# Recommend me some blood pumping orchestral music **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 23, 2007, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blood-pumping-orchestral-music/405210 "2007-05-23T12:41:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blood-pumping-orchestral-music/405210/1 "2007-05-23T12:41:59Z")
I’ve just about worn out my Hans Zimmer soundtracks and I want to expand my horizons a bit. Please recommend some exciting, pulse-raising orchestral music _a la_ Gladiator and Black Hawk Down. Educate me about good and bad composers, which recordings are superior if there are several and possibly some other soundtracks that might tickle my fancy. I need some good, rabble-rousing music to blast in my car this summer! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blood-pumping-orchestral-music/405210/2 "2007-05-23T12:55:12Z")
How about Beethoven? Parts of the latter symphonies really get moving, especially the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Ninth. I prefer Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonik. Anton Dvorak’s symphonies can really get moving, too. Film music? I have to admit that I like John Williams. So sue me. But I really like James Horner’s score for **The Rocketeer** , both the imposing opening scenes and the actions scenese (which seem to fit your requirements better). ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blood-pumping-orchestral-music/405210/3 "2007-05-23T13:10:24Z")
One specific recommendation I have is a bargain 6 CD set [100 Best Film Classics](http://www.amazon.com/Best-Film-Classics-Claudio-Desderi/dp/B000GPIPR4/). It costs about $20, and has a pretty wide selection that you’re sure to like something of. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blood-pumping-orchestral-music/405210/4 "2007-05-23T13:15:16Z")
It’s become a bit cliche through its use in commercials for movies that want to use blood pumping classical music, but Carl Orff’s _Carmina Burana_ is a good choice. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blood-pumping-orchestral-music/405210/5 "2007-05-23T13:17:00Z")
As to which specific recording, I tend to look for a series. “CBS Masterworks” or something. Those are usually a good bet. _Carmen_ is great - my 3-yr-olds love to march around the living room to it! _Peer Gynt_ is easy to like and lively, “In the Halls of the Mountain King” has been used in a lot of movies. Stravinsky’s _Rites of Spring_ is longer and more involved, but the complexity makes it especially interesting. Tchaikovsky’s _1812 Overture_ is pretty stirring - it’s about a war. With real cannons! Gotta have Moussorgsky’s _Night on Bald Mountain_ – here, find [this specific recording](http://www.amazon.com/Mussorgsky-Pictures-Exhibition-Night-Mountain/dp/B0000025JN/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/002-9791019-3736866?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1179926405&sr=8-2) . You’ve got your skeletons flying around, plus Baba Yaga in her chicken-legged hut, stealing children in the night. Conducted by Bernstein. Win-win-win! ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blood-pumping-orchestral-music/405210/6 "2007-05-23T13:17:38Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] How about Beethoven? Parts of the latter symphonies really get moving, especially the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Ninth. I prefer Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonik. [/QUOTE] Sixth? Nah. Beethoven was an “odd” composer. Wagner is always a good choice. And Stravinsky. It doesn’t get much more rockin’ than Le Sacre, Dances of the Pretty Maidens. Brahms’ 1st and 4th rock pretty hard. Prokoviev is a mixed bag, but the Capulet dance from Romeo is about as Motley as it gets in classical. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blood-pumping-orchestral-music/405210/7 "2007-05-23T13:18:45Z")
[QUOTE=Hentor the Barbarian] It’s become a bit cliche through its use in commercials for movies that want to use blood pumping classical music, but Carl Orff’s _Carmina Burana_ is a good choice. [/QUOTE] Oh yeah. And there’s that. Pretty much standard fare for action film TV trailers. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blood-pumping-orchestral-music/405210/8 "2007-05-23T13:19:16Z")
> [@](#): > > Sixth? Nah. Beethoven was an “odd” composer. Oh? So you don’t think the “Storm” sequence from the Pastorale is blood-pumping music/ I beg to differ. It’s Beethoven, not Star Trek movies. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blood-pumping-orchestral-music/405210/9 "2007-05-23T13:24:23Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Oh? So you don’t think the “Storm” sequence from the Pastorale is blood-pumping music/ I beg to differ. [/QUOTE] It is, but you have to wade through a lot of boring before you get to it. I’m just not a huge Beethoven fan. But the 2nd movement of the 7th, while not totally metal, is one of the most powerful pieces of music ever written, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blood-pumping-orchestral-music/405210/10 "2007-05-23T13:25:11Z")
Damn, now I gotta get off the computer and go crank some tunes. Byat da datta datta DAH da da! BOOM!!! ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blood-pumping-orchestral-music/405210/11 "2007-05-23T13:26:30Z")
For stirring modern film scores, I’d recommend Basil Poledouris’ score for _Conan the Barbarian_ (he did a lot of good film scores and unfortunately died last November). I always thought Rimsky-Korsakov’s _Scheherazade_ suite could get the blood goin’. ETA: Even though it’s used a lot, I never get tired of Holst’s _Mars, Bringer of War_. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blood-pumping-orchestral-music/405210/12 "2007-05-23T13:30:50Z")
Lend an ear to John Williams’s “Imperial March” from _The Empire Strikes Back_, and his movie themes from _Star Wars, Amistad, Superman_ and _Raiders of the Lost Ark_. Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony has some blood-pumping passages, and of course the rousing _The 1812 Overture_. How about marches? I’m fond of Strauss’s “Radetzky March,” and Sousa’s “Semper Fidelis,” “The Thunderer,” “Stars and Stripes Forever,” and “El Capitan.” Older American marches include “Hail Columbia” and “Hail to the Chief.” ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blood-pumping-orchestral-music/405210/13 "2007-05-23T13:34:08Z")
No mention of Shostakovich yet? Explore the symphonies, in the order 5, 10, 7, 8, 4 for starters. And some of his film music is great stuff - try [this album](http://www.amazon.com/Shostakovich-Film-Album-Dmitry/dp/B00000I08B/ref=sr_1_13/105-4600631-1230844?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1179927160&sr=8-13). ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blood-pumping-orchestral-music/405210/14 "2007-05-23T13:35:01Z")
[QUOTE=Baldwin] ETA: Even though it’s used a lot, I never get tired of Holst’s _Mars, Bringer of War_. [/QUOTE] Of course. Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus as well. Rock on. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blood-pumping-orchestral-music/405210/15 "2007-05-23T13:37:56Z")
Two cds for you: [Heavy Classix](http://www.amazon.com/Heavy-Classix-Hector-Berlioz/dp/B000002SO9/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-8414081-8745456?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1179927289&sr=1-1) [John Williams](http://www.amazon.com/Request-Best-Williams-Boston-Orchestra/dp/B0000040YP/ref=sr_1_5/103-8414081-8745456?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1179927442&sr=1-5) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blood-pumping-orchestral-music/405210/16 "2007-05-23T13:43:25Z")
Rossini immediately comes to mind. Any one of his overtures, but most definitely: William Tell The Barber of Seville La Gazza Ladra (“The Thieving Magpie”) ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blood-pumping-orchestral-music/405210/17 "2007-05-23T14:07:16Z")
[Twilight of the Gods: The Essential Wagner Collection](http://www.amazon.com/Twilight-Gods-Essential-Wagner-Collection/dp/B000009ON7/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-4853807-2177447?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1179929123&sr=8-1) Including Ride of the Valkyries, aka “You might remember me from such movies as **Apocalypse Now**.” ETA: “And I’m included in some of the collections mentioned above!” ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blood-pumping-orchestral-music/405210/18 "2007-05-23T14:18:56Z")
Well I was gonna suggest Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring but of course someone beat me to it. John Adams has written a lot of orchestral stuff that’s quite forceful. There’s ‘Harmonielehre’, and his violin concerto. Huh, a music recommendation thread where I can’t recommend my eponymous hero! 😃 (well I think there are orchestral arrangements, haven’t heard them though) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blood-pumping-orchestral-music/405210/19 "2007-05-23T14:30:38Z")
I also like Rick Wakeman – a lot of his works have significant and sweeping orchestral parts. Check out \*\*A Journey to the Center of the Earth Myths and Legends of King Arthur Return to the Center of the Earth\*\* ---
**Author:** ![Figaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ea666f/32.png) [@Figaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Figaro)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blood-pumping-orchestral-music/405210/20 "2007-05-23T14:42:36Z")
Here are a few not yet mentioned: John Adams - _Short Ride in a Fast Machine_ Samuel Barber - _Second Essay for Orchestra_ Hector Berlioz - _Roman Carnival Overture_ Leonard Bernstein - _Overture to Candide_ Aaron Copland - _Rodeo_ Franz Liszt - _Les Préludes_ Rimsky-Korsakov - _Capriccio espagñol_ Christopher Rouse - _The Infernal Machine_ Jean Sibelius - _En Saga_ & _Finlandia_ (both tone poems) Bedrich Smetana - _Ma Vlast_ Tchaikovsky - \*1812 Overture \* & _Capriccio Italien_ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-some-blood-pumping-orchestral-music/405210.md?page=2)