# Top 10 Most Powerfully/Compellingly Supernatural/Spiritual Works of Music?



## AfterHours (Mar 27, 2017)

For you, what are the top 10 most powerfully/compellingly supernatural/spiritual works of music?

Definitions being applied:
Powerful: "having a strong effect on someone or something."
Compelling: "evoking interest, attention, or admiration in a powerfully irresistible way."
Supernatural: "(of a manifestation or event) attributed to some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature."
Spiritual: "relating to or affecting the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things."

So, for your lists you are taking both "powerful"/"compelling" (as applicable, whether both or one) and "supernatural"/"spiritual" (as applicable, whether both or one) into combined account. I chose both supernatural and spiritual to avoid the unnecessary restriction that could be potentially posed by "spiritual" that the work must be religious in nature. Religious works may end up dominating the lists, but is not a necessary prerequisite, so long as it has a strong spiritual/supernatural connotation. 

You may choose Classical works, Rock albums and Jazz albums. I'd prefer you selected full works for your lists (entire symphonies, concertos, albums, etc), but feel free to also mention movements or songs -- preferably not as substitutes but in addition to your top 10 full works.

An ordered, ranked list can be quite challenging to conclude as one can have works that reach very high peaks of these emotions/themes but are maybe not as consistent as others. And one can have those that are very consistent but perhaps don't reach such high peaks, leaving it a difficult task to determine which is better. One could say that the very greatest examples should be both very consistent and reach considerable peaks, but I'll leave that judgment up to you.


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## Tchaikov6 (Mar 30, 2016)

1. Symphony No. 4- Mahler
2. Symphony No. 9- Mahler
3. Pastoral Symphony- Beethoven
4. Symphony No. 5- Vaughan Williams
5. The Firebird- Stravinsky
6. Symphony No. 2- Sibelius
7. Swan Lake- Tchaikovsky
8. Mass in B Minor- Bach
9. St. Matthew Passion- Bach
10. Piano Concerto No. 4- Beethoven


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

1. Beethoven: Missa Solemnis
2. Liszt: Bénédiction de Dieu dans la solitude 
3. Beethoven: String Quartet No. 15 (especially the Heiliger Dankesang movement)
4. Wagner: Parsifal
5. Mozart: Idomeneo
6. Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé
7. Debussy: Le Martyre de saint Sébastien
8. Bach: Mass in B Minor
9. Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen
10. Verdi: Macbeth


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## Brahmsian Colors (Sep 16, 2016)

..........Uncle..........


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

Haydn67 said:


> ..........Uncle..........


...............ditto..................


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## AfterHours (Mar 27, 2017)

Very difficult to choose...

1. Mass in B Minor - Johann Sebastian Bach (1749) 
2. Requiem - Guisseppe Verdi (1874) 
3. Symphony No. 9 in D Minor "Choral" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1824) 
4. Symphony No. 9 in D Major - Gustav Mahler (1909)
5. String Quartet No. 15 in A Minor - Ludwig van Beethoven (1825) 
6. A Love Supreme - John Coltrane (1964) 
7. String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp Minor - Ludwig van Beethoven (1826) 
8. Messiah - George Frideric Handel (1741)
9. Missa Solemnis – Ludwig van Beethoven (1823) 
10. Ascension - John Coltrane (1965)


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Requiem - Giuseppe Verdi
Mahler- Synonymy no 2
Bach-St. Matthew Passion
Gounod - St Cecilia Mass .
Bernstein- Mass.
Dvorak- Requiem.
Weber- Masses No 1 & 2
Bruckner - Masses.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

I absolutely refuse to engage in top ten lists, but I'll mention a few pieces that come to mind.

I enjoy the intense and sometimes ecstatic spirituality of Hildegard von Bingen's work. In those days they _really_ believed. 


Tallis' _Spem in alium_ deserves a mention.

Bach, Bach, and more Bach - the man was very devout and dedicated even his instrumental music to God.

A lot of the classical and romantic era religious works are wonderfully grand, but they don't strike me as all that spiritual.

And a contemporary work with which I recently became acquainted: Penderecki's Symphony no 7, subtitled "Seven Gates of Jerusalem." It strikes me as intensely spiritual, especially the section where a narrator dramatically holds forth in Hebrew - this is not the soft-hearted God of the modern liberal protestants, but the utterly awe-inspiring one of the ancient Israelites. Fasten your seatbelt, Dorothy, 'cause Kansas is going bye-bye. 

And speaking of contemporary work, a lot of Pärt's music also falls into the category of deeply spiritual. I still have to go explore Tavener, but I'm told he did work in similar vein.

I'm sure there is much else I could add to the list. I'll have to think about it.

Edit: Well, something I just discovered - the liturgical music of the Russian Orthodox church:


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## AfterHours (Mar 27, 2017)

Just revisited Beethoven's 15th String Quartet and, while listening, I couldn't help thinking to myself:

"How? How is this possible?"

Time literally stops during the Molto Adagio ("Heiliger Dankgesang"), possibly the most emotionally devastating 15 minutes in the history of music. As it expands with a breathtaking stasis and eternal gradation, it yields an overwhelming funeral elegy to himself interspersed by the wonders of Spring (Beethoven's dream of Heaven ahead?). It keeps expanding, moving further and yet further _inward_, past the point where expression to another should be possible. The rest of the movements are considerable too (the first two especially). Each are multi-faceted fluctuations of the soul, winding, painful contortions, contemplating mortality, nostalgia for the past, varying between forlorn cries, cherished moments of happiness, lonely introspection, grave pauses, lashing out against limitations, holding on, pushing back, still gripping the edges of the physical world while, moment-to-moment, slipping ever so slightly towards the beyond.


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## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

1. Messaien - Quartet for the End of Time
2. Part - Fratres
3. Faure - Requiem


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## beetzart (Dec 30, 2009)

AfterHours said:


> Just revisited Beethoven's 15th String Quartet and, while listening, I couldn't help thinking to myself:
> 
> "How? How is this possible?"
> 
> Time literally stops during the Molto Adagio ("Heiliger Dankgesang"), possibly the most emotionally devastating 15 minutes in the history of music. As it expands with a breathtaking stasis and eternal gradation, it yields an overwhelming funeral elegy to himself interspersed by the wonders of Spring (Beethoven's dream of Heaven ahead?). It keeps expanding, moving further and yet further _inward_, past the point where expression to another should be possible. The rest of the movements are considerable too (the first two especially). Each are multi-faceted fluctuations of the soul, winding, painful contortions, contemplating mortality, nostalgia for the past, varying between forlorn cries, cherished moments of happiness, lonely introspection, grave pauses, lashing out against limitations, holding on, pushing back, still gripping the edges of the physical world while, moment-to-moment, slipping ever so slightly towards the beyond.


Wonderful description of a wonderful piece of music. Funnily enough I was just wondering what is the greater, Beethoven's 15th SQ or Bach's Mass in B minor? I guess it is unanswerable.


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## AfterHours (Mar 27, 2017)

beetzart said:


> Wonderful description of a wonderful piece of music. Funnily enough I was just wondering what is the greater, Beethoven's 15th SQ or Bach's Mass in B minor? I guess it is unanswerable.


Thank you. Overall, I'd say the Mass in B Minor, but that's just me, and that's while acknowledging how incredible his 15th SQ is also.


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

AfterHours said:


> Thank you. Overall, I'd say the Mass in B Minor, but that's just me, and that's while acknowledging how incredible his 15th SQ is also.


As much as I adore Beethoven, I must agree with you that the Mass in B Minor is probably greater than the 15th SQ. I hope that my zombie husband doesn't get mad at me for this!!


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## AfterHours (Mar 27, 2017)

Bettina said:


> As much as I adore Beethoven, I must agree with you that the Mass in B Minor is probably greater than the 15th SQ. I hope that my zombie husband doesn't get mad at me for this!!


Uh oh, might want to watch your back. Old Ludwig has quite a temper! :lol:


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