Messiaen: L'Ascension
Listening to it now, it's really coming home to me just how much I love Messiaen's L'ascension. I don't know why, but of all the music I own, I find myself drawn to it the most; it heals me, somehow. Though there are larger and more dramatic pieces out there, even some by the same composer, I have yet to find anything that really touches my emotional aesthetics the same way. He wrote it when he was twenty-four; there is also an organ version, but I far, far prefer the orchestral version. Try the Naxos recording if you're interested; it's very good, it's cheap, and it also comes with a good rendition of his Turangalila Symphony.