I don't really know. Amadeus is my absolute favorite movie of all time, but it has been set around the music. Tous les Matins du Monde is another fond memory, but it's a biopic of Marin Marais, a composer. In Diva, the excerpt from La Wally works well. The Ride of the Valkyries (sp?) is of course famous, but not so impressive. Let's not forget 2001, a Space Oddyssey.
My favorite moment is literary. In one of Douglas Adams' books (Dirk Gently), someone hears fantastic music from some alien space station that he has to "destroy" in the past or something, altering the timeline of the universe, and thus losing the music. But then when he comes back, his girlfriend plays that same music on the cello. I copied this from the book:
His face was so amazed that she stopped playing the instant she saw him.
"What's wrong?" she said, alarmed.
"Where did you get that music?" said Richard in a whisper.
She shrugged. "Well, from the music shop," she said, puzzled. She wasn't being facetious, she simply didn't understand the question.
"What is it?"
"It's from this cantata I'm playing in in a couple of week," she said, "Bach, number six."
"Who wrote it?"
"Well, Bach I expect. If you think about it."
"Who?"
"Watch my lips. Bach. B-A-C-H. Johannes Sebastian. Remember?"
"No, never heard of him. Who is he? Did he write anything else?"
Susan put down her bow, propped up her cello, stood up and came over to him.
"Are you allright?" she said.
... [bit later, Richard calls his friend] ...
"Reg, the music -"
"Ah yes, I thought you'd be pleased. Took a bit of work, I can tell you. I saved only the tiniest scrap, of course, but even so I cheated. It was rather more than one man could actually do in a lifetime, but I don't suppose anybody will look at that too seriously."
My favorite use of The Blue Danube is actually at the end of The Wages of Fear (1953). I've read the Dirk Gently books but it's been a long time and I don't remember that passage. I wonder if that's where the movie Yesterday got its idea from?
BTW, you've seen Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense, yes? I know it's not classical obviously but as far as films set to music, it's hard to top.
My favorite moment is literary. In one of Douglas Adams' books (Dirk Gently), someone hears fantastic music from some alien space station that he has to "destroy" in the past or something, altering the timeline of the universe, and thus losing the music. But then when he comes back, his girlfriend plays that same music on the cello. I copied this from the book:
His face was so amazed that she stopped playing the instant she saw him.
"What's wrong?" she said, alarmed.
"Where did you get that music?" said Richard in a whisper.
She shrugged. "Well, from the music shop," she said, puzzled. She wasn't being facetious, she simply didn't understand the question.
"What is it?"
"It's from this cantata I'm playing in in a couple of week," she said, "Bach, number six."
"Who wrote it?"
"Well, Bach I expect. If you think about it."
"Who?"
"Watch my lips. Bach. B-A-C-H. Johannes Sebastian. Remember?"
"No, never heard of him. Who is he? Did he write anything else?"
Susan put down her bow, propped up her cello, stood up and came over to him.
"Are you allright?" she said.
... [bit later, Richard calls his friend] ...
"Reg, the music -"
"Ah yes, I thought you'd be pleased. Took a bit of work, I can tell you. I saved only the tiniest scrap, of course, but even so I cheated. It was rather more than one man could actually do in a lifetime, but I don't suppose anybody will look at that too seriously."