Top 10 most beautiful pieces you've heard

Started by EigenUser, February 28, 2015, 03:29:43 PM

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Rons_talking

#40
March 04, 2015, 03:59:56 PM
From the good ole USA:

Barber: Piano Concerto: Canzone
Diamond String Quartet 3: Adagio
Barber: Knoxville Summer of 1915
Chanler: "Be Very Quiet Now" (47 seconds of magic)
Rorem: String Symphony: Berceuse

more later...

Christo

#41
March 04, 2015, 10:53:56 PM Last Edit: March 05, 2015, 12:15:01 AM by Christo
Quote from: vandermolen on March 04, 2015, 01:48:28 PMAlso I'm interested in the Khachaturian oratorio in your selection which I don't know at all and can't see a CD of it anywhere - shock/horror.  ;D

Has to do with the many different transliterations of his name - Chatsatur Avetissian, Khatchatur Avetisyan, Khatchatour Avetissian, Khaçadur Avedisyan etc., yet to transliterate it as "Khatchaturian" is very original to say the least  ;). The most common English transliteration is Khatchatur Avetisyan. I heard the oratorio, played by an orchestra with unique Armenian instruments and of course in Armenian, in a live performance, five years ago in Utrecht. But I've known recordings of it since the 1990s.

There are different CD releases, often by small Armenian record companies all over the world - with the consequential differences in the spelling of his name - of mostly the same 1989 recording. Here's one of them, from Turkey (!):
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

Christo

#42
March 04, 2015, 11:28:45 PM Last Edit: March 04, 2015, 11:58:21 PM by Christo
Okay, now confined to 'entirely beautiful' (*) pieces and movements only:

Malcolm Arnold, Serenade for guitar and strings Op. 50: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOgf8ulDw4Y
Einar Englund, Third movement 'Nostalgia' from Symphony No. 4 `Nostalgic' (1976): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETZXx8P9t80
Joly Braga Santos, Variações Sinfónicas Sobre Um Tema Alentejano: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PTc-tcEwMQ
Maurice Ravel, Adagio assai from the Piano Concerto in G (actually surprised it wasn't mentioned thus far): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud6nbX5XKVk
Quote from: Rons_talking on March 04, 2015, 03:59:56 PMBarber: Knoxville Summer of 1915
Quote from: jochanaan on March 04, 2015, 07:47:53 AMHolst: The Planets, Neptune
Quote from: vandermolen on March 03, 2015, 11:18:01 AMDies Natalis: Finzi
Quote from: Wanderer on March 01, 2015, 01:39:05 PMBritten: Festival Te Deum
Quote from: Mirror Image on March 01, 2015, 05:58:07 AM2. RVW: Flos Campi
Quote from: Sergeant Rock on March 01, 2015, 03:34:53 AMFauré Pavane
Quote from: Jo498 on March 01, 2015, 12:08:31 AMBach: Mache Dich, mein Herze, rein (from St Matthew)
Quote from: Guido on April 19, 2007, 08:42:31 AMAny of Barber's slow movements. The obvious one is the Adagio for strings, but the slow movement from the violin concerto, or the more anguished cello concerto, or even the more mysterious piano concerto slow movements are all sumptuous.
Quote from: Christo on April 21, 2007, 05:54:07 AM
One of the 'most entirely beautiful' adagios ever composed must be, imho: the Molto Adagio from the posthumously discovered symphonic poem Türkiye by Turkish composer Cemâl Resit Rey, found on this CD:


Edit: (*) http://allpoetry.com/poem/8493075-Lullaby-by-W-H-Auden
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

EigenUser

#43
March 05, 2015, 01:54:29 AM
Quote from: Christo on March 04, 2015, 11:28:45 PM
Maurice Ravel, Adagio assai from the Piano Concerto in G (actually surprised it wasn't mentioned thus far): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud6nbX5XKVk
Yes. Although I love the G major, I didn't totally appreciate the slow movement until I saw a live performance last November (Yuja Wang as soloist). It was magic.

I have yet to hear music more profound than Clocks and Clouds (yes, I am 100% aware that I always talk about this piece -- but that's because it's so good).
Beethoven's Op. 133 -- A fugue so bad that even Beethoven himself called it "Grosse".

vandermolen

#44
March 05, 2015, 11:19:52 AM
Quote from: Rons_talking on March 04, 2015, 03:59:56 PM
From the good ole USA:

Barber: Piano Concerto: Canzone
Diamond String Quartet 3: Adagio
Barber: Knoxville Summer of 1915
Chanler: "Be Very Quiet Now" (47 seconds of magic)
Rorem: String Symphony: Berceuse

more later...

The Knoxville is such a great choice and I'd add Copland's 'Quiet City' and the slow movement of Diamond's Third Symphony and Piston's Second Symphony as genuinely beautiful.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Linus

#45
March 09, 2015, 07:05:54 AM
Berlioz - Les Troyens / Act 4: No.37 Duo: "Nuit d'ivresse et d'extase"

Beautiful, beautiful duo.

vandermolen

#46
March 10, 2015, 12:37:33 PM
Quote from: Wanderer on March 01, 2015, 01:39:05 PM
Here's 20, off the top of my head, not in order of preference and without seeing previous posts:

Ravel: the opening of Daphnis & Chloé
Schreker: Prelude to Die Gezeichneten
Szymanowski: the opening of Król Roger
R.Strauss: Vier letzte Lieder
Zemlinsky: Eine florentinische Tragödie
Berlioz: Grande messe des morts (esp. Sanctus & Agnus Dei)
Beethoven: Missa Solemnis (esp. Sanctus, Benedictus & Agnus Dei)
Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem
Debussy: Le martyre de Saint Sébastien
Alkan: Grand duo concertant for violin & piano
Medtner: Violin Sonata No.2
Vaughan Williams: The Pilgrim's Progress (esp. The House Beautiful & Act IV-Scene 3)
Sibelius: Symphony No.7
Schumann: Introduction & allegro concertante op.134
Mozart: Sinfonia concertante K.364(320d)
Wagner: Prelude to Lohengrin
Bantock: A Celtic Symphony
Britten: Festival Te Deum
Saint-Saëns: Samson et Dalila, "Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix"
Dohnányi: Piano Quintet No.1


Edit: substituted Korngold's Prelude to Violanta with Zemlinsky's Florentine Tragedy.

Great list. I was lucky enough to see Bantock's wonderful Celtic Symphony live at the Proms in London a while back. I have also twice seen The Pilgrim's Progress by Vaughan Williams live an incredibly moving experience.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Jaakko Keskinen

#47
May 29, 2015, 03:45:11 AM
Limiting to one per composer.

Verdi: Simon boccanegra's opening
Wagner: Wotan's farewell from Walküre
Sibelius: VC, adagio di molto
Debussy: La fille aux cheveux de lin
Richard Strauss: Tod und Verklärung
Brahms: Symphony 1, movement 4
Beethoven: Symphony 9, movement 4
Bruckner: Symphony 7, adagio
Puccini: Tosca
Mendelssohn: Piano trio op. 49, movement 4

Only ten is too cruel :(
"Javert, though frightful, had nothing ignoble about him. Probity, sincerity, candor, conviction, the sense of duty, are things which may become hideous when wrongly directed; but which, even when hideous, remain grand."

- Victor Hugo

Jaakko Keskinen

#48
May 29, 2015, 04:06:53 AM
10 more!

Stravinsky: Firebird
Tchaikovsky: Symphony 1, movement 2
Rachmaninov: The Rock
Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde, Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde
Bach: Goldberg variations
Grieg: Opening of Peer Gynt
Mozart: Don Giovanni
Schumann: Scenes from Goethe's Faust
Dvorak: Symphony 9, movement 4
Fauré: Berceuse for violin and piano

"Javert, though frightful, had nothing ignoble about him. Probity, sincerity, candor, conviction, the sense of duty, are things which may become hideous when wrongly directed; but which, even when hideous, remain grand."

- Victor Hugo

shell

#49
July 16, 2015, 10:21:34 AM Last Edit: July 16, 2015, 11:48:37 AM by howlingfantods
Wagner - Parsifal - middle of act 1, from "Vom Bade kehrt der Konig heim" through to where Titurel starts singing
Wagner - Meistersinger - act 3 quintet
Brahms - 3rd Symphony -  3rd movement
Beethoven - Tempest Sonata - 3rd movement
Beethoven - 7th Symphony - 2nd movement
Bach - St Matthew Passion - "Buss' und Reu'" and "Wir setzen uns mit Tranen nieder" (cheating a bit here)
Mahler - Das Lied von der Erde - "Der Abschied"
Puccini - Turandot - The death of Liu, from "Tu che di gel sei cinta" through at "Tu sei morta".  By the way, Puccini really should have called this opera "Liu" and ended the opera there.
Verdi - Rigoletto - "Ah, veglia, o donna, questo fiore"
Faure - Requiem - "Sanctus"

Earth and Air and Rain

#50
July 18, 2015, 11:41:52 PM

A fine thread in which to make my first post...  Music is everything, it's power and depth and intricacy and brilliance, yet to me Beauty triumphs over all.

Orchestral

Vaughan Williams: Symphony no. 5 - Romanza
Ravel: Ma Mère L'oye, complete ballet - Le jardin féerique

Choral

Brahms: Geistliches Lied
Grechaninov: Strastnaia Sedmitsa (Passion Week)
Howells: Hymnus Paradisi
Finzi: Lo, the full, final sacrifice and In terra pax
Durufle: Requiem

Stage

Borodin: String quartet no. 2 - Nocturne, adapted as "And this is my beloved" in Kismet by Wright & Forrest
Fauré's music remains a great corrective to the self-seeking vulgarity which seeps progressively into the fabric of our artistic life...  We have to continue to believe in a world where it is possible for one tenor gently to sing 'Clair de lune' without being drowned by three bellowing 'O sole mio'.

sheri1983

#51
August 16, 2015, 05:27:42 AM
Beethoven Symphony 9
Beethoven Missa Solemnis
Bach Mass in C
Bach Mathew's Passion
Handel Water music
Handel Messiah
Mozart Requiem
Mozart Symphony 41
Mozart Prague Symphony 38
Schubert Symphony 9

That's what comes to my mind now.
Without music, life would be a mistake. - Nietzsche

Karl Henning

#52
August 17, 2015, 05:09:05 AM
Quote from: sheri1983 on August 16, 2015, 05:27:42 AM
Beethoven Symphony 9
Beethoven Missa Solemnis
Bach Mass in C
Bach Mathew's Passion
Handel Water music
Handel Messiah
Mozart Requiem
Mozart Symphony 41
Mozart Prague Symphony 38
Schubert Symphony 9

That's what comes to my mind now.

Welcome!  Love the Prague Symphony!  (Of course, everything on your list is lovely  :) )
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

sheri1983

#53
August 19, 2015, 07:18:03 AM Last Edit: August 19, 2015, 07:42:28 AM by sheri1983
Quote from: karlhenning on August 17, 2015, 05:09:05 AM
Welcome!  Love the Prague Symphony!  (Of course, everything on your list is lovely  :) )
One of the best, I think it has Bach influence on Mozart with it's Contrapuntal style.
Without music, life would be a mistake. - Nietzsche

USMC1960s

#54
September 23, 2015, 10:38:42 AM
Vaughn Williams---The Lark Ascending.

Mirror Image

#55
September 23, 2015, 03:07:31 PM
Quote from: USMC1960s on September 23, 2015, 10:38:42 AM
Vaughn Williams---The Lark Ascending.

Certainly a gorgeous work and it's a work that still manages to get under my skin after all these years of listening to it. Have tried Vaughan Williams' Flos Campi? For me, this may be the single most beautiful work I've ever heard, although this is a bit of an exaggeration as there's so much beautiful music out there, but this one really takes the cake. Check this out whenever you get the time:

https://www.youtube.com/v/lEmpAzyamOc

USMC1960s

#56
September 23, 2015, 04:23:15 PM
That is beautiful indeed---thanks for posting that.

Mirror Image

#57
September 23, 2015, 04:28:20 PM
Quote from: USMC1960s on September 23, 2015, 04:23:15 PM
That is beautiful indeed---thanks for posting that.

You're welcome. :) I couldn't find my favorite performance of Flos Campi (Lawrence Power/Brabbins on Hyperion) on YT, but it's good that this performance wasn't terrible. ;)

Ken B

#58
September 23, 2015, 07:07:22 PM
Quote from: Mirror Image on September 23, 2015, 03:07:31 PM
Certainly a gorgeous work and it's a work that still manages to get under my skin after all these years of listening to it. Have tried Vaughan Williams' Flos Campi? For me, this may be the single most beautiful work I've ever heard, although this is a bit of an exaggeration as there's so much beautiful music out there, but this one really takes the cake. Check this out whenever you get the time:

https://www.youtube.com/v/lEmpAzyamOc

Yay! I have lov d that since before John was born. Nice to see some Flos Campi love.

Mirror Image

#59
September 23, 2015, 07:10:09 PM
Quote from: Ken B on September 23, 2015, 07:07:22 PM
Yay! I have lov d that since before John was born. Nice to see some Flos Campi love.

Indeed +1
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