# Classical music to blast from your car speakers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 12, 2005, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-to-blast-from-your-car-speakers/325870 "2005-10-12T10:13:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-to-blast-from-your-car-speakers/325870/1 "2005-10-12T10:13:43Z")
A friend of mine told me that she’d seen a couple driving down the street in a convertible blasting classical music the other day. Made me think. What music would be suited to car-blasting? Off the top of my head I can think of: **The Ride of the Valkyries** Come on, this was a no-brainer. Everyone’s heard it and it conveys a definite message of “GET OUT OF MY WAY!” Plus it’s used so much these days that it has become inherently amusing. **O Fortuna** Pretty much the same reasons as above. **Hallelujah Chorus** It’s loud, it’s famous, but that’s about all it’s got going for it. But hey, you can turn it up really loud. **But Who May Abide** Ahh, this is more like it. Maybe it’s not _quite_ as famous as the others, but that whole SINNERS WILL BURN IN HELL thing is pure awesomeness. Plus it’s in English, so bystanders will catch full force of the news of their hellboundness. A disadvantage is that it takes a while to get to that bit. Not that the early parts aren’t good, but they’re better enjoyed in the comfort of one’s living room. **Chopin’s funeral march** (the dun dun dun-DUN music you automatically associate with death) Well… you know. **Spring** Works better if you are a pansy driving a pansy car. Can’t think of anything lesser-known… anyone care to contribute? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-to-blast-from-your-car-speakers/325870/2 "2005-10-12T10:58:16Z")
**The Hut on Hen’s Legs** would probably work a treat, or indeed **Night On Bald Mountain**. “Sunrise” from **Also Sprach Zarathustra**. Beethoven’s 5th, first movement, and 9th, last movement. Bach’s **Toccata and Fugue in D Minor** , Wiedor’s **Toccata from Symphony No. 5** , Karg-Elert’s **Nun Danket Alle Gott** and quite a bit more from the organ repertoire. Organ is like the heavy metal of classical music 🙂 More? ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-to-blast-from-your-car-speakers/325870/3 "2005-10-12T11:10:17Z")
Oooh, the hut on fowl’s legs, or hen’s legs, or chicken’s legs, or whatever. I actually have it on CD (I don’t own much music). Very appropriate :3 And I hadn’t even considered organ, I was stuck on the brassy orchestra sound. But it would appear that you are right; organ _is_ the heavy metal of classical music. More please :3 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-to-blast-from-your-car-speakers/325870/4 "2005-10-12T11:16:36Z")
**Wellington’s Victory** more muskets and cannons than horns in the properly produced versions. Certain pieces of **Verdi’s Reqium** make the grade, IMHO. **Sabre Dance** if you are driving a VW beetle and can make it go in circles. **Mars, the Bringer of War** **Lohengrin prelude** more suited for biplanes than cars, however. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-to-blast-from-your-car-speakers/325870/5 "2005-10-12T11:28:14Z")
> [@csharpmajor](#): > > **But Who May Abide** > Ahh, this is more like it. Maybe it’s not _quite_ as famous as the others, but that whole SINNERS WILL BURN IN HELL thing is pure awesomeness. Plus it’s in English, so bystanders will catch full force of the news of their hellboundness. A disadvantage is that it takes a while to get to that bit. Not that the early parts aren’t good, but they’re better enjoyed in the comfort of one’s living room. Let me recommend Patti Austin’s – ! – version from _Handel’s Messiah: A Soulful Celebration_ (a melange of black artists doing, well, Handel’s Messiah.) Full blast is absolutely the only way to play it. ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-to-blast-from-your-car-speakers/325870/6 "2005-10-12T12:47:59Z")
Mussorgsky’s _Night on Bald Mountain_ . ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-to-blast-from-your-car-speakers/325870/7 "2005-10-12T12:49:19Z")
:smack: Sorry **Malacandra**. I’m not properly caffeinated yet. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-to-blast-from-your-car-speakers/325870/8 "2005-10-12T13:02:37Z")
**In the Hall of the Mountain King** , of course. Starts out quiet, but gets awesome. **Flight of the Bumblebee** would be fun. A CD called Classics from the Crypt had a ton of songs you’d want to blare out - it’s worth purchasing. ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-to-blast-from-your-car-speakers/325870/9 "2005-10-12T13:11:13Z")
Rossini’s **William Tell Overture** Stravinski’s **Rite of Spring** Copland’s **Rodeo** ---
**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:** [October 12, 2005, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-to-blast-from-your-car-speakers/325870/10 "2005-10-12T13:12:11Z")
The opening of **Tchaikovsky’s 4th** symphony There ought to be something good by Liszt… I have a nifty orchestral version of his **Mephisto Waltz** ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-to-blast-from-your-car-speakers/325870/11 "2005-10-12T13:14:43Z")
> [@csharpmajor](#): > > **Spring** > Works better if you are a pansy driving a pansy car. If you mean Spring from **Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons** then you’d be better off listening to Winter (from the same suite). It’s much more driving than Spring is, and far less cliche. I know there’s a remixed version of it online (saw an Anime Music Video set to the remix) but I don’t know the name of the remix. ---
**Author:** ![John\_F](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/43a26b/32.png) [@John\_F](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_F)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-to-blast-from-your-car-speakers/325870/12 "2005-10-12T13:19:29Z")
From the limited selection of music I’m familiar with the only classical I feel a strong urge to blast is Mozart Symphony #25. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-to-blast-from-your-car-speakers/325870/13 "2005-10-12T13:24:04Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > Bach’s **Toccata and Fugue in D Minor** , Wiedor’s **Toccata from Symphony No. 5** , Karg-Elert’s **Nun Danket Alle Gott** and quite a bit more from the organ repertoire. Organ is like the heavy metal of classical music 🙂 > > More? St. Saens Symphony #3 (Organ Symphony), last movement. Nothing is better! btw, try this with headphones - you won’t _hear_ the low notes from the organ, but you will feel them! ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-to-blast-from-your-car-speakers/325870/14 "2005-10-12T13:29:25Z")
Secretly, I’ve always wanted to have Uber-Spectacular speakers mounted in the back of my truck so that the next time I am subjected to some butthead treating me to whatever he is listening to a ear shattering decibles ( Rap, why does it always have to be rap?) I can blast them with some Mozart or a good polka. Fight fire with fire, I say. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-to-blast-from-your-car-speakers/325870/15 "2005-10-12T13:31:29Z")
I’m surprised no one’s mentioned the \*\*1812 Overture \*\*yet. And how about some Sousa marches? And there’s always Florence Foster Jenkins (though that’s stretching the terms “classical” and “music”). ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-to-blast-from-your-car-speakers/325870/16 "2005-10-12T13:34:00Z")
> [@Mr. Miskatonic](#): > > **Mars, the Bringer of War** Good call. As would be Jupiter, Saturn, and your anus. And various sections of Firebird. And the 4th movement of Sibelius’s 2nd. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-to-blast-from-your-car-speakers/325870/17 "2005-10-12T13:37:33Z")
There a handful of metal arrangements of classical pieces. Those count, right? Anyway, the list (not necessarily complete): [ul][li]Manowar, Flight of the Bumblebee[/li][li]Savatage, In the Hall of the Mountain King[/li][li]Golem, Rite of Spring[/li][li]Therion, O Fortuna[/li][li]Toadliquor, Also Sprach Zarathustra (the introduction, which features the sweetest guitar riff of all time)[/li]In Extremo, Stetit Puella (a lesser-known selection from Carmina Burana[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-to-blast-from-your-car-speakers/325870/18 "2005-10-12T13:41:56Z")
For longer trips I’ve had any amount of mileage out of **The Dream of Gerontius**. Loud bits include “Profisiscere, anima Christiana, de hoc mundo!” at the end of act 1, and various bits of act 2: “Low-born clods of brute earth”, “Praise to the Holiest” and the enormous chord that comes where the Soul goes to judgement. Also you get to come down to earth at the end with “Softly and gently, dearly ransomed soul”, which darned near makes me tear up just thinking about it. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-to-blast-from-your-car-speakers/325870/19 "2005-10-12T13:55:32Z")
> [@Mr. Miskatonic](#): > > **Sabre Dance** if you are driving a VW beetle and can make it go in circles. This would also work for **Flight of the Bumblebee**. > [@](#): > > Mars, the Bringer of War That was my first pick when I saw this thread. Also PDQ Bach’s **Echo Sonata for Two Unfriendly Groups of Instruments** for the sheer “WTF Mate?” value. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-to-blast-from-your-car-speakers/325870/20 "2005-10-12T13:58:23Z")
> [@K364](#): > > St. Saens Symphony #3 (Organ Symphony), last movement. Nothing is better! This is one of my favorite pieces and what I was planning on posting when reading the thread title. My Dad played the organ (we had one at home) and I became a big fan of organ music. Once when I was a kid he took me to see Virgil Fox in concert. I believe this Saint-Saens piece was on the program. Others mentioned in this thread are great suggestions, but to me the Symphony #3 stands above. Maybe there are louder pieces, with cannons and whatnot, but not as _fine_ as this one. And as long as we are on Saint-Saens, throw on a little \*\*Danse Macabre \*\* as well. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-to-blast-from-your-car-speakers/325870.md?page=2)