Apart from the William Tell Overture.
November 18, 2013 2:09 AM   Subscribe

Classical music for workouts?

Can you help me compose a playlist of 'get-up-and-go' / energetic / suitable for running-type classical music? I already listen to a fair bit of classical music, but in terms of knowledge I would say I am at Classical Music 101 level. Thanks guys!
posted by Ziggy500 to Media & Arts (23 answers total) 31 users marked this as a favorite
 
Khachaturian’s Sabre Dance.
Bizet’s Les Toreadors.
Offenbach’s Galop Infernal.
posted by misteraitch at 2:20 AM on November 18, 2013


William Tell Overture.
Brahms' Hungarian Dance No 5.
Beethoven's Egmont (op 84)

Or more out of left field, Philip Glass's The Grid (after the first 3 minutes).
posted by wackybrit at 2:26 AM on November 18, 2013


The 'Scherzo' movement of any symphony?
posted by jujulalia at 2:50 AM on November 18, 2013


Offenbach's Can-Can
Which got me thinking, you could pretend you're Bugs Bunny running from Elmer Fudd, which let me to this compilation of fun.
posted by mibo at 3:00 AM on November 18, 2013


Parts of Tchaikovsky's Marche Slav are quite stirring...
posted by marguerite at 3:20 AM on November 18, 2013


The finale of Shostakovich's 5th symphony.
posted by Gyan at 3:40 AM on November 18, 2013


Carl Orff's - Carmina Burana - O Fortuna
posted by alchemist at 4:01 AM on November 18, 2013 [1 favorite]


The overture from Carmen

Tchaikovsky has a lot of good ones; I don't have access to it at the moment, but we have baby dance parties with a Best of Tchaikovsky cd. Think the dancing mushroom scene from Fantasia.
posted by lollymccatburglar at 4:30 AM on November 18, 2013


Sorry, I just realized that Tchaikovsky's Russian Dance would be a better example.
posted by lollymccatburglar at 4:35 AM on November 18, 2013


Will any arrangement do?

A Fifth of Beethoven. Also, the Hooked on Classics series.

More classically, Dvorak's Symphony No.9 (From the New World) is quite energetic.
posted by MuffinMan at 5:16 AM on November 18, 2013 [1 favorite]


I like to listen to Beethoven's 6th symphony (Pastoral) and frolic.

And Beethoven's 7th always, always makes me feel like dancing - it's piece of music that fits every mood, every type of weather, and every feeling. Wouldn't say it's great running music though.
posted by Cygnet at 5:56 AM on November 18, 2013 [1 favorite]


Ravel's Boléro, starts slowly and ends very fast.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 6:07 AM on November 18, 2013


Off the top of my head:
posted by Johnny Assay at 6:13 AM on November 18, 2013


Response by poster: Thanks guys, I can't wait to listen to all your suggestions! My playlist is finally going to be more than a few pieces long!

If anyone' interested, I particularly like the first movement of Beethoven's Symphony#5, Ravel's Bolero, the third movement of Bruckner's Symphony#7 and the overture to Mozart's Der Schauspieldirektor for this, myself.
posted by Ziggy500 at 6:22 AM on November 18, 2013


I came by to second MuffinMan's Hooked on Classics recommendation. I've been using that to walk to for ages. Up-tempo arrangements and classical medleys set to a consistent beat.
posted by BrianJ at 6:32 AM on November 18, 2013


The faster parts of Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnole might be good.
posted by eponym at 6:42 AM on November 18, 2013


Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring!
posted by pjern at 8:47 AM on November 18, 2013


Seconding the overture from Carmen. It's butt-kickingly awesome and good at making you feel awesome.

Also…it's a bit of a departure since it's not TECHNICALLY classical, but a LOT of the John Williams themes are pretty outstanding for this sort of motivation. The Indiana Jones theme comes to mind as a favorite.
posted by Thistledown at 9:04 AM on November 18, 2013


How about Wagner? Not fast in pace, but the bombast could be good to run to. This is a good recording that has all the best orchestra bits from the Ring Cycle plus the Meistersinger and Tristan & Isolde preludes.
posted by dnash at 1:25 PM on November 18, 2013


Schubert's Death and the Maiden
posted by workerant at 1:37 PM on November 18, 2013




I can't help but prance and dance around the room to Rossini's (Signor Crescendo) overture to The Thieving Magpie.
posted by jim in austin at 6:10 PM on November 18, 2013


Here are some pieces I keep in a similar playlist:

Bach: Brandenburg concerto 3, allegro (1721)
Handel: Concerto Grosso Op. 6 No.5, allegro (1739)
Handel: The arrival of the Queen of Sheba (1749)
Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro overture (1786)
Schubert: Marche Militaire (1826)
Brahms: Hungarian Dance no.5 (1869) (may actually lead to dancing instead)
Smetana: Bartered Bride overture (1870)
Strauss: Jockey-Polka (fun!) (1870)
Bizet: Toreador Song from Carmen (1875)
Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture finale (1880)
Grieg: Holberg Suite, op. 40, prelude (1884)
Saint-Saens: Organ Symphony, Maestoso (1886)
Holst: Planets, op.32, Jupiter, the bringer of jollity (1918)
Bartok: Piano Concerto no. 1 , allegro molto (1926) (a bit distracting, maybe?)
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet, Montagues and Capulets (1935)
Walton: Crown Imperial (1937)
John Adams: Harmonielehre (1985)
John Williams: Duel of the Fates (1999) (cheating, maybe)
Anna Meredith: Nautilus (2012) (definitely cheating, but she is a classical composer too)
posted by rollick at 6:30 PM on November 18, 2013 [3 favorites]


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