Most achingly-beautiful music

CLASSICAL:
Satie--3 Gymnopedies
Bach--Air on G-String
Mozart--Concerto #5 for violin & Orchestra, Adagio
Beethoven--Symphonie #6--Shepherd's Song

JAZZ:
Oregon, Silence of a Candle from Beyond Words
Paul Winter, Icarus
Bolling, Sentimentale from Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano
Pat Methany, last 3 songs on Secret Story
Oscar Peterson, Blues for Lisa from The More I see You

ROCK
Traffic, Freedom Rider from John Barleycorn
Eric Clapton , Tears from Heaven from Unplugged
Jackson Brown, Late for the Sky from Late for the Sky
Grateful Dead, Ripple from American Beauty

WORLD & MISC
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, My Heart, My Life from Night Song
Loreena McKinnet, Bonny Portmor from The Visit
Ana Caram, Correnteza from The Other Side of Jobim
Ali Akbar Khan, Fantasy from Journey

Richards, glad to see a Pat Metheny title in there. I'd also add the last two tracks from Still Life Talking.

'The Moon is a Harsh Mistress' from Beyond the Missouri Sky, which is a really a Charlie Haden/Pat Metheny duet release.

'Hejira' from Joni Mitchell's album of the same name.

'Heartland' from Keith Jarrett's album Concerts (Bregenz), also 'Americana' and 'Recitative' from Dark Intervals.

Jeff Buckley - Lover You Should Have Come Over.

For lyrics, melody, and arrangement this is hard to beat. The opening lines:
"Looking out the door I see the rain fall upon the funeral mourners
Parading in a wake of sad relations as their shoes fill up with water
And maybe I'm too young
To keep good love from going wrong
But tonight you're on my mind so..."

The bridge, which swells with a gospel choir, is almost overwhelming:
"It's never over, my kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder
It's never over, all my riches for her smiles when I slept so soft against her...
It's never over, all my blood for the sweetness of her laughter
It's never over, she is the tear that hangs inside my soul forever"

He could write like Leonard Cohen, and sang like an angel.

I second the vote for the Rachmaninoff 2nd.Symphony. However, I must correct "Tubegroover". The part you love is actually the 3rd. movement, not the 2nd. Irishdog.

1. Steven Stills-"Singin Call"
2. Robin Trower-"Bluebird"
3. Steely Dan-"Turn That Heartbeat Over Again"
4. Moody Blues-"Dawning is the Day" (sorry about that, it's criminal to limit it to three!)