"Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-sharp minor" (Franz Liszt)

Anyone from generations X and Y who denies first hearing Franz Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody, No. 2 in C-sharp minor" (1847) anywhere but the Bugs Bunny cartoon Rhapsody Rabbit (1946) is a big fat liar.
The composition had special resonance with me as a kid because I knew my family had partial Hungarian roots.  Every time I heard it (either played by my childhood idol Bugs Bunny or via pianist Roberto Szidon's rendition below), it gave me a feeling of being connected to something bigger than myself.  Bigger than any concept of nationality.  It was something deep in the blood.  Its folk rhythms and Roma musical scale, which mixes joy and sadness/major and minor into one romantic whole, made me long for a place that I never knew I should long for.  It was the first time I'd ever experienced that emotion in my life.  (Heady stuff for a 4 year old.)
Apart from that, it was (is) such a fun piece of music.  It begins slowly and dramatically and gradually gains momentum along the way, ultimately dancing its way to one of the most difficult to execute, breakneck passages in all of classical music.