Last week, Calvin and Hobbes ran this oldie-but-goodie:
Well, we all know where this is going, right? Yes, technically the 1812 Overture is a concert overture and not a tone poem, but my blog and my rules, so here it is. This has never been a favorite work of mine — it’s way too repetitive and takes far to long to reach the payoff that everybody knows is coming, but I will admit that when you do finally get there, the effect can be unbelievably thrilling.
I like it more than you, perhaps because it was one of the first two pieces of classical music I could identify, along with Beethoven's 9th Symphony, 2nd movement.