# Best use of classical music on a movie soundtrack **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 6, 2018, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-use-of-classical-music-on-a-movie-soundtrack/815535 "2018-06-06T13:27:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-use-of-classical-music-on-a-movie-soundtrack/815535/1 "2018-06-06T13:27:49Z")
My list – add yours: 2001: A Space Odyssey – “Blue Danube” (J. Strauss) and “Also Sprach Zarathustra” (R. Strauss). Both are now iconic. Excalibur – “Siegfried’s Funeral” (R. Wagner). I used to think I loved this movie; it turns out I really just love this music. It’s used throughout, but especially at the end, as Percival returns the sword to the lake. The King’s Speech – Beethoven 7th Symphony, 2nd Movement. Background as the king delivers his speech. Some of my favorite music in a favorite movie at a climactic moment – goosebump-y. Honorable mention but ineligible: “Ride of the Valkyries” (Wagner, again) in Apocalypse Now, because it’s part of the movie action, not really on the soundtrack per se. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-use-of-classical-music-on-a-movie-soundtrack/815535/2 "2018-06-06T13:29:35Z")
[Kill de wabbit …](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What%27s_Opera,_Doc%3F) ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-use-of-classical-music-on-a-movie-soundtrack/815535/3 "2018-06-06T13:49:18Z")
Does Star Wars count? If not, what are the qualifications for “classical music”? ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-use-of-classical-music-on-a-movie-soundtrack/815535/4 "2018-06-06T14:05:32Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Does Star Wars count? If not, what are the qualifications for “classical music”? European orchestral music from roughly 1750-1850? I’d go with either _Amadeus_ or _Aria_. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-use-of-classical-music-on-a-movie-soundtrack/815535/5 "2018-06-06T14:21:57Z")
Would both “Fantasia” movies be disqualified? If not, Stravinsky’s, “Firebird,” segment is mine. Slight sidetrack: Back in the '80s (and probably '90s, too), it seemed every other movie trailer was using Holst’s, “Mars,” playing over the 1750 2-millisecond clips of movie that made up the ad. But I can’t recall it ever being used in the movie itself. The OP already nabbed, “Excalibur.” “Carmina Burana,” was used to great effect, as well. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-use-of-classical-music-on-a-movie-soundtrack/815535/6 "2018-06-06T14:27:14Z")
Missed edit window: Not [this version of “Burana”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIwrgAnx6Q8): ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-use-of-classical-music-on-a-movie-soundtrack/815535/7 "2018-06-06T14:36:32Z")
Clockwork Orange – The Thieving Magpie. Alex and the Droogs have a bit of a dust-up. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-use-of-classical-music-on-a-movie-soundtrack/815535/8 "2018-06-06T14:58:59Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Clockwork Orange – The Thieving Magpie. Alex and the Droogs have a bit of a dust-up. I meant to include this! Good call. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-use-of-classical-music-on-a-movie-soundtrack/815535/9 "2018-06-06T15:00:45Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Does Star Wars count? If not, what are the qualifications for “classical music”? It’s not my thread, but my interpretation is that the OP is **not** talking about music that was written specifically for the movie. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-use-of-classical-music-on-a-movie-soundtrack/815535/10 "2018-06-06T15:00:57Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > European orchestral music from roughly 1750-1850? I’d go with either _Amadeus_ or _Aria_. 1850 is too early – we’d lose Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky. As a definition of what the OP (ie, me) is looking for: if you could walk into Tower Records before the movie opened, go to their “Classical”\* section and purchase the music that would be on the movie soundtrack. \*in other words: punt. We can define “classical” in another thread. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-use-of-classical-music-on-a-movie-soundtrack/815535/11 "2018-06-06T15:03:05Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > It’s not my thread, but my interpretation is that the OP is **not** talking about music that was written specifically for the movie. Exactly. Star Wars is out. Also out: Fantasia and Amadeus. These are movies _about_ classical music, and their soundtracks are 100% classical. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-use-of-classical-music-on-a-movie-soundtrack/815535/12 "2018-06-06T15:04:14Z")
Just throwing _Barry Lyndon_ into the ring. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-use-of-classical-music-on-a-movie-soundtrack/815535/13 "2018-06-06T15:10:04Z")
The Goldberg Variations in Silence of the Lambs. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-use-of-classical-music-on-a-movie-soundtrack/815535/14 "2018-06-06T15:18:39Z")
Beethoven’s 9th Symphony in _Die Hard_ ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-use-of-classical-music-on-a-movie-soundtrack/815535/15 "2018-06-06T15:20:07Z")
Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” in “Die Hard” when Hans Gruber et al finally open the safe. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-use-of-classical-music-on-a-movie-soundtrack/815535/16 "2018-06-06T15:22:50Z")
The original Bad News Bears. Great use of Carmen. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-use-of-classical-music-on-a-movie-soundtrack/815535/17 "2018-06-06T15:39:25Z")
> [@Dorjan](#): > > Just throwing _Barry Lyndon_ into the ring. Which brings us to three mentions of Stanley Kubrick already – interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-use-of-classical-music-on-a-movie-soundtrack/815535/18 "2018-06-06T16:18:01Z")
[Godzilla (2014) - HALO jump scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmZJiBZtahk) ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-use-of-classical-music-on-a-movie-soundtrack/815535/19 "2018-06-06T16:26:45Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > [Godzilla (2014) - HALO jump scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmZJiBZtahk) I’m 99% sure that this music is the same as the music used in **2001** , during the light-show psychedelic ending sequence. Perusing the 2001 soundtrack, it’s one of the tracks by composer Gyorgi Ligeti, composed in the early 1960’s. It may qualify as “classical” now, but in the context of 2001’s premier it’s practically contemporary. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2018, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-use-of-classical-music-on-a-movie-soundtrack/815535/20 "2018-06-06T16:57:42Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > I’m 99% sure that this music is the same as the music used in **2001** , during the light-show psychedelic ending sequence. Perusing the 2001 soundtrack, it’s one of the tracks by composer Gyorgi Ligeti, composed in the early 1960’s. It may qualify as “classical” now, but in the context of 2001’s premier it’s practically contemporary. Yes, it’s Ligeti’s _Requiem_, 1965. Are you saying that, say, 21st century music cannot be classical? Here’s an excerpt from Anna Clyne’s _Night Ferry_, composed 2011: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNf0qloRcls](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNf0qloRcls) What kind of music would you characterize it as? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-use-of-classical-music-on-a-movie-soundtrack/815535.md?page=2)