Classical songs

It's "The Ride of the Valkyries" from the opera "Die Walküre" by Richard Wagner. It opens act III.

As a side, it's probably Wagner's second-most famous piece. The first would have to be the Bridal Chorus ("Here comes the bride"). I can't remeber what opera it's from, though.

Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Ode To Joy, begins the second round, and again if the champion won the $5,000.

The closing theme was Ride of the Valkyries, from the second opera of Richard Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung.

Other classical music pieces used on the show included:

Water Music by George Frederick Handel (leading to first commercial break).
Spring from The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi (Coming out of the first commercial break).
Eine kleine Nachtmusik by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (leading into the second commercial break).
Trepak (a/k/a "The Russian Dance") from The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (used to segue to the final commercial break).
Night on Bald Mountain (leading to the final round) by Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (coming out of the final commercial break and cuing to the final round).


-From Wikipedia.