Nyanko's Basket

So my G&S earworm morphed into a weird amalgam that started with HMS Pinafore --

We sail the ocean blue,
And our saucy ship's a beauty;
We are sober men and true,
And attentive to our duty.

-- only then towards the end of that song, shifted to a classical music orchestral piece that I had the damnedest time placing but that was something I knew I a) had heard within the past year, at one of the concerts I went to, probably late 2024, b) had not heard within the last month, c) had an annoying tendency as an earworm to loop (not just stick as earworms do, but literally loop back on itself), and d) had been in my head before, months ago.

It felt very much like either Tchaikovsky or Beethoven, and I was confident it was a symphony, so I went to imslp and started browsing the sheet musics. It was none of the Tchaikovsky ones, so I tried Beethoven, though I was fairly sure it wasn't the 9th. I also googled for "classical music that sounds like Indiana Jones" because some of the bit in my head reminds me of IJ music, only that confused things because the 3rd movement of Tchaikovsky'a 6th contains a (different) Indiana-Jones section. Obviously the symphonies preceded Indiana Jones, just as the 4th movement of Dvorak's New World Symphony preceded Jaws, but still. It had to have been some sort of inspiration.

Anyway I eventually found it: the beginning of the 4th movement of the 5th symphony (https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=3xUNCQ4TbN4&si=qqSWtKaUa7qsXghO) ... not the first measures, but the stretch 0:30 to 1:00 with the cascading runs down and the horns and then the bit I fondly consider the Indiana Jones section. (I think it's the modulations?)

So then I had to listen to the whole symphony, and I had almost forgotten just how fucking amazing it is. The first four notes get overused in popular culture to the point of being almost cheesy, but other than that it's just utter perfection. And listening to it makes me incredibly happy omg.

(It's one of my favorite symphonies -- my all-time favorites are Beethoven's 5th, Sibelius' 2nd, and Tchaikovsky's 4th (clearly I need a first and third to round it out) -- and it's one that, if I'm alone, I'm moving to, not just "conducting" with hands but full body emphasis. Obviously I behave at concerts, so I don't distract others, but. It's just. Good. So good.

(If you don't know it besides the duh-duh-duh-DUHHHH motif that starts the piece, go listen.)

...of course, fair warning, it does sometimes get bits stuck in your head...

[note to self -- this entry took exactly an hour to write]