Berlioz’s Requiem.
Lot’s of my favourites up there. Ditto on Scott Joplin’s Solace and Glenn Gould playing The Goldberg Variations also:
Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto 1st Movement - Allegro Moderato
Henryk Gorecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs
Chopin’s Prelude in E Minor-Largo
Erik Satie’s Gymnopedie I
Henry Purcell’s Dido’s Lament from Dido & Aeneas
Duke Ellington’s Mood Indigo
Charles Mingus’ Goodbye Porkpie Hat
Billie Holiday’s God Bless The Child
Roy Orbison’s Crying
Patsy Cline’s Crazy
The Pogue’s Dirty Old Town
Tom Waits’ You’re Beautiful When You Dream
Oh, and
Gavin Bryars’ Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet
Although I know a great many people who despise this, I find it powerful and compassionate.
Last post, I promise
Oscar Peterson’s soulful Hymn to Freedom, THE greatest jazz composition, EVAR.
Wagner’s Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral. Goosebumps everytime.
Chopin – Etude in A flat, Op. 25/No.1. Especially the Andre Watts recording of it.
Barber’s **Adagio for Strings ** is beautiful in a haunting sort of way. Maybe it’s one of the sadder pieces ever.
Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” movement of his ninth symphony is wonderful. Though to me it is more powerful and uplifting than it is straight up “beautiful”. It is my nomination for #1 on the list of Earth’s Greatest Hits. If we had an opportunity to present only 1 piece of music to our alien overlords in an attempt to show we were worthy enough to be spared extermination, Beethoven’s ninth or at least the final movement of it (if the Aliens had a short attention span) would be my pick.
I’ll cast another vote for Canon In D Major.
Here’s a song that probably no one thinks as the most beautiful but I really like “Green” by Edie Brickell. Not my favorite song but to me it is quite beautiful.
I think there was a thread about the most beautiful song several months ago and Roberta Flack’s “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” was the favorite.
Glad to see lots of Mozart, whose works I consider to be among our civilizations highest expression of beauty.
For me, the first one that came to mind was the 1st movement (Allegro) of his 23rd Piano Concerto in A. The next thing that came to mind was the 2nd movement (Adagio), with #3 being the 3rd movement.
Highly, highly, highly recommended if you like Mozart/beautiful music/paired themes ( 
).
You know, another section in that movement almost gets my vote above (shit, I forgot about the 4th movement from Mozarts 41st symphony! But I digress…) Mozarts 23rd Piano Concerto and that’s the…
Canon? Fugue?
that merges both of the main themes of the movement:
Seid Umschluggen, Millionnen
Diesem Kunst dein ganzen Welt!
and…
Freude schoner Gotterfunken
Tochter aus Elysium
Wir betrieten feuertrunken
Himmlische dien Heiglitum!
Awesome, awesome, awesome stuff. If there’s a heaven with the chorus of singing angels and all, then they’re belting that one out at least once a day.
Pardon my German, it’s been about a decade since I’ve typed this out and I didn’t want to Google until after I posted, seeing how’d I do. Poorly, I’m sure.
Modern songs:
Roberta Flack - Killing Me Softly
The Cranberries - Ode To My Family
U2 - One
First movement of Chopin’s first piano concerto.
Second movement of Beethoven’s Seventh.
Third movement of Beethoven’s Pathetique sonata.
Wenn dein Mutterlein by Mahler (third of the Kindertotenlieder)
Yes, Clair de lune and Beethoven’s 9th.
Some others:
Bach - Air on the G string; Sheep may safely graze
Debussy - Prelude to the afternoon of a faun; 3 nocturnes for orchestra; La Mer
Mozart - Laudate Dominum from Vesperae solennes de confessore K339
Ravel - Daphnis and Chloe (ballet), especially the daybreak section (opens suite #2); La Flûte Enchantée from the song cycle Shéhérazade.
Holst - Hymns from the Rig Veda, third group
Liszt - Un sospiro (concert etude)
Randall Thompson - Alleluia; the Last Words of David
I’m listening to a lot of these pieces on Napster today. So lovely some them (most of them). Thanks for sharing. Share more!
Allegri’s Misere especially was - yes *stunning * was the right word **Antonius **. I may become a classical music fan yet. And the Amazing Grace by bagpipes - not that I’d never heard it before, but I’d never really listened. Powerful.
Cat Power- Maybe Not Heard it shortly after 9/11 and found it achingly beautiful (I know that term is overused, but hey, it fits)
Angel on my Shoulder- Gretchen Lieberum and Tomandandy (from the Mean Creek soundtrack)
The Microphones’ cover of Sand (by Eric’s Trip)
Llorando (Crying) from Mulholland Drive. Play it loud on a summer night and even if you have company over, you’ll hear a pin drop a good five minutes after it’s over.
Another great choice. I love almost everything by Wagner.
Samuel Barber’s Adagio For Strings
Abinoni’s Adagio (a baroque piece)
and
Chopin’s Nocturne in C Minor - (Op. 48, No. 1). (I’m somewhat partial to this nocturne, as I played it in my senior piano recital in college – and it’s a beautiful piece).
Debussy - Clair De Lune
Pachelbel - Canon in D
I’d love to have Clair De Lune play as I walk down the isle for my “show” wedding (hubby and and I plan on having a wedding “for the family” in the next year or so, since we had a simple , near-elopement at a courthouse with a couple of close friends).
F***n’ A.
A few more, personal, suggestions—albeit ones probably not in the “Top ten works of music ever produced by human civilization” caliber—in no particular order:
Shepherd Moons—Enya (though I’m a sucker for Enya)
All is Full of Love—Bjork
Gortoz a Ran from the Black Hawk Down soundtrack
Who Wants to Live Forever—various covers
Inner Universe—Yoko Kanno, performed by Origa
Seconded, or at least it’s the one that strikes most to my soul. But any of Mozart does that.