35. "Carmina Burana: Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi (O Fortuna)" by Carl Orff
This is the only real classical piece on my list, mostly because I'm not going to try to pass myself off as someone who regularly listens to classical music. I don't. I love it, but I just don't listen to it very often. This piece, however, I can remember being a kid of, I don't know, maybe 5, watching for the millionth time a rented VHS copy of Conan: the Barbarian, (as well as John Boorman's Excalibur, although my memory is more of Conan), and when this piece kicked in I felt its power take hold. Over the years, every time it would pop up in pop culture, in a movie or as a sample in another song somewhere or in a TV commercial, I always remember back to watching these films with my older brother and my dad and how kick-ass that part was. The song defines the word 'epic,' and yes it has gotten played out to the point of being a cliche, but I don't care. Almost every other classical piece or film score that I love, and actually many rock songs as well, build in a way similar to this one, and I think unconsciously that 'epic buildup' has shaped more of what music I listen to, and how I listen to it, than I could ever fully understand on a conscious level.
Excalibur WAS my Conan moment... I've loved this piece since watching the Best King Arthur movie at a very impressionable age. Hell, it's used everywhere now, I know, but it gets me if its selling Doritos or promoting a wrestling pay-per-view!!!
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