xkcd

by **ShootTheChicken** » Mon Aug 08, 2011 10:41 pm UTC

Go on, share what you think is the most beautiful piece of music. Up to you to define beautiful.

My vote.

by **Kewangji** » Mon Aug 08, 2011 10:52 pm UTC

This thing!

Trigger warning for… well I don't know what. Might give you images. I just can't stop listening to it.

by **Microscopic cog** » Mon Aug 08, 2011 11:02 pm UTC

Thank you both for introducing me to two amazing songs and two amazing artists. It's always weird to hear new music and to realize what you've been missing.

This one does it for me. It's performed differently every performance and it's always breathtaking but this version is jaw dropping to me.

by **TheGrammarBolshevik** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 7:31 pm UTC

I hope you've all heard…

Spoiler:

by **JayCeeDenton** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 12:36 am UTC

Has to be Tangerine Dream's Mysterious Semblance At The Strand of Nightmares

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8J2doVjui4

by **Cloud Walker** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 2:27 am UTC

8 minutes of music, and I don't have a problem with a single bit of it.

by **Dream** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 4:36 am UTC

TheGrammarBolshevik wrote:I hope you've all heard…

Spoiler:
…about the Byrd.

I love everything about this post. Everything.

by **Pandorly** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 5:00 am UTC

ShootTheChicken wrote:My vote.

That piece of music is definitely worthy of the title. It's like the Lord of the Rings soundtrack is actually being sung by elves, but also involving the Renaissance somehow.

Microscopic cog wrote:This one does it for me. It's performed differently every performance and it's always breathtaking but this version is jaw dropping to me.

I absolutely love this song; Nick Cave writes the most moving lyrics imaginable and couples them with haunting melodies. Fantastic choice.

My favourite thing about beautiful music is that it seems as though each individual gets a totally different feeling from listening a particular song. People whose favourite artist is Limp Bizkit or Rihannah (how the fuck do you spell that?) quite probably get the same level of enjoyment out of their preferred music as I do out of the music I like; which just baffles me.

Here is Ki by Devin Townsend. It must be listened to in its entirety. The climax begins at 4:16 and it builds like a fucking orgasm until the ending, and I am not even speaking figuratively. Although, I am. Incredible music and incredible sex are strangely similar though.

by **Microscopic cog** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 11:47 am UTC

You just combined my two favourite artists in one post. I like you.

To be honest though, I think Ki is better when played in the order Lady Helen / Ki / Quiet Riot.

Also; Rihanna.

by **Pandorly** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 3:57 pm UTC

Yeah, it's definitely better to listen to Ki as a whole album as opposed to individual tracks. I just find the track Ki to be convenient when introducing people to Dev because the build-up is so exciting. Hide Nowhere is also a fantastic Dev introduction, but then pretty much every track from OM:B is. If I recall correctly, Christeen and then Funeral got me really into him. Not so mad about a lot of the DTP stuff, primarily because he sort of ruins excellent tracks here and there with fart jokes and asshattery.

Was Nick Cave or Rihanna your other favourite artist?

by **ndkid** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 4:12 pm UTC

I'd have to say Pachelbel's Canon
That or This awesome piece I played it last year and loved it, It took me forever to find a recording of it because I forgot the composer, and then my friend gave me their copy of the music.

by **freakish777** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 10:16 pm UTC

I don't think there ever will be a "most" beautiful piece of music.

Here's some contributions though:

Sinead O'Connor & The Chieftans - "The Foggy Dew"

Placebo - "Running Up That Hill"

Nine Inch Nails - "Zero Sum (Splitter remix)

2Cellos cover U2's "With or Without You" (yes, the guys that did the cello Smooth Criminal cover, I think a lot of U2's music would sound superb on Violins or Cellos).

by **Microscopic cog** » Sun Aug 14, 2011 2:54 pm UTC

Pandorly wrote:Yeah, it's definitely better to listen to Ki as a whole album as opposed to individual tracks. I just find the track Ki to be convenient when introducing people to Dev because the build-up is so exciting. Hide Nowhere is also a fantastic Dev introduction, but then pretty much every track from OM:B is. If I recall correctly, Christeen and then Funeral got me really into him. Not so mad about a lot of the DTP stuff, primarily because he sort of ruins excellent tracks here and there with fart jokes and asshattery.

Was Nick Cave or Rihanna your other favourite artist?

It's a hard choice but Nick Cave.

Ki is definitely a great introduction to Devin's solo work, it has the hard badass stuff but also the magical things. Almost anything on Ocean Machine is great, and the guy has written too many great intros to remember them all. Hide Nowhere's especially good though <3. Love Christeen as well, so catchy. But the song that got me into Devin was Ziltoidia Attaxx!, it was so unlike anything I had heard and it was hilarious as well.

Hmm, and on the topic of his newer DTP stuff, I ain't even mad. I do agree that Deconstruction could've been so much better though I still think it's pretty sweet. Anyway, I don't think this thread was about Devin hmm?

So, back on topic: A good second for me is Ulver - All the Love.

by **Pandorly** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 11:58 am UTC

I just came across Minnie Riperton. She is incredible and I want to steal her except she's dead which makes me cry bitterly.

Up there with the best songs, I reckon.

by **modularblues** » Fri Aug 19, 2011 11:16 pm UTC

Slowing down a hip-hop or techno song by >~10x might reveal or amplify hidden beauty in the harmonic structures and melodic contours.

by **cjmcjmcjmcjm** » Sat Aug 20, 2011 6:48 am UTC

Music for 18 Musicians. It's a beautiful journey for the ears (among other sensors)

by **Discovererman** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 8:27 pm UTC

Pandorly wrote:I just came across Minnie Riperton. She is incredible and I want to steal her except she's dead which makes me cry bitterly.

Minnie Riperton has one of the most lovely voices I've ever heard, but while I love "Loving You," I think "Reasons" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en8B2xnxNRA) showcases how truly rad she is. That wailing is just heavenly.

I know "most beautiful" is a severely relative, but I'd honestly go as far as say this song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdOOfOWld5c) come pretty damn close.

Foreign languages just sound so nice, don't they?

(Anyone know why I can't use [url], btw?)

by **EvanED** » Wed Aug 24, 2011 3:37 pm UTC

Discovererman wrote:(Anyone know why I can't use [url], btw?)

By your displayed post count (2), too few posts. I think you need 5 before you can post links.

by **SirMustapha** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 8:06 pm UTC

Vangelis has this strange trick of making music which, were it done by anyone else in the world, would sound awful, cheesy and overblown all the way to Hell and back; yet, he pulls it off with so much gusto and conviction, that he almost convinces me that God exists. Case in point: Glorianna (Hymn à la Femme), from the 1988 album Direct.

by **Zanmanoodle** » Mon Aug 29, 2011 10:24 pm UTC

I have no one choice, really. But here goes.

This right here. When I was in high school, I went biking through a lot of paths in the woods behind my neighborhood. All of Zeppelin's acoustic folk-y work felt perfect there.

by **dbsmith** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 5:59 am UTC

From The Dig OST:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR5PhssJ ... re=related

From Tree of Life OST:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SllzfuTQg4U

by **legopelle** » Sun Sep 18, 2011 4:11 pm UTC

dbsmith wrote:From The Dig OST:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR5PhssJ ... re=related

From Tree of Life OST:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SllzfuTQg4U

Tree of life is such a great mix of visuals and music.

Here's something not included on the official OST:
Patrick Cassiy's Funeral March

or this:
Smetana's The Moldau River

and this:
Preisner's Day of Tears

by **The Scyphozoa** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 4:33 am UTC

Living Mice (Minecraft OST)

And the instrumental of Bittersweet Symphony, because English accents in singing just doesn't appeal to me, and the lyrics are melodramatic.

What else... oh of course The Divided Sky (two vids because long. The second half of the second video is a different song which you don't have to listen to.). It's therapeutic if you ask me.
I should mention that, in The Divided Sky, there is a part of the song between 1:11 and 1:41. It may not be what you expect. It is a part of the song. Just listen to it.

by **UniqueScreenname** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 11:04 pm UTC

freakish777 wrote:I don't think there ever will be a "most" beautiful piece of music.

Here's some contributions though:

Sinead O'Connor & The Chieftans - "The Foggy Dew"

Placebo - "Running Up That Hill"

Nine Inch Nails - "Zero Sum (Splitter remix)

2Cellos cover U2's "With or Without You" (yes, the guys that did the cello Smooth Criminal cover, I think a lot of U2's music would sound superb on Violins or Cellos).

You certainly have my kind of style. I love Placebo's cover of Running Up That Hill. It's just so mellow but intense at the same time, which doesn't make any sense.

These are my top 3:, Ghost Love Score, Nutshell, and Chasing the Dragon. Chasing the Dragon may be most aesthetically beautiful, but the first one is the most epic song I've ever heard, and the second makes me more emotional than anything else.

by **freakish777** » Fri Nov 11, 2011 4:22 am UTC

Rosie Thomas - "The One I Love"

by **The Moomin** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 4:18 pm UTC

This brings a tear to my eye everytime, I just have a weakness for the flute.

by **Jave D** » Sun Nov 27, 2011 1:43 am UTC

Maurice Ravel - Pavane for a Dead Princess

Samuel Barber - Adagio for Strings

Tchaikovsky - Symphony no. 6 (4th mvmt, but 1st also is good)

Prokofiev - Alexander Nevsky the Field of Death
Also from that cantata, the Crusaders Entering Pskov bit, but that's a bit of cheating since I always associate it to the film where the Germans are tossing babies into the fire. Kinda hard not to get emotional about that since, well. Babies into the fire.

by **Brawls** » Sun Nov 27, 2011 8:02 pm UTC

Pandorly wrote:I just came across Minnie Riperton. She is incredible and I want to steal her except she's dead which makes me cry bitterly.

Up there with the best songs, I reckon.

1:56 is pure awesomeness.

My idea of a beautiful song would sound the opposite of epic. Something beautiful in its simplicity.
Like this version of the Wizard of OZ song here.

by **frogman** » Mon Nov 28, 2011 1:35 am UTC

I have really been into Native Tongue by The Wilderness of Manitoba lately. I get shivers down my spine when the electric guitar comes in, about halfway through the piece.

by **cjmcjmcjmcjm** » Tue Nov 29, 2011 6:47 am UTC

Amarok by Mike Oldfield

by **SirMustapha** » Tue Nov 29, 2011 11:53 am UTC

cjmcjmcjmcjm wrote:Amarok by Mike Oldfield

That one classifies as "the most unbelievably, inconceivably oh-my-gawd-I-can't-believe-this-is-possible absurdly fan-fucking-tastic piece of music", but, well, I guess that qualifies it as "the most beautiful" as well.

by **vvav** » Tue Nov 29, 2011 8:38 pm UTC

ShootTheChicken wrote:Go on, share what you think is the most beautiful piece of music. Up to you to define beautiful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Cn7ZW8ts3Y My vote.

I really love that song. I went and bought a baroque album because it had that song and I wanted to own it in higher quality after hearing it on youtube the other day. Thank you.

Rest of the album is pretty awesome too, so it was a nice investment. I'm finding myself growing very fond of Purcell and Handel. I should've looked into Baroque music earlier.

My own contribution to this thread: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV0wPBYDQ6Y

by **jobriath** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 7:54 pm UTC

ShootTheChicken wrote:My vote.

Memories of the time before I heard this piece now hurt me.

Kewangji wrote:This thing!

I love the noise and discord but am unused to hearing them in a traditional rock song format. Haven't yet clicked with the vocals but there's something hypnotising about the bat-shit insane music behind them. Will listen to more!

Microscopic cog wrote:This one does it for me. It's performed differently every performance and it's always breathtaking but this version is jaw dropping to me.

Love the driving urgency of it. Nick Cave is one hell of a singer. Also got me onto Johnny Cash's later stuff, which is equally mesmerising. Thanks!

frogman wrote:I have really been into Native Tongue by The Wilderness of Manitoba lately. I get shivers down my spine when the electric guitar comes in, about halfway through the piece.

Enjoyed the harmonies. Have you heard of Tunng? They've got a similar vibe, with a bit more glitch and, latterly, pop.

I've overthought the question and now I honestly can't say. Sometimes you just need some Silver Mt. Zion, though. This one's a two-fer. The amateur chorus in the beginning is gloriously raw. Then when that gives way to the violins they build long and slow into something wonderful.

by **frogman** » Sat Dec 03, 2011 12:16 am UTC

jobriath wrote:
frogman wrote:I have really been into Native Tongue by The Wilderness of Manitoba lately. I get shivers down my spine when the electric guitar comes in, about halfway through the piece.

Enjoyed the harmonies. Have you heard of Tunng? They've got a similar vibe, with a bit more glitch and, latterly, pop.

Thanks for the suggestion! I really liked it, and I'll definitely listen to more.

by **UniqueScreenname** » Sat Dec 03, 2011 1:04 am UTC

Brawls wrote:
Pandorly wrote:I just came across Minnie Riperton. She is incredible and I want to steal her except she's dead which makes me cry bitterly.

Up there with the best songs, I reckon.

1:56 is pure awesomeness.

My idea of a beautiful song would sound the opposite of epic. Something beautiful in its simplicity.
Like this version of the Wizard of OZ song here.

That's probably my favorite version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow ever. It just doesn't seem like it would go with a ukelele, but it does.

by **Narsil** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 3:19 am UTC

This whole album. All of it. It jerks a tear, then crushes your soul, and then slowly mends it back together again. Musically speaking, it's a mix of trip-hop, ambient, spoken word, and just a dash of breakcore. If you're in the mood for a sitting-down musical experience, nay, voyage, this is it.

(NOTE: The link takes you to a download for the album on mediafire. I've downloaded it myself and scanned the file. It's clean.)

by **Gigano** » Thu Dec 22, 2011 9:13 pm UTC

This right here. It's cliché, but everytime I listen to this it's like "listening to the birth of music itself" as Leonard Bernstein described it.

by **cjmcjmcjmcjm** » Thu Dec 22, 2011 11:29 pm UTC

The 6th movement of Messiaen's Turangalila-Symphonie.

Gigano wrote:This right here. It's cliché, but everytime I listen to this it's like "listening to the birth of music itself" as Leonard Bernstein described it.

On the subject of Beethoven, the rest of the 5th symphony (I've lost a lot of enjoyment of the 1st movement due to being overplayed, often-times badly)

by **casualevils** » Sat Dec 24, 2011 2:27 am UTC

Damn OP's vote is amazing. The audio glitch at 4:49 scared the crap out of me, though. Furthermore, i'm miffed that the version i bought on itunes is a different performance. That video definitely has the richest sound out of the ones I've heard I vote for Winter from the Four Seasons by Vivaldi. All baroque is excellent in my opinion

by **Bartimaeus** » Sun Dec 25, 2011 3:57 am UTC

Beautiful? Beautiful is hard to define.

Most beautiful in recent music:
Maybe this
I could rant at length about every aspect. The lyrics, his voice, THE ONDES. Just amazing.

As for the past, I'm stuck between Beethoven's Seventh Symphony and his "Appassionata" sonata. I'd probably go with the sonata, if I had to make a choice. I'm always amazed at the power of a piano. Somehow a single instrument with a single player can compare to, if not surpass, the greatest of orchestras. There's a special intimacy to it.

Edit: Runner up because I was thinking about what "beautiful" means, and if it's anything it is this peculiar piece.
Jonny Greenwood's Doghouse.

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