Sorry, I was misremembering the earlier suggestions for Prokofiev’s third. And yes, I consider them both to be trivial and inconsequential compositions - insults maybe, but insults directed towards men who aren’t around to hear them.
You can’t beat Beethoven for this kind of thing, IMHO. The most appropriate symphonies have already been mentioned, but I’d add the Waldstein piano sonata (no. n23?) first movement, the Pathetique piano sonata (no. 8) first movement, and of course the Moonlight piano sonata (no.14) third movement.
Oh, and Elgar’s 'cello concerto.
The suggestions thusfar just about cover it. Stravinsky, Wagner, and Holst will be a great start. Orff should be next on the list.
Brahm’s 1st and 4th are also great. Sibelius’s 2nd is a must-have.
No organ music fans on this board? Granted it’s never as rattling on a recording as it is live. Try Bach’s “Toccatta and Fugue in D Minor” (as with Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, you’ve probably heard it before), Widor’s “Toccatta” from Symphony Number 5 and maybe Mendelssohn’s “War March of the Priests”, which is also pretty good in orchestral arrangement.