances are british choirs.
I welcome any questions.

e
E - Thanks for all the recommendations. I will start ordering from Amazon immediately! I am a digital only person (computer based, actually), so the vinyl versions are not an option for me, but I believe much of what you recommend is available on cd. I may send you an email as I wade deeper into this music to get more advice from you. Thanks again!
Bryon, IMHO the companion piece found on the old Willcocks/Kings Allegri recording; Palestrina Stabat Mater is even better.

Actually if you like this kind of music, any of the english cathedral and collegiate choirs doing renaissance music will please you. Byrd,Tallis,Pallestrina,Vittoria,Thomas Tomkins,Orlando Gibbons (my favorite),Thomas Shepherd,Robert White, and a host of others.

You should also listen the the Vaughn Williams Mass in G minor.A 20th century piece written in the style of Byrd or Tallis and a real beauty.

Also, look for mixed groups such as;Tallis Scholars,The Sixteen,The Scholars,The Clerks of Oxenford,Corydon Singers,
these groups are often ex members of the collegiate choirs and are early music specialists.It is in these groups that you will find the most esoteric pieces.

I have had the good fortune of singing countertenor in a very good American cathedral choir for most of my life, and I am well steeped in the tradition and these composers and their works.I have done the Allegri several times.

If you are looking for vinyl versions, there are many to choose from. If you need specific help, send me a email and I would be glad to discuss this at length.

e
Emorrisiv - I have at least three versions of the piece. The Kings College version in latin is my favorite. I didn't know all the history you mentioned. That's fascinating. Can you recommend other choral pieces with a similar ethereal quality?
Bryon: That is a uniquely fantastic piece.Which version do you like? I have Kings College Cambridge doing it in Latin on CD and in English on Vinyl.I also have the Tallis Scholars on Nimbus CD.
Does everyone know that this piece was Papal property under threat of excommunication and was only sung on Ash Wednesday in the Sistine Chapel by the Papal choir? Until Mozart went there, memorized it and put it to paper.

Written for schola (men)including "imbellementi" sections where the castrati sings a high C several times in a very ethereal tonality. Magical

I prefer the vinyl of course, though the Latin text is more correct.Being a Kings College fan, the Willcocks/English version is a historical recording;since Kings also does this piece every Ash Wednesday.Kings chapel may be one of the few spaces that can compare with the Sistine chapel,which makes the recording all the better.
This one is a real treasure.
Bigpond, thanks for the correction. I must be thinking of the old live recording they did with full orchestra.
Which I have to say had moments of great drama and most certainly was very dynamic.
Hi Emorrisiv,The Version of Whiter Shade of Pale I'm talking about was recorded in late 2006 and released on CD in 2008 it does not have "In Held Twas I" on the album but it is just so dramatic you have to hear it!!!
Regards Bigpond
I have heard the Procul Harum. Did you like the epic "In Held Twas I"?

Listening tonight to Hyperion Vaughn Williams and Howells choral music.Playing it direct connection bypassing the line stage. What a fantastic recording and to hear it like that makes me want to deliver pizzas to get a passive.
Also just got Christy Moore's "Voyage" on vinyl.Very low sound floor,incredible bass and mid range texture.Finding old records of guys you have only heard on CD is a lot of fun.

e
THIS IS A MUST HEAR!!
Procol Harum In Concert with the Danish National
Orchestra and Choir performing A Whiter Shade of Pale
My Absolute Current Favourite!!
Glenn Gould's music for Vonnegut's movie, Slaughterhouse Five.

Pink Floyd's Shine On You Crazy Diamond, parts 1-9

Donny Osmond-Little Lover Boy (ok, that's a joke!)

Frank Zappa-Watermelon in Easter Hay
there are many, but here's my selection in no particular order of emotion or mood:
Across the universe - The Beatles
Me and Bobby McGee (acoustic version/demo) - Janis Joplin
Old Man - Neil Young
Birdland - Patti Smith
Working Class Hero - John Lennon
Moonshadow - Cat Stevens
Town called malice - The Jam
At last - Etta James
Je t'aime, je ne t'aime plus - Patricia Kaas
Love grows - The Siddeleys
For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield
America - Simon & Garfunkel
Blackbird - The Beatles
Death Singing - Patti Smith
Only A Hobo - Rod Stewart
Immigrant Song - Led Zeppelin
Bang Bang Bang - Tracy Chapman
Testament - Boudewijn de Groot
Freebird - Lynyrd Skynyrd
London Calling - The Clash
Milord - Edith Piaf
Green Onions - Booker T. & The MG's
I can't give you anyhting but love - Duke Ellington
Love the one you're with - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Highway 61 revisited (live) - Johnny Winter
and just for laughs:
Ca plane pour moi - Plastic Bertrand
Mama Looka Boo Boo (Shut Your Mouth - Go Away) - Robert Mitchum
Only Women Bleed-Julie Covington
Buckets of Rain- Bob Dylan
Giving it all away-Roger Daltrey
16 Candles-Danielle Dax
The Promise-When in Rome
Marry me-Emilie Autumn
Pictures of you-The Cure
Music of the Night-Michael Crawford
Bad-U2
Hands to Heaven-Breathe
Celebrate-Fields of the Nephilim
Call & Answer-Bare nekked ladies
Hero-Mariah Carey
The nobodies- Marilyn Manson
The Curse-Diary of Dreams
Monsters & Angels-Voice of the Beehive
Help-Deep Purple
Handels Messiah - Sir Malcolm Sargent Royal Philharmonic Readers Digest

Beethovens 9th Rene Leibowitz Royal Philharmonic Readers Digest

I cannot believe these both came out on Readers Digest They are awesome.

Quiet City - Aaron Copland London Symphony

Adagio for Strings Leonard Bernstein Very emotional usually too sad for me to listen to
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.
Mercedes Sosa, her powerful, musical and sweet voice, her entire career towards human justice...always Mercedes!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyOJ-A5iv5I
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"
Listen to Liz Carroll, most moving music I have ever heard. Crow in the Sun is an amazing piece of music.
"Let's Go Away for Awhile" - Beach Boys from Pet Sounds (That melody, those vibes and strings...always been killer to me).