I need music to listen to in my reflections. I listen to a lot of Jazz.
I have noticed some of the most beautiful music in the soundtracks for:
Chinatown (Jerry Goldsmith)
Trouble Man (Marvin Gayes work just in between Whats Going on and Let’s Get it on)
Elevator to the gallows (Miles Davis)
Anyone know soundtracks and have opinions? It’s hard because it is dependent on the movie as much as the artist.
Once Upon a Time in the West
Last of the Mohicans
Exodus
Not jazz, but I enjoy Miller’s Crossing. The theme is so good, they used it in a trailer for The Shawshank Redemption, although it wasn’t used in the movie itself.
Local Hero has a soundtrack largely by by Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits).
I particularly recommend The main theme
The English Patient
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
The Red Violin has a beautiful soundtrack. I was really shocked to find out it was all original, having assumed while watching it they had just performed existing songs.
I like listening to this compilation on YouTube when I want to contemplate and relax. Most of the artists on this compilation make BGM for movies and other dramatic productions.
Heck, Amadeus.
Dingo, Miles Davis. And that’s just the opener. I don’t know about being profoundly beautiful, but it’s Miles in top form.
Dr. Zhivago has a terrific soundtrack.
If Henry Mancini did it and it was a soundtrack, (movie or TV show), odds are it was great!
The two the popped to mind on reading your title are:
Le château de ma mère - Vladimir Cosma
La Gloire de mon Père (My Father’s Glory) - Improvised & Performed by srmusic
…
And of course there’s Ragtime - Randy Newman
Peter Gabriel’s The Last Temptation of Christ.
Blade Runner
And Conan the Barbarian, believe it or not.
“The Natural” has some wonderful music.
Brokeback Mountain
Profoundly beautiful:
Blade Runner (the complete soundtrack, available only as bootleg)
Alien (the complete 2 cd set)
The Thing (1982; the new re-recording of the complete score)
Barry Lyndon. (But it helps if you like older classical music.)
Second Doyle’s nomination of Last of the Mohicans. Beautiful!
Gettysburg is also hugely inspirational and quite pretty.
I am very, very fond of Georges Delerue’s soundtrack for The King of Hearts.
I’m not sure if this counts, but Granuaile, an album by Shaun Davey, is truly lovely, and contains my favorite song of all I’ve ever heard, “Sailing Free and Easy.” Here is a cut from the album, with musicological notes. This is a fascinating little four-minute music appreciation lesson, well worth enjoying!
I’ll second Blade Runner and add Requiem For a Dream.
The Mission, especially Gabriel’s Oboe.
Black Beauty (1994) by Danny Elfman, a beautiful, radiant score written in the English pastoral style.