Most achingly-beautiful music

Allright,

gotta step in and rag on this thread for a moment.

For some reason i read the title of this thread and i picture some 45 year old bald guy in extremly expencive clothes sitting on his chair with his head back and hands over his heart with a pained smile and tear in his eye, taking a deep breath and whimpering a little as he exhales.

Oh, it is so beautiful it hurts! It is like it was written for me! -sniff- Me! Oh, how it aches.

BAH HAH HAH HAH SHUTTUP!

I like good music, and yes there is plenty of good music out there, and some very beautiful passages, but there is no music out there that makes me ribbit-up like a frog and cry.

Maybe im just too calloused.

Anyways, in my opinion, some of the most beautiful music is from the Legendary Pink Dots. Either the "Crushed Velvet Apocalyplse LP" or the "9 Lives to Wonder" Cd. Both beautiful, the latter album can get extremly haunting though.

Sorry, but i had to throw that in, ive been too good for too long! :)

-Slappy, Ruler of Planet Earth-

1. Beethoven's Archduke Trio defines achingly beautiful or maybe just hauntingly beautiful.
2. Kiri singing Dovo Sono from Marriage of Figaro
3. Elgar's Cello Concierto - Jacqueline du Pre - also defines more the ache than the beautiful

"Gershwin Fantasy" Joshua Bell w/John Williams and the London Symphony on Sony Classical.

I just picked this up after hearing on PBS and the whole album is spellbinding. A must have for Gershwin fans. On "Embraceable You" Bell and the Orchestra change keys 3 times on one passage, talk about achingly beautiful, a definite qualifier.

"Cat Scratch Fever"Ted Nugent
It such sounded fitting!

I will stand on the adagios on Schubert's late string quartets, see above. Lately though,I have really gone back to very early American music like Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family. Call it country music or even hillbilly music, I really do not care. But I have been quite smitten by the Hank Williams, Sr mystique. His acoustic music with just him and his flat body Martin/ Gibson has to be the most achingly beautiful music around. Hauntingly beautiful.
Even goose bump beautiful. Pitiful beautiful, what ever. He LIVED his songs. The original recordings are scratchy, lots of wow and flutter, but his voice does shine through. About the only two people I know on Audiogon who actually listen to Hank are myself and Albert. Most people probably are not familar with his body of work or do not care to know. But I will say this: 100 years from now, in America, at least, if not England, too( yes the Brits love Hank, for some strange reason the Swiss do too, maybe its the yodeling) Hank's music will be around.