I’m a top 40 queen, along with classic rock and R&B. I also have “top 40” tastes in Classical. Ode to Joy, Fur Elise, William Tell Overture, Flight of the Bumblebee and, of course, Beethoven’s 5th. You get the idea.
What are some other top 40 classical pieces?
Ravel’s “Bolero”, “1812 Overture”, “O Fortuna” from Carmina Burana, Wagner’s “Flight of the Valkyrie” Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor”
Offenbach - Barcarolle from “The Tales Of Hoffmann”
Bizet - Habanera from “Carmen”
Delibes - Flower Duet from “Lakme”
Yeah, common tastes, I know.
Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is probably in the top 5. It is used so much to imply “class” and “refinement” in commercials and movies and mall stores and such that it’s beginning to get really tacky.
Pachebel: Canon
Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture; Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies (and various other Nutcracker pieces)
Aaron Copeland: Fanfare of the Common Man; Appalacihian Spring
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
Mind you, I’m not saying these aren’t great works–that’s why everybody knows them.
Actually, Beethovan’s 9th is probably just as well known as the 5th (especially for people who watched Huntley Brinkley).
Brahms, “Hungarian Rhapsody”
Prokofiev, “Troika” from Lieutenant Kije (people don’t know the name, but they know the tune)
“La dona y mobile” from Rigoletto (or however it’s spelled)
Rossini – Barber of Seville Overture (and William Tell)
Wagner – Flying Dutchman
Rimsky-Korskov – “Sabre Dance”
Mussogorsy – “Night on Bald Mountain”
Dukas – “Sorceror’s Apprentice” (Fantasia is very influential)
I think most of the “top 40” classical pieces are all fine music, though you need to hear them from a first-class orchestra. And the “1812 Overture” must be heard with the cannons.
Flight of the Valkyries by Richard Wagner.
Kill the wabbit! Kill the wabbit! Kill the wabbit!
When we got to Wagner in music appreciation class, the entire class of about 30 people starting singing that. Including the instructor. (It’s also used on "Win Ben Stein’s Money, but I can’t remember offhand which part of the show.)
Robin
I don’t think Rimsky-Korsakov did Sabre Dance.
How about Prokofiev’s The Montagues and the Capulets?
Strauss-the Blue Danube?
You guys are great. You’ve got me running around the internet looking for .wav files and doing a bad Baretta impersonations(so that’s da name of dat tune!).
O Fortuna. I’ve asked alot of people I know about that song in the car commercial and now it has a name.
Right, Sabre Dance was composed by Aram Khachaturian. He also composed another favorite of mine, “The Battle of Stalingrad.” I suggest you give it a listen.
[ul][li]J.S. Bach, Brandenburg Concertos[/li][li]Antonin Dvorak, Symphony Number 9 (“From the New World”)[/li][li]Hector Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique[/li][/ul]
I’m a piano freak, so I gotta say Beethoven’s Sonata Pathetique. Playing that piece often moves me to tears. So much emotion. Also Schubert’s Polonaise (forget which one precisely, sorry) and Chopin’s Improptu (again, forget which one. I believe this is the one in A). Beethoven’s “The Emporer” is definitely in the top 10. Oh oh, and Mozart’s Requiem. That’s what I listen to the most anyway.
You can’t leave out Eine Kleine Nachtmusik by Mozart. And Chopin’s Revolutionary Etude. And the Barber of Seville Overture by Rossini. And Chopin’s Fantasy Impromptu in C# minor. And Brahms’s Hungarian Dance #5. And Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody #2, at least the second half. Camille Saint-Saens has a piece called “Aquarium” from his Carnival of the Animals suite. Almost anything by John Philip Sousa is a crowd pleaser. You’d probably recognize “The Light Cavalry” by Suppe. Pachelbel’s “Canon in D”, probably the most well known classical piece, is good as well. Oh yeah, and the third movement to Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata (yeah, the first one’s alright, too) is crescent fresh.
Well, that should keep you busy for a while.
There are a ton of classical midis (of variable quality) at http://www.prs.net .
Brahms - Lullaby
Brahms - Hungarian Dance #5 - used in cartoons for gypsy-type characters/situations - cartoon “Pigs in a Polka”, etc.
Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody #2 (cartoon “Corny Concerto”, et al.)
Schubert - song Der Erlkönig (The Erl King), poem by Schiller. You’ve heard the intro to this song many times - it occurs in cartoons, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and other places.
Jeremiah Clarke - Prince of Denmark’s March (sometimes used at weddings when bridesmaids enter) (formerly attributed to Purcell).
Wagner - Wedding March from Lohengrin (popular lyrics “Here comes the bride/all dressed in white”)
Mendelssohn - Wedding March from Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. (exit at end of wedding)
Mozart - Piano Concerto #21 in C major, second movement (theme from movie “Elvira Madigan”)
Thanks for the link Mr. Stardust. May I call you Ziggy?
I’ve got my 13 year old daughter reading here. She plays the flute in the school jazz band. Her favorite songs right now are: Crazy (B. Spears), Shape of My Heart (B.B. Boys), Independant Women (Destiny’s Child) and Ode To Joy (great flute part).
She just realized that video game song is actually classical music. “Cool.” she says.
Will my children ever cease to amaze me?
Biggirl–I got a similar feeling when I played something for my 5th grde class-they groaned at classical musci, until one bright girl caught on that she knew the song from cartoons. A weekly version of “Name that Cartoon Tune and Discover the Real Title” became a class favorite. I think some of them actually started getting excited about the music, and not just trying to pinpoint the cartoon. At least I hope so.
Ride of the Valkyries
I know they use the final choral section from Beethoven’s 9th (“An die Freude”/“Ode to Joy”) at the beginning of the show [just after the Bach piece {one of his partitas, I think}], but I don’t remember hearing Ride of the Valkyries on the rest of the show. Perhaps it’s on the commercial breaks? Means I have to start watching the show again.
For me, most of the pieces listed here already, but add:
[ul]
[li]Khachaturian’s Masquerade heard this in a couple of commercials, and it has a nice Halloweenish, eerie feel to it.[/li][li]Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld - remember the “Can-Can”?[/li][li]Copland’s Rodeo - the first movement is used in the “Beef - It’s What’s For Dinner” commercial (IIRC)[/li][li]Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony - bits and pieces are used in various cartoons[/li][/ul]
Two different sections of "William Tell, " to boot! The “Lone Ranger” section and the “Daffy Duck/Elmer Fudd” section, as I like to call them.