Rossini’s William Tell Overture (2nd movement) (that other spring song)
Some movie cues, from Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (about 1:30 in), Zorba the Greek, and The Big Country.
What are these things called? Is there a term for musical shortcuts that plant specific images into a listener’s head?
“Cliches”?
The go-to ‘sad violin music’ used to be Albinoni’s Adagio in G, although Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings[sup]*[/sup] (made famous in Platoon) gives it a run for its money.
Patrick Doyle’s score for Henry V has been used in a number of soundtracks & movie commercials, usually the sweeping and uplifting bit in “The Day is Yours”.
Almost every modern ‘martial theme’ used in movies or video games references Gustav Holst’s Mars, the Bringer of War, if it’s not just used directly.
*That recording was made Sep. 15, 2001; so the intercut scenes of the WTC do make some sense for the video.
1812 Overture baby. What can I say, it has real live cannons. Great piece of music.
For whimsy, you can’t beat the Pink Panther theme.
I would need one hell of a cite that it surpasses oh let’s just take Happy Birthday for example.
Gounod’s “Funeral March of a Marionette”
Here’s some the Brits might recognise.
Several years back, this was in a Volkswagen commercial, in which a young man picks up his grandpa from a nursing home–Charles Mingus’ II B.S., also known as Haitian Fight Song.
I’m pretty sure the Foxtrot from Shostakovich’s Jazz Suite No. 1 has also made it into at least a couple commercials–maybe some bank or credit card commercials?
Quoth Captain Amazing:
You’ll also sometimes hear Verdi’s Dies Irae used in the same contexts. And it has the added advantage that it really is about “some bad shit is going down”. Well, if you consider the End of the World “bad”, at least.
Air on G String
Popcorn
Outta Space
This reminds me of The Syncopated Clock.
I hear this used in commercials (BOAC used this as a theme some years ago)
The Flower Duet from Lakmé
I have that very same version on a CD called Beautiful Music (or something like that). Do you know where this version is from and who sings it?
P.S. I love how the typewriter player is reading the music. Do you think that’s what he’s typing?
Similarly some Beethoven: Symphony No.7 in A Major, Op. 92 II. Allegretto: used more than once, I think for impending creeping amazing doom.
Chopin’s Funeral March, the “you’re about to die” song.
I picked up a used copy of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” back in June and it hasn’t left my car’s CD case yet.
A few tracks:
- The Vince Guaraldi Trio’s “Christmas is Coming”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJjA9_Plixc&feature=PlayList&p=FE2F0DAF313BA91C&index=17
- And of course “Linus and Lucy”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B0lTjqajPg&feature=related
Peanuts kids dance!