The Most Beautiful Music Ever?

[Dean1700 4]

Basically, this is just your own opinions on what you consider to be the most beautiful piece of music you've ever heard.

I have three personal favourites: Any score track from Castaway, the finale of Close Encounters as well as Father Kolbe's Preaching from The Truman Show all rank up there.

[indy4 155]

Charades (Lady in the Water)

Finale from Close Encounters

Chevalier de Sangreal (Da Vinci Code)

Buckbeak's Flight (PoA)

Fawkes the Phoenix (CoS)

Harry in Winter (GoF)

Soarin' (Soarin' Over California from California Adventures)

The Breaking of the Fellowship

Love Theme from Superman

Ice Dance (Edward Scissorhands)

The list goes on and on....

[pixie_twinkle 48]

Already answered this here: http://jwfan.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=13762

[MSM 126]

1) Theme from The Color Purple (Quincy Jones, Jeremy Lubbock, Rodney Temperton, arr. John Williams)

2) Heroic Song, symphonic poem op. 111 (Antonin Dvorak)

3) Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini, op. 43, var. no. 18 (Sergei Rachmaninoff)

4) How Can I Remember? (John Williams)

5) Theme from Sabrina (John Williams)

6) Flight to Neverland (John Williams, concert arr. 1996)

7) Also Sprach Zarathustra, op. 30, no. 2 Von den Hinterweltlern (Richard Strauss)

8) March With Me (Vangelis)

9) Theme from Jurassic Park (John Williams)

10)Widmung, S-566 (Robert Schumann/Franz Lizst)

[Marian Schedenig 8,173]

Bruckner, Symphony #4, 1st movement & symphony #7.

7) Also Sprach Zarathustra, op. 30, no. 2 Von den Hinterweltlern (Richard Strauss)

[Henry B 50]

"Jedi Theme" from Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II soundtrack by Mark Griskey. Sounds much nerdier than it is.

[John Crichton 4]

I've always thought the live orchestral cues from Final Fantasy IX contained some of the most purely beautiful music I've ever heard, probably peaking with the main title cue.

[Joni Wiljami 1,206]

The most beautiful music?

What mentioned here, I find Buckbeak's Flight .... heroic , adventurous.

. ................. .Theme from Jurassic Park .....grandeur

. ................. . Flight to Neverland ....heroic.

. ................ .anything from LotR ....just boring.

For me beautiful means The Returnees or The Finale from CE3K

or the violin solo from Beim Schlafengehen(Vier Letzte Lieder) by R.Strauss

[JWfangirl1992 18]

Not the most beautiful piece I've ever heard but has got to be way up there, "A Window to the Past" (PoA). Especially the opening flute (? not 100% sure on the instrument) solo.

[Joni Wiljami 1,206]

Girl , very good choice , very beautiful indeed.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

This is in no particular order:

Where Dreams Are Born (A.I.)

Dry Your Tears, Afrika (Amistad)

End Credits (E.T.)

Exsultate Justi (Empire Of The Sun)

End Credits (Munich)

Theme From Schindler's List (Schindler's List)

Immolation (With Our Lives, We Give Life) (Schindler's List)

Duel Of The Fates (The Phantom Menace)

CheValiers De Sangreal (The Da Vinci Code)

Now We Are Free (Gladiator)

The Once And Future King (The Lion King)

Once Upon A Time In The West (Once Upon A Time In The West)

The Ecstasy Of Gold (The Good, The Bad And The Ugly)

On Earth As It Is In Heaven (The Mission)

Prologue (Lady In The Water)

End Titles (Snow Falling On Cedars)

Noah Visits (The Village)

Wow...I just realized how much beautiful music there is.

[skyy38 21]

"Near The Lake" from "Somewhere In Time", John Barry

To me,this is the summation of every great love theme before or since.

The way this music works with the scene is nothing short of magnificent and clearly shows why Barry has nothing to worry about in this department from the other "John".

[Red 75]

"The Face of Pan" from Hook.

Interesting to note that it shares quite a few structural similarities to "Window to the Past".

[Olivier 5]

What springs to my mind right now...

"The Enterprise" (Star Trek-- The Motion Picture, Jerry Goldsmith)

Though exciting at a faster tempo, the theme is at its most sublime in this quiet rendition, which has so much in it: beauty, elegance, reflection, Kirk's emotions on beholding the ship as he returns to it (pride, melancholy, love), nobility; nice climax too.

"Love Theme from Superman" (Superman, John Williams)

Goldsmith the best physical love theme & music for Basic Instinct, especially as featured in "Pillow Talk", and he wrote many beautiful love themes (Inchon, for instance, or, to pick a more original example, Sleeping with the Enemy), but I adore Williams' theme for Lois & Superman; it has a great "flying" quality without being bombastic; there is a wonderful lightness and "airiness" to it.

"The Inner Light (Orchestral Suite)" (Star Trek-- The Next Generation, Jay Chattaway)

A wonderfully beautiful piece, very simple, that starts on the flute (a penny whistle), and develops into a fuller piece as the violins enter and swell up, while never going over the top but remaining rather simple; there's a lot of emotion in there.

"Theme from Schindler's List" (Schindler's List, John Williams)

A perfect theme for an extraordinary movie, both extremely moving and poignant because they most effectively depict extremely powerfully emotional moments, albeit in a very restrained and non-melodramatic fashion: the horror, the pain, the sorrow, the indicible, the courage, the regrets.

"Chevaliers de Sangreal" (The Da Vinci Code, Hans Zimmer)

Several scores show it, and this one does admirably: Zimmer is a lot more capable composer than the "he can only write action music for synth and needs the help of a whole city" nay-sayers would have you believe. I love the violins, the build-up, the beauty of it all. I have not seen the movie, so I cannot relate this to the visuals, but there is no need for it, as it perfectly stands on its own.

[Whatever it is called] (The Mission, Ennio Morricone)

I have not seen this movie either, and am not familiar with the titles yet, as I only truly discovered this score a few months ago, but I adored it from ther first second on.

"Jenny's Theme" (The Rocketeer, James Horner)

A beautiful, very delicate theme.

"Ba'ku Village" (Star Trek: Insurrection, Jerry Goldsmith)

Speaking of delicate, this is a most wonderful, lovely, delicate theme which won me over from the very first moment I heard it (on CD). Goldsmith wrote great new themes from each Star Trek movie: "Ilia's Theme" and the noble "First Contact", the melancholy new theme for Star Trek: Nemesis, but also the one-shot theme for "The Mountain", right at the opening of Star Trek V-- The Final Frontier. "Gale's Theme" (The River Wild) is another simple yet most beautiful theme.

"Everywhere" (Powder, Jerry Goldsmith)

Goldsmith wrote a great theme for this movie, which is featured several times, but this finale is remarkable, as Goldsmith brilliantly scores the dramatic conclusion in a magnificent, hopeful way.

"The Grand Finale" (Edward Scissorhands, Danny Elfman)

"Ice Dance" is of course tied with it, but this cue surely tops it, and the same goes for the respective visuals. Both scenes are beautiful, but the former is "only" a preparation for the wonderful (in all senses of the word) finale, which is so beautiful and moving, narratively, visually, and musically speaking-- and it's of course the music that binds it all together and makes it work so splendidly.

"Looking at Heaven" (Tombstone, Bruce Broughton)

Broughton's dark, thunderous, ominous score is great, but it's really the quieter themes I love the most in this score: the nice one for Earp's friendship with Doc Holliday (so brilliantly portrayed by Val Kilmer) and the latter's death, and the beautiful waltzy love theme.

"Steel Magnolias" (Steel Magnolias, Georges Delerue)

I deeply regret discovering Delerue's music so late (though I did unknowingly know a few of his scores from French movies). He was incredibly good at writing the most beautiful music, often with a tinge of melancholy. "Harry Master" (The Illusionist) is another example of this marvellous gitft he had, and other tracks could be selected.

"Flying" (E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial, John Williams)

The ommission of this concert suite on the Anniversary albums is quite criminal. Definitely one of the most beautiful cue in film music history, and like so many others, it played a major role in the impact and success of the corresponding scene, to the point of achieving iconic status.

And many more...

[King Mark 3,625]

If I must pick one:

The Dark Side Beckons ,Return of the Jedi

[SomeNewGuy 0]

If I must pick one:

The Dark Side Beckons ,Return of the Jedi

This, Fawkes the Phoenix, and "The Shape of Things to Come" from the BSG Season One finale.

[John Crichton 4]

"The Face of Pan" from Hook.

Interesting to note that it shares quite a few structural similarities to "Window to the Past".

Yeah, that Williams guy is just a hack, isn't he?

I'll add one more: The Flying Sequence- Superman.

[Morlock 11]

Beautiful is a hard thing to quantify for me....below are the things that come to mind as beautiful in an obvious way, but beauty in music comes in many shapes and sizes.

Several cues by Georges Delerue, far too many to pick from.

'The Return' from Jane Eyre (Williams)

'Main theme' from Stanley & Iris (Williams)

'The Wedding Night' from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (Doyle)

'Kissing in The Rain' from Great Expectations (Doyle)

'Ilea's Theme' from Star Trek:TMP (Goldsmith)

'End titles' from Black Beauty (Elfman)

'The Grand Finale' from Edward Scissorhands (Elfman)

'The Church of Glass' from Oscar & Lucinda (T. Newman)

'Party's Over' from Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf (North)

'Main Titles' from To Kill a Mockingbird (Bernstein)

'Fateless' from Fateless (Morricone)

'Death theme' from The Untouchables (Morricone)

'Unchained Melody' from Unchained (North)

'The Fire' from Restoration (Howard)

'Love theme' from Romeo and Juliet (Rota)

I know so little about classical music, but Shostakovich's second Piano Concerto immidiatly comes to mind (the theme from the first movement is one of the most beautiful melodies I've ever heard). Smetana's 'The Moldau', for sentimental reasons. 'Music for a While' by Henry Purcell. A melody from the second movement of Dvorak's New World Symphony. 'Fur Elise', cliched as it might be (I couldn't stand it for a very long time, but I heard it once last year and it just clicked with me).

[Jediwashington 59]

They're not really in any order, but these are some works I consider beautiful, from deep rich beauty Williams is famous for, so simple contemplative beauty such as that from the impression era, to minor almost sad beauty. Most of these win because of their part writing or beautiful chord progressions.

Nessun Dorma from Turandot - Puccini

Cadillac of the Sky - Williams

Flying from E.T./ Last 30 seconds of End Titles - Williams

Jazz Autographs from The Terminal - Williams

Nimrod from "Enigma" variations - Elgar

Most of the Forest Gump score - Alan Silvestri

Suite bergamasque: Clair de lune - Debussy

Arabesque No. 1 - Debussy

Images: I. Reflets dans l'eau - Debussy

One for my Baby (and one more for the road) - Sinatra (Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer)

Neptune, the Mystic from The Planets - Holst

Elegy for Cello and Orchestra - Williams (with Yo-Yo Ma)

Immolation Scene from ROTS (dark beauty) - Williams

Theme from Schindlers List - Williams

Most of Saving Private Ryan score - Williams

Some parts from Close Encounters of the Third Kind - Williams

Flight and Technology from American Journey - Williams

Somewhere - L. Bernstein

The Chairmans Waltz - Williams

Gabriel's Oboe from The Mission - Ennio Morricone

Aeris Theme - Uematsu

Final Fantasy Main Theme - Uematsu

New World Symphony - Dvorac

The Firebird Suite M. III - Stravinsky

Romeo and Juliet Overture - Tchaikovsky

Prelude II for piano - Gershwin

Ballade II in F Maj. - Chopin

A Dream Discarded from Memoirs of a Geisha - Williams w/ Yo-Yo Ma

just a few...

~JW

[TownerFan 4,983]

My picks:

. "Adagio" from Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto in G

. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem Mass in D Minor

. Blue Fairy Theme from A.I. Artificial Intelligence

. "Adventures On Earth" from E.T.

[m0hawk 1]

From movies:

- "Chevaliers De Sangreal", The Da Vinci Code

- "One Day", Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

- "Injection", Mission:Impossible 2

- "Now we are free", Gladiator

- "Twilight & Shadow", Return of the King

- "Remember Me" - Troy

- "Truman Sleeps" - The Truman Show

From games:

- "The Best is Yet to Come" - Metal Gear Solid

- "To Zanarkand" - Final Fantasy X

- "Aerith's Theme" - Final Fantasy VIII

- "Vergil 3" - Devil May Cry 3

- "Dearly Beloved" - Kingdom Hearts

- "Hikari (Orchestrated)" - Kingdom Hearts

- "After the Drop" - Medal of Honour: Frontline

- "Metal Gear Solid 2 Main Theme" - Metal Gear Solid 2

- "The Opened Way" - Shadow of the Colossus

- "Sadame" - Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven

- "Communication Breakdown" - Xenosaga Episode 2

The ones in Italic are the ones that you have to "acquire", no matter what. Oh, and yes, I am a Zimmer fan.

[Neimoidian 14]

No JW's cue? Oh my... Beware, there are people on this board who will eat you for this

[Genius_Gone_Insane 5]

Wow, no one put Luke and Leia...

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

It's a bit bland, and a bit boring, really.

[Josh500 1,615]

I gotta say, there are too many pieces. I can't single out one piece. That's like asking which is Hans Zimmer's worst score? There are just too many . . . HAHAHAHA.

[Morlock 11]

That's a pretty big laugh for a joke that is not very amusing.

It's a bit bland, and a bit boring, really.

If by 'bland' you mean terrific and by 'boring' you mean best-Star-Wars-love-type-theme, than I totally agree.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I like some of the re-recordings, were it is played a bit faster. But the original...zzz...zzz...zzz...

[King Mark 3,625]

It's a bit bland, and a bit boring, really.

It's true it's the second worse of the Star Wars "slow" themes.Across the Stars is the worst

I like some of the re-recordings, were it is played a bit faster. But the original...zzz...zzz...zzz...

Reminds me of LotR

[Richard Penna 3,670]

Once Upon a Time in the West

Theoden Rides Forth

Snow Falling on Cedars (various cues)

Beauty Killed the Beast IV & V

The Earth's Highest Challenge, Planet Earth

Lucy Meets Mr. Tumnus

Silens Nox (The Nativity Story)

and many, many others.

[Red 75]

"Epilogue: Those Who Remain" from Shadow of the Colossus.

[Morlock 11]

What is Shadow of the Colossus?

[Red 75]

This.

The music was composed by Kow Otani.

[MSM 126]

From movies:

- "Chevaliers De Sangreal", The Da Vinci Code

- "One Day", Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

- "Injection", Mission:Impossible 2

- "Now we are free", Gladiator

- "Twilight & Shadow", Return of the King

- "Remember Me" - Troy

- "Truman Sleeps" - The Truman Show

From games:

- "The Best is Yet to Come" - Metal Gear Solid

- "To Zanarkand" - Final Fantasy X

- "Aerith's Theme" - Final Fantasy VIII

- "Vergil 3" - Devil May Cry 3

- "Dearly Beloved" - Kingdom Hearts

- "Hikari (Orchestrated)" - Kingdom Hearts

- "After the Drop" - Medal of Honour: Frontline

- "Metal Gear Solid 2 Main Theme" - Metal Gear Solid 2

- "The Opened Way" - Shadow of the Colossus

- "Sadame" - Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven

- "Communication Breakdown" - Xenosaga Episode 2

The ones in Italic are the ones that you have to "acquire", no matter what. Oh, and yes, I am a Zimmer fan.

No JW! What are you doing here!?

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

The latest jibber jabber reminded me of the first piece of orchestral music to captivate me with its beauty:

"Waltz of the Snowflakes."

And of course

"The Enterprise" from Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

[Morlock 11]

Where's the waltz from?

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

Tschaikovsky's The Nutcracker.

[Morlock 11]

Did the snowflakes have a waltz? I thought that was the flowers.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

There's a Waltz of the Flowers and Waltz of the Snowflakes.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I gotta say, there are too many pieces. I can't single out one piece. That's like asking which is Hans Zimmer's worst score? There are just too many . . . HAHAHAHA.

Hey...hey...shut up.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

Why would you even dignify such a post by acknowledging it? FOOL!

[Marian Schedenig 8,173]

Wow, no one put Luke and Leia...

Seriously, how could I not mention Princess Leia?

[indy4 155]

One I forgot: Eating Alone, from Shrek. So sad and beautiful.

[KingPin 201]

Here is my list. Sorry it's so long, but this is seriously only the tip of the "music I think is abosolutely beautiful" iceberg!

CLASSICAL/NON-FILM:

Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (Dvorak- I guess if I had to choose only one piece, it would be this one by a VERY slim margin)

Pavane pour une infante defunte (Ravel)

Nessun Dorma (Puccini)

Solace Rag (Joplin)

Vincent (Don McLean)

Symphony No. 2, "Romantic," 2nd movement (Hansen)

Pines of Rome (Respighi)

I Will Follow You Into the Dark (performed by Death Cab for Cutie - great acoustic ballad, moving lyrics)

JOHN WILLIAMS:

Essay for Strings

Five Sacred Trees

Imaginary Air Battle from Empire of the Sun (the whole score pretty much belongs here though)

Theme from Sabrina

Saying Goodbye from E.T. (again, the whole score is beautiful)

Cinque's Theme from Amistad

Fawkes the Phoenix from HPCOS

The Return from Jane Eyre

Theme/Angela's Prayer from Angela's Ashes

Remembering Childhood from Hook

A Prayer for Peace from Munich

The Days Between from Stepmom

Theme from The Accidental Tourist

The Reunion from A.I.

OTHER FILM:

Feather Theme from Forrest Gump (Silvestri)

Moon River from Breakfast at Tiffany's (Mancini)

Theme from Out of Africa (Barry)

Scene D'Amour from Vertigo (Herrmann)

Love Theme from Cinema Paradiso (Morricone)

Lara's Theme from Dr. Zhivago (Jarre)

Hogwarts Hymn from HPGOF (Doyle)

Reprise from Spirited Away (Hisaishi)

The Park on the Piano from Finding Neverland (Kazcmarek)

[King Mark 3,625]

nothing from LotR

[indy4 155]

nothing from LotR

[Morn 8]

Some of the unreleased Spartacus music.... the romance scene right before the battle.......

[Morlock 11]

Oh, I forgot The Dead by North.

[Marcus 390]

In no particular order:

Ravel: L'Enfant et les Sortileges, finale (choral fugue, especially when opening oboe duet comes in as counterpoint)

Ravel: String Quartet (especially secondary theme of first movement, all of the 2nd mvmt., all of 3rd mvmt.)

Ravel: Duo Sonata for violin and cello (all four movements)

Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin

Shostakovich: Concerto no.2 for piano and orchestra, mvmt.2

Poulenc: Sonata for clarinet and piano (most especially slow middle section of 1st mvmt.; the "arpeggio-passage" is one of the most haunting moments in music history)

Finzi: Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra

Finzi: Concerto for Cello and Orchestra

Mozart in general.

Williams in general

And more specifically, in Williams' ouvre:

Close Encounters, all of it, especially the last 30 minutes of the film.

A.I., all of it, minus the quasi-techno-passages.

The original Star Wars trilogy. All of it.

The Force theme is one of the most haunting tunes of all time.

The Force theme as heard in Binary Sunset is the music I shall hear when I die.

Five Sacred Trees (bassoon concerto).

Violin Concerto.

Elegy for cello and orchestra.

Concerto for Horn and orchestra (especially 1st and last mvmts.)

Saving Private Ryan (the best scored film in history).

Angela's Ashes...

Someone stop me!

[Marian Schedenig 8,173]

Glass, Tirol Concerto, 2nd movement.

[Red 75]

Suite from Seven Years in Tibet.