My 10 most amazing moments in music: (in random order)

1-The Jewish melody in the 2nd movement of Shostakovitch's 8th string quartet. Even in horrid war times there's always been people capable of human compasion... Such intensity... it has made me cry more than once.

2-The second theme in the 1st movement of Mahler's 5th symphony. If music could be translated into words this would say: life is so painful, so unfair, yet there is so much beauty in it...

3-Bach's horn suspensions in the 1st Brandenburg concertos. Hail thy master!!

4-F minor piano prelude from Bach's 1st book WTC. The master got so sentimental he had to make the harpsichord (pianoforte) shed tears.

5-The monumental isorhythmic climax on the 1st movement of Shostakovitch's 2nd piano concerto. How else could you make people get the message?

6-The whole 2nd movement of Shostakovitch's 10th symphony. Pure horror. Music grabbing you by the throat. How much suffering must we go through until we understand? how many more dictators and criminals? how many more wars?

7-'Joie du sang des etoiles', from Messian's Turangalila symphony. A  feast for any instrospected spirit.

8- Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta. The second section of the adagio... brrr.... so macabre... so sarcastic...the 1st violin's glissandi, the celesta, the piano punctuation... on a higher note: how can one not feel for this man? his last pieces have such a longing in them. Why do we all have just to conform with life, accept it as it is even though we know some things are not right. The eternal human tragedy of Don Quixote: to live insane but die sane.

9-The simultaneous exposition of Beethoven's awe theme and joy theme in the last movement of his 9th symphony. Yes, the human heart and spirit will always be stronger!!!

10-Cannot make up my mind for this one... a few candidates: Britten's War Requiem, lacrimosa. Brahms 3rd symphony, 3rd or 4th movement!!! hmmm... Bach's C minor organ passacaglia, Beethoven's op. 132 string quartet in A minor, hmmm.... all B's ah? i didn't noticed.. hehe. Well, let's change that: Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms? 1st movement. How about his (stravinsky) Oedipus Rex? it hardly gets any better than that. Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. The list goes on and on....