Classical music is another huge genre, but most people think of the piano or symphony orchestra driven chamber music written by people such as Bach, Beethoven, and other big names. It usually either gets used to indicate something as being before the 20th century in either setting or tone. Often gets used to show a character as being either not with the times or otherwise old fashioned to the point of stodginess. If your story features criminals, expect to see it indicating stuff related to the Italian Mafia. Due to the influence of A Clockwork Orange, classical sounds also can also be used to signal The Sociopath and the Psychopathic Manchild.
Examples:
- In The Talented Mr. Ripley, the title character listens to classical music almost exclusively. It's used as a contrast to the Jazz that the other characters listen to.
- Princess Tutu - if it's a classical song from a ballet, it's in here. Even the few pieces composed for the show are heavily based on famous German ballet pieces.
- Both Neon Genesis Evangelion and RahXephon use classical music to connect elements to the villianous races.
- 99% of fantasy uses classical music.
- Alex in A Clockwork Orange is consistently characterised with classical music, his second favourite thing after raping and murdering - it reflects his extreme intelligence as well as a fundamental part of his identity. After experiencing The Ludovico Technique, his predilection towards violence is gone, but he can no longer hear his favourite music without experiencing excruciating pain.
- Hannibal Lecter listens to and plays classical music exclusively, with a particular fondness for Bach's "Goldberg Variations." Prior to his incarceration he attended the symphony religiously and often threw dinner parties for the symphony board, which on one occasion featured an incompetent flutist as the main course.
- JJ's series 3 episode of Skins stands out from the show's normal poppier motifs by relying almost exclusively on classical music (particularly Debussy) for its moods.
- Eminem, nodding to A Clockwork Orange, often uses classical music interpolations and instrumentation (generally harpsichord and classical piano) to represent his Heroic Comedic Sociopath alter-ego, Slim Shady. In particular, "Brainless" (which is about how if Slim wasn't so stupid, he'd be a mass shooter) is based on Johann Sebastian Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor".
