History Main / StandardSnippet

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulWXvzL6nuA What Do You Do with a Drunken Sailor?]]'': Sailors, [[UsefulNotes/TheSevenSeas the ocean]], {{Pirate}}s and [[WoodenShipsAndIronMen anything nautical]], especially [[WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants sponges and crabs that own restaurants]]

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STYZsBov7fU Waxie's Dargle]]'': Ireland. When played on a fife and drum, can also be associated with UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution, even though the earliest known version of the song was written some 50 years after the Revolution. Is also sometimes used for the UsefulNotes/WarOf1812 (which is a bit more accurate, since the song was brand-new and extremely popular in 1812).

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRpzxKsSEZg In the Hall of the Mountain King]]'' from ''Theatre/PeerGynt'' suite (Edvard Grieg): A particularly dramatic or ominous event, often associated with Halloween themes, [[HauntedHouse haunted houses]] and spooky forests. Sometimes used for comedic effect in scenes featuring [[RubeGoldbergDevice large and needlessly complicated machinery]] under construction or in operation. Tied to adverts for Alton Towers in the UK. Also, Edvard Grieg hated that it became so popular because it was meant to be ugly.

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc65V41CcX0 Overture]]'' to ''Theatre/SwanLake'' (Music/PyotrIlyichTchaikovsky): The ballet, as well as the original, Creator/BelaLugosi ''Film/{{Dracula 1931}}'' and references to it.

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUmq1cpcglQ Dance of the Knights]]'' from ''Romeo and Juliet'' (Sergei Prokofiev): Heavy industry and engineering, industrial revolutions, history of same. In the UK and Ireland, used as the theme tune for ''Series/TheApprentice''. It was also used in the opening credits of ''Film/{{Caligula}}''.

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQjOaIyh6HQ Overture]]'' to ''La forza del destino / The Force of Destiny'' (Verdi) - part starting 0:50: Rural France and its inhabitants, usually in good weather. Rural jiggery-pokery. Mostly attributable to its use in ''[[Film/ManonDesSources Jean de Florette]]'' and ''[[Film/ManonDesSources Manon des Sources]]''.

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A3zetSuYRg La Donna e Mobile]]'' from ''Rigoletto'' (Verdi): Italy (usually larger conurbations with older architecture), Italian opera and food.

* "''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpbHlXPmmcE Back to the Future End Credits Theme]]''" (Alan Silvestri).: End theme from ''Film/BackToTheFuture'', normally used from 0:00 to 1:15 for TimeTravelEpisode settings. ''Series/PoliceCameraAction'' used this in the 2007 episode "Ultimate Pursuits" and actually referenced the movie itself at the end of the episode. Often used for {{Parody}} or {{Pastiche}} purposes.

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MF9UbfNdtg Adagio]]'' from ''Spartacus'' (Music/AramKhachaturian): Grand (sometimes ironically over the top) romance, great vistas/scenery/cloudscapes (again with grand romance), [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx7RWW36wes tall ships under full sail in good weather]] (thanks to ''Series/TheOnedinLine'').

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqg3l3r_DRI Sabre Dance]]'' (Music/AramKhachaturian): Frenetic activity, often with the camera {{undercrank}}ed, such as the DishDash.

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Sb8WCPjPDs Sleeping Beauty Waltz]]'' (Music/PyotrIlyichTchaikovsky): Ballet. Grand balls. Traditional venues for the aforementioned. Romantic or comedic impromptu waltzes. And [[WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty Disney's film version of]] ''WesternAnimation/Sleeping Beauty''.

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Sb8WCPjPDs Sleeping Beauty Waltz]]'' (Music/PyotrIlyichTchaikovsky): Ballet. Grand balls. Traditional venues for the aforementioned. Romantic or comedic impromptu waltzes. And [[WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty Disney's film version of Sleeping Beauty]].

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Sb8WCPjPDs Sleeping Beauty Waltz]]'' (Music/PyotrIlyichTchaikovsky): Ballet. Grand balls. Traditional venues for the aforementioned. Romantic or comedic impromptu waltzes. And [[WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty the film version of Sleeping Beauty]].

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeuFK61YNIg Triumphal March]]'' from ''Aida'' (Music/GiuseppeVerdi): Victory and triumphalism. Sporting events and displays. Set pieces. Prizegivings (Mussolini was rather fond of this one.). Also, a graduation march in Philippines.

* ''[[http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pyotr_Ilyich_Tchaikovsky_-_1812_overture.ogg 1812 Overture]]'' (specifically the final part, starting at 15:35 and the part from 12:51-13:16): Explosions, bombing runs, cannon fire. (The original symphony called for actual cannons.) Destroying the oppressive Government. If used, the explosions will almost always [[MickeyMousing go off in time with the music]]. Also used in TV spots for family movies, often with [[MusicalSlapstickMontage slapstick]] and/or StuffBlowingUp timed to the music.

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2j-frfK-yg Air on a G String]]'' (adapted from 2nd movement of ''Orchestral Suite No. 3'' by [[Music/JohannSebastianBach J.S. Bach]]): Scenes of peace, relaxation and repose, English countryside in good weather. [[ElegantClassicalMusician Cute girls.]] [[SoundtrackDissonance Destroying Mass-Produced]] [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Evangelion Units]]. It's also inextricably tied to the Hamlet cigar ads in the UK (though not as much if you were born after 1991). In Italy, it's tied to scientific TV programmes since the 1980s, because it's been used from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CW0GfTdMHM 1981]] to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KE1JHEFlq0 the present]] as the opening of documentaries presented by Piero Angela.

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yomi0-WL5Pg Alla Turca]]'' from [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Sonata_No._11_(Mozart) Piano Sonata No. 11]] (Mozart): Busy, flustered activity, Regency England, salon de thé. Alternatively, scenes of melodramatic peril. Especially associated with silent movies.

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NjssV8UuVA Fanfare for the Common Man]]'' (Copland): North America. Panoramas and grand cityscapes. Stadia and stadium events. The early days of space exploration. Unless it's the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYn3aZl_fKM rock version]] by Music/EmersonLakeAndPalmer, in which case you're looking at Britain in TheSeventies, and probably watching sports.

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8CIvvsPUrQ The Stars and Stripes Forever]]'' (Sousa): USA specific, with a number of uses: The Fourth of July, climaxes to college sports games, "Be Kind to Your Web-Footed Friends", [[ComicStrip/{{Popeye}} Popeye kicking Bluto's ass]], fireworks, any large amount of continuous pyrotechnic explosions when played for laughs, emergencies at the circus

* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4QbJRAWvRU The Race]]" (Yello): Used in scenes involving car or motor races, or any need for speed

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYQmsyYxSFk Telescope]]'' (Pino Donaggio): Sexually charged scenes.

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-4J5j74VPw Boléro]]'' (Music/MauriceRavel): Seduction (partly because of the movie ''Film/Ten1979'' although its slow building intensity gave it this reputation long before that came out). Sometimes used as an ice skating motif after being used for Torville and Deans record breaking Olympic gold medal performance.[[note]]Technically the medal was for ice dancing, a related but separate discipline but no-one outside the sports really cares about the distinction.[[/note]] Interestingly, the author himself intended it to represent factory noise.

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSE15tLBdso Minuet]]'' from String Quintet Op. 11 No. 5 (Luigi Boccherini): When ''Eine Kleine Nachtmusik'' just isn't fancy enough (or [[Film/TheLadykillers you need to plan a heist genteelly]]).

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1lcZM0MNek Requiem]]'' (György Ligeti): Incomprehensible horror and dread, NothingIsScarier, CosmicHorrorStory. Used so famously in ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'' that it is often called "TheMonolith theme." Was also later used famously in the trailers for ''Film/{{Godzilla 2014}}'' to indicate how this film was DarkerAndEdgier than other ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' movies.

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jgR5zBv8Rc Carmen, Habanera]]'', Bizet, with or without lyrics: Sex, a beautiful and sensual woman, love, dancing (with charged subtext similar to a tango), Spain or the Spanish, mystery, intrigue, villainy, the opera, elegance, upperclass pursuits. An aria with a lot to say for itself.

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdvfjrPDS5c Truddelutt]]'' (Bengt Hallberg): A version of the trope [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative very specific]] to [[UsefulNotes/{{Denmark}} Danish]] {{cooking show}}s. First used by the UrExample amongst Danish cooking shows, ''TV-Køkkenet'', the tune has ever since been a stable for every show of its kind in Denmark, to the point where it has become ''the'' leitmotif for cooking, even outside cooking shows, and has almost become an UndeadHorseTrope.

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_JeKZd9ecE Sailor's Hornpipe]]'': Sailors, particularly those with [[ComicStrip/{{Popeye}} one eye and an affinity for spinach]]

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFS4zYWxzNA Clubbed to Death]]'' (Rob Dougan); itself derived from Elgar's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wviJIQpZ_yY Enigma Variations]]''.: Adds a PowerWalk -like ambience to any character's perambulations (if correctly timed with their footsteps), game-face montages, trailers. Extra points if they do a sharp focus change on the gap between the first and second bits of the opening. A mid-90s piece, but gained its notoriety in '99 through ''Film/TheMatrix'' (or at the very least, through its soundtrack album -- the piece only makes one relatively brief scene in the film).

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_GH6M7cUq4 Kids in America]]'' (Kim Wilde): [[KidHero Kid heroes]] banding together to save the world, occasionally with ThePowerOfRock, [[Anime/DigimonTheMovie even if said kids aren't American]]. Also sometimes used in advertisements targeting youth.

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4irXQhgMqg Paint It Black]]'' (Music/TheRollingStonesBand, from ''Music/{{Aftermath|Album}}''): The Vietnam War.

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8CIvvsPUrQ The Stars and Stripes Forever]]'' (Sousa): USA specific, with a number of uses: The Fourth of July, climaxes to college sports games, "Be Kind to Your Web-Footed Friends", [[WesternAnimation/{{Popeye}} Popeye kicking Bluto's ass]], fireworks, any large amount of continuous pyrotechnic explosions when played for laughs, emergencies at the circus

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usfiAsWR4qU Hallelujah Chorus]]'' from ''The Messiah'' (Music/GeorgeFredericHandel): Epiphanies; particularly fortuitous events, someone finally getting what they want (often used facetiously). MindRape, in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''.[[note]]Note that this latter use is actually closer to the original context of the piece; in the cycle of ''Messiah'' it represents Christ's Second Coming, which of course is happening during an incredibly violent apocalypse.[[/note]]