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The most beautiful 2 minutes...


Joni Wiljami

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There are lots of lovely music around , haunting love themes, beautiful preludes...

but nothing like CE3K...it's so timeless and ever lovable...

There are two moments in this amazing soundtrack which are the most important of any music to me.

The Returnees 1:41 until end

The Visitors/Bye... 2:50-4:50

Anyone else likes these...

...or having some other music so important to oneselves...

I don't know if they are the absolute 2 most beautiful minutes of music... but are among my most beloved ones.

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I would have to go with either The Trees from Medicine Man, The Grand Finale from Edward Scissorhands, or Falls from the Mission for cues containing the most beautiful two minutes.

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CE3k is up there, of course. To be honest, though, my favorite part of the finale is Williams's arrangement of "When You Wish Upon a Star."

The end of "Transformation" from Beauty and the Beast.

"Washington Reunion" from Forrest Gump.

The end of "The Return of the King" from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

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My picks (in addition to those previously mentioned):

I Left Her Alone - Constantine

Agadio - Alien 3

To Every Captive Soul - Hannibal

Now We Are Free/Elysium - Gladiator

The Fog's Just Lifting - The Perfect Storm

The Hand of Fate Pt. 2 - Signs

Fawkes the Phoenix - Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets

The Family Theme - Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry in Winter - Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire

Anakin's Theme - Star Wars: The Phantom Menace

You Are the Pan - Hook

The Road Goes Ever On - LOTR Fellowship of the Ring

The Grey Havens - LOTR Return of the King

Burning the Past - Kingdom of Heaven

Killing an Old Friend - Highlander Endgame

Ringing Out - White Squall

Sydney's Theme - Alias

Parting Words - Lost

The Bomb Detonates & Lynn McGill's Sacrifice - 24

Aftermath - Deep Blue Sea

Unusual choices to be sure, but they are all very beautiful.

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As my first post ;) I will say: Psycho II (and if I remember correctly, "Anakin's dark deeds" starts very similarly to Psycho II theme) and Star Trek: Insurrection main themes - both are about 2 minutes. Although the Victory celebration from Return of the jedi special edition isn't bad either.

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I need to remind everyone to do his/her homework and listen to especially

that The Returnees two minutes (1:42 until end).

It was the original mission of this thread.

The Collector's Editon Soundtrack it was.

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"The Breaking of the Fellowship" from The Fellowship of the Ring. The only piece of music that I can honestly say has made me cry.

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Any two minutes of the last five minutes of the end of "ET."

A very, very, very close second is the opening two minutes of "Auschwitz-Birkenau." Yes, it's sorrowful, but also beautiful. Perlman at his best. The BSO at their best, too. And obviously, John Williams at his usual perfection.

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I'll just say Kings of the Past from the Lion King bootleg for fun....

*dives for cover*

I'm all for that! In my humble opinion, The Lion King score ranks among the VERY BEST of the 1990s, and the most deserving Oscar win of that decade, short of Williams for SL. The dramatic Elephant Graveyard / "danger" theme, and especially the two main themes (showcased in "The Once and Future King" and "Kings of the Past" especially), are all beautiful on the level of Morricone's Once Upon a Time in the West theme, Remembrances from SL and the E.T. finale.

I generally think Zimmer is a hack, but the man CAN write fantastic music.

In my humble opinion, of course...

--Pelzter.

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"The Breaking of the Fellowship" from The Fellowship of the Ring. The only piece of music that I can honestly say has made me cry.

Ah definately. And the beginning works so well with Gandalf's gentle voiceover.

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CE3K and E.T. would get my vote. I would bet I could find something by Georges Delerue that could qualify.

Something from Rich and Famous or Crimes from the Heart, methinks.

Also, this may not be THE most beautiful (It's impossible for me to name one clear favorite, or three, or ten), but 'tis one of my favorites: 'Kissing in the Rain' from Great Expectation. And while we're talking about Doyle, it's near impossible for me not to mention 'The Wedding Night'.

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Music in general? The last few minutes of Celibidache's recording of Bruckner's 4th symphony are, in my opinion, the single best bit of music I've ever heard, and very likely the best bit of music ever recorded. It's simply beyond anything else I know.

As for film music, that's not easy. But several good ones have been mentioned.

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You're a Celibidache fan? I'm sorry to say, I never got into his ideas on tempo. They can give an interesting version of the specific piece, but I rarely get wrapped up in it. But I must admit I'm not that familiar with Celibidache per se, so much as by his pupils and followers.

EDIT: Never mind that- I just listened to the fourth movement of Bruckner's 4th, on youtube, and it is friggin' amazing! I've gotta get some Bruckner!

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Ha! :eek:

His tempi take some getting used to, and they're not always great. But Bruckner in general, and some of his symphonies particularly, are best played very slow. His finale of the 4th is unsurpassed, and his 7th as a whole is the definitive recording of that work for me.

I have only a few non-Bruckner recordings by him. Some are good, some not so much. But for the right works, his approach worked wonders. :mrgreen:

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The first minute and last minute of ROTS's "Lament" ("Anakin's Betrayal") are extraordinarily moving.

Some sections of Jurassic Park are truly astounding in their beauty, too. "Journey to the Island" is one of my favorite Williams pieces of all time, from start to finish.

The piano solo from 1:30 to about 2:00 in "Transformed" (from Horner's Bicentennial Man) isn't two minutes, but it's certainly gorgeous. Great compositionally, and a rather brilliant performance, too, IMO. I'm sure it seems very derivative if you compare it to some previous Horner score, but I haven't heard too many of his, and therefore I will blissfully ignore his self-plagiarism in this case.

Mancina's "Overture from The Haunted Mansion" also gets a nominating from me. All in all, it's a nice piece--elegant, well-orchestrated, recognizably melodic but not repetitious or monotonous, and suitably...well, off. And that E - Bbm - E - C# - F#m progression going into the fast section is chill-inducing, as is the booming pipe organ after the main body of the overture--an outstanding rendition of "Grim Grinning Ghosts" that, sadly, can only be heard on the complete release that was given to members of the orchestra and crew.

Kudos to Ender for thinking of "Cadillac of the Skies." I probably wouldn't have thought of it when writing this post, but it's a truly inspiring piece. I'm smiling just thinking about it.

And of course the final minutes of E.T. are right near the top of the list. :wave:

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I'd say every second of this 15-minute finale music from ET.

Sometimes what makes any composition (or most of them) extraordinary for me are always just two or three seconds of what I call 'the ultimate music' put in the very right place. Just a plain boom-tzzz or a fanfare, or some other sound plaied on any instrument. But just beacuse it is in this certain place (and not in any other) it makes the whole - sometimes very long - composition overwhelm. JW however is known for putting lots of such a moments in his work and some of his cues fully consist of that kind of music.

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Here's a list of moments with great beauty...

Back to America in Angela's Ashes

Fawkes the Phoenix in CoS,or the renditions of Fawkes theme in Fawkes is Reborn

Yoda lifts the x-wing in Empire Strikes Back

The Computer Room in SpaceCamp

In Orbit from Spacecamp

The Ballroom Scene,especially the last 2 minutes

Amazing Stories The Mission,the etheral bit at 1-44 to 3.45 in The Landing

Most of Theme from Jurassic Park

Cinque's Theme in Amistad

The City Sleeps in Earthquake

Most of Harry's Wondrous World

Buckbeaks Flight

The end of The Penitant Man will Pass in Last Crusade

A New Beginning in Minority Report

Regaining a Son from Seven Years in Tibet

Anakin's Theme from TPM

Reading Lessons from Stanley and Iris

Anakin's Betrayal and the similar Refugee Status

Destruction of Krypton from 3:30 to 5:40

The Stegausaurus from the Lost World

the Ancestral Home from The River

A New Galaxy,Lost in Space

The Miracle,Heidi

End of CE3K

End of ET

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Excellent list...I might add the last 1:10 or so of the Far and Away End Credits, "Somewhere in My Memory" from the children's choir to the end, and "Leaving Hogwarts."

And as for pieces that haven't been mentioned from other composers:

All of "Fairy Dance" from Peter Pan (JNH)

First two minutes of "The Gravel Road" from The Village (JNH)

Last 2:25 of "The Healing" and last 1:12 of "The Great Eatlon" from Lady in the Water (JNH)

"Walking on Water" from Bruce Almighty (Debney)

"Ice Dance" from Edward Scissorhands (Elfman)

Ray Barnsbury - inspired to go on a listening spree now

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The piano solo from 1:30 to about 2:00 in "Transformed" (from Horner's Bicentennial Man) isn't two minutes, but it's certainly gorgeous. Great compositionally, and a rather brilliant performance, too, IMO. I'm sure it seems very derivative if you compare it to some previous Horner score, but I haven't heard too many of his, and therefore I will blissfully ignore his self-plagiarism in this case.

Not if I have a say in it. It's Morricone's The Mission.

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I've always found Rudy's theme (Goldsmith) and I'm Forrest...Forrest Gump (Silvestri) to be quite lovely .

Akira Ifukube's Mothra theme, especially the end credit version heard in Godzilla vs Mothra (1992) is beautiful. Delerue's love theme from Joe vs The Volcano is another one I could add.

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Silvestri's theme to Cast Away.

Yeah, it sounds great right up until you reach the 1000th time it's used in that film. After that, it leaves a sour taste in the mouth. ;)

Speaking of Silvestri, the BTTF scores actually have some remarkably gorgeous moments. The opening titles of Part III feature that film's love theme, which I find very beautiful. Some of the more winsome statements of that trilogy's main musical theme instill such soothing feelings of nostalgia in me...

And I don't care what insults may be hurled at me for saying this--I like the loud statement of the love theme near the end of the first POTC, as Will and Elizabeth kiss. Yes, the distortion is hideous, and yes, it could have been performed, recorded, and mixed much better. But I like it. So shoot me already.

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