# Fictional characters favourite classical works



## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

A thread for a bit of fun - suggest which classical works are the favourites of fictional characters, some of the connections may be obvious some less so but a connection of some sort should be there.

I'll start off with a couple to get the ball rolling.

*Quasimodo - Rachmaninov, The Bells.

Frankenstein's Monster - Shostakovich, The Bolt.*


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## Forster (Apr 22, 2021)

Er...*MacBeth *- Verdi, MacBeth  (and he was a real person as well as a fictional one, so I'm cheating already)

*Hamlet *- Bach, Air on the G String or Beethoven's 'Ghost' Trio


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Tyrion Lannister - Zemlinsky, The Dwarf


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

Sherlock Holmes—Paganini Caprices (they are mentioned in several of the stories)


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Anne Elliot in Persuasion - arias from operas by Pergolesi (in the novel, she translates Italian songs at a concert for her admirer William Elliot)


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## Ariasexta (Jul 3, 2010)

Here are some eminent characters I can think of immediately:

Hamlet: Barafostus dream(a harpsichord piece by Thomas Tomkins)

Don Quixote: Some instrumental and vocal pieces from Luys Milan`s vihuela collections.

Doctor Faustus(Christopher Marlow and Goether`s): Mein junges leben hat ein endt(Jan Sweelinck`s intablature of a german song)


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

I'm loving the start guys some serious and some with a nod to humour which is the direction I favour.

*Animal from the Muppets - Haydn, Symphony No 103 'Drumroll'*


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Elsa from Frozen - Puccini, Che Gelida Manina


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Liberty Valance in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: Barbara Strozzi, La Vendetta


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

*Charlotte's Web *- Roussel, The Spider's Feast

*Harry Potter* - Dukas, The Sorcerer's Apprentice

For the Marvel Comics fans: *Galactus* - Holst, The Planets


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

Ingélou said:


> Liberty Valance in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: Barbara Strozzi, La Vendetta


Well done Ingelou - I had to look up Barbara Strozzi!


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

*King Arthur* - Karl Goldmark, Merlin Overture.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Superman - Daugherty, Metropolis symphony
Batman - Strauss II, Die Fledermaus
Catwoman - Rossini, Duetto buffo di due gatti


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## JohnP (May 27, 2014)

The Big Bad Wolf - Rachmaninoff. Etude Tableau Op. 39 No. 6 ("Little Red Riding Hood")
Tweety Bird - Vaughan Williams. The Lark Ascending (or Respighi. The Pines of Rome)


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Thomas the Tank Engine: Honegger, Pacific 231.


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## 1846 (Sep 1, 2021)

Triplets said:


> Sherlock Holmes-Paganini Caprices (they are mentioned in several of the stories)


I once played Sherlock Holmes on stage and indeed, the Paganini Caprices were referenced in the text of the play and were also used for all the incidental music in the production.


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## 1846 (Sep 1, 2021)

Here's another one in which the fictional character specifically mentions this, in a surprising classical music reference from a television program. In an episode of the 1980's nighttime soap _Falcon Crest_, we hear the slow movement of Beethoven's seventh symphony in Angela Channing's study. I'm forgetting the specifics of the dialogue, but someone comments to the effect that this is Angela's favorite symphony. (Or maybe that it was her favorite Beethoven Symphony, I can't remember.) Anyway, I rather enjoyed that, since it's also my own favorite Beethoven symphony as well.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Pat Fairlea said:


> Thomas the Tank Engine: Honegger, Pacific 231.


Or Steve Reich, Different Trains.


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## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

The Blues Brothers , Richard Wagner's Valkyries


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Manxfeeder said:


> Or Steve Reich, Different Trains.


No, I think Thomas the Tank Engine would be a Les Six fan. Maybe Villa-Lobos in his wilder moments? But not Steve Reich.


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

Pat Fairlea said:


> No, I think Thomas the Tank Engine would be a Les Six fan. Maybe Villa-Lobos in his wilder moments? But not Steve Reich.


Well I never thought when the thread started that we could elevate the standard of debate on TC to discuss the intricacies of Thomas the Tank Engine's musical preferences :lol:


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

*Captain Ahab* - Alan Hovhaness, And God created Great Whales.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Hans Castorp - Eine Alpensinfonie and for the “Snow” chapter - Night on Bald Mountain

Miranda in “The Tempest” - New World Symphony. (Also should work for character in the Huxley novel, but I read that so long ago, I can’t remember any names.)


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## Highwayman (Jul 16, 2018)

Mr. Eugene H. Krabs - Beethoven, Rage Over a Lost Penny


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

Highwayman said:


> Mr. Eugene H. Krabs - Beethoven, Rage Over a Lost Penny


Another character I had to check out!


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Malx said:


> Well I never thought when the thread started that we could elevate the standard of debate on TC to discuss the intricacies of Thomas the Tank Engine's musical preferences :lol:


Hidden depths, Malx, hidden depths.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Jane Eyre - Saint-Saens : The Swan ( Le Cygne ) - Carnival of the Animals

Explanation here: 
https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/bewicks-history-of-british-birds


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

Ingélou said:


> Jane Eyre - Saint-Saens : The Swan ( Le Cygne ) - Carnival of the Animals
> 
> Explanation here:
> https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/bewicks-history-of-british-birds


Thanks Ingélou I'd completely forgotten about this thread - diminishing power of my brain.

For any children who may be reading this Santa Claus is not a fictional character.

*Santa Claus* : Edvard Grieg - Elves Dance (Lyric Piece Op12 No 4).


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