Ride of the Valkyries
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Ride of the Valkyries (German Walkürenritt) is probably the best known piece by Richard Wagner. It is from Die Walküre (Act III, Scene 1) and has been used to great effect in a wide variety of films, from the helicopter scene in Apocalypse Now to being lampooned in What's Opera, Doc? and The Blues Brothers, to the spa sequence in Fellini's 8½. Hitler used the song in a Nazi propaganda film, as backround to film of German planes in flight.
The song and its singer seem to be the iconic opera stereotype: The Valkyrie Brunhilde in breastplate and horned helmet, clutching a spear and shield, and crying out "HO JO TO HO!"
Caltech has a tradition of playing Ride of the Valkyries loudly the morning of finals week.