The Albinoni calls to mind the story of the cellist of Sarajevo. That piece, along with a few others, are so poignant. The Lark Ascending is another one of them.

From here:

Vaughan Williams wrote the piece in 1914, probably originally in the orchestral version by which it became best known after 1921. But the war delayed the premiere and he revised it for violin and piano for the performance in Bristol, where Hall was staying with a wealthy patron. Pike believes the shadow of war hangs over the piece. “The closeness of the war and the tensions leading up to it have an effect,” she says. “Everything has unconsciously bled into this work – the sense of stillness, a yearning for peace, and Vaughan Williams’s love of the countryside.”

Oops. Don't want to turn this into a music thread.