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
It's been a while since I posted on this thread, and the A-goN computer seems to have forgotten to remind me of new posts, so I'll add another one, Gerald Finzi's Eclogue for piano and strings. Very soothing and contemplative music.
Federic Chopin - Variations on "La ci darem la mano," Op. 2 for Piano and Orchestra (Largo)
I don't think any of these have been mentioned.

1-Beethoven "HammerKlavier" Sonata op.106 (slow movement)
The words "achingly beautiful" were invented for this piece.
The approximately 90 seconds in the middle of the piece where the main theme transforms into an almost whispered refrain is the most orgasmic 90 seconds I have ever experience,listening to music that is:)

2-Beethoven Quartet opus 131.
The middle child or the brilliant "late quartets". Unlike the Hammerklavier, this one has to be experienced in its entirety. Unfathomably beautiful.

3-Jeff Buckley's cover of Len Cohen's "Hallelujah"
It's rare, but pop music can occasionally achieve "achingly beautiful" status. I feel like a selfish bastard always wishing he had not left us, just so he could make more music that touches the soul.
Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos No. 2 & 3; Horacio Guttierez/Lorin Maazel on telarc --
IMHO, the ULTIMATE recording of the ULTIMATE composition.
Ravel and Prokofiev. has anyone mentioned these geniuses? Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe and Piano Concertos demand great equipment. huge dynamic range. Prokofiev's romeo & juliet, piano concertos 1,2, and 3, and violin concerto no. 2 are essentials. Especially listen for the excellent contrast at the beginning of Romeo & Juliet montagues & capulets theme! (before the famous lumbering melody strikes) A true test of concert hall aptitude.