# ID of a classical music clip? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 27, 2008, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-of-a-classical-music-clip/478823 "2008-12-27T06:53:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-of-a-classical-music-clip/478823/1 "2008-12-27T06:53:43Z")
…it’s an [instrumental clip, about 10 seconds,](http://home.comcast.net/~Ranchoth/smchyclip.mp3) featured in the movie _Death to Smoochy_—it doesn’t appear to be listed in the song credits, like a couple of the other pieces used in the same scene. It sounds familiar as hell, I just can’t place it. Can anyone help? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-of-a-classical-music-clip/478823/2 "2008-12-27T07:14:32Z")
I don’t recognise it, but it sounds Russian or Turkish. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-of-a-classical-music-clip/478823/3 "2008-12-27T07:28:29Z")
Damn, here I was pumped to be first in thinking I had a chance. You sure it’s not just part of the soundtrack? IMDB has [David Newman](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0628056/) cited as “Original Music.” I just wondered because it sounds awfully modern. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-of-a-classical-music-clip/478823/4 "2008-12-27T09:24:34Z")
I’m _pretty_ sure—it was set during a stage show in the movie, which was otherwise using preexisting classical music. It was immediately preceeded by a couple of Wagner pieces, Ride of the Valkyries, and The Flying Dutchman, which weren’t listed in the credits, either. Could it be something from The Red Poppy, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-of-a-classical-music-clip/478823/5 "2008-12-27T20:56:55Z")
The part from 5-9 seconds sounds like the end of the opening phrase of “The Mikado” by Gilbert and Sullivan, but you wouldn’t normally hear it in that orchestration. **Maybe** it’s from [Pineapple Poll](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineapple_Poll), the ballet arranged from parts of the various operettas. But I’m just guessing because I don’t have a recording and I’m not all that familiar with the work. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2008, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-of-a-classical-music-clip/478823/6 "2008-12-27T21:01:33Z")
Forget previous post. IMDB’s [soundtrack listing](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266452/soundtrack) does give Puccini’s _Madame Butterfly_, so that’s the probable source. Again, I’m not all that familiar with the work, so I don’t know where it might occur. The phrase I mentioned might have been a common Oriental-type riff, so that’s why it might have shown up in both places.