A friend posted the following question on Facebook:
“What is the most famous piece of classical music?”
Most of the answers seemed to be an attempt to find a piece of classical music (for some value of “classical”) that was well known as itself. That surprised and puzzled me a bit but it did cause me to ask the question:
“What makes a piece of classical music famous?”
I think it’s pretty clear that it’s not the number of times it gets performed in the concert hall or opera house or even the number of plays it gets on classical music radio stations. I think it’s almost entirely to do with it having some other association in the broader cultural context. It’s not hard to find examples. Is there a soul in the English speaking world (and probably well beyond) who hasn’t heard Wagner’s Treulich geführt, almost certainly ohne wörte and played on a church organ? Something similar might be said about the Walkürenritt though helicopters or rabbits are a more likely association than brides. Depending where and when you grew up there are almost certainly pieces of classical music indelibly linked to TV shows or advertising. You can play the association game if you please with the theme from Dvorak’s New World Symphony, the overture to William Tell or Bach’s Air on a G string.
I guess there was a time too when many pieces would have been extremely familiar as hymn tunes. I don’t know if that’s still true as I’m not a church goer and have little idea what the repertoire of a typical congregation (assuming such a thing to exist) is these days. Certain pieces too are associated with various official and ceremonial functions but one suspects that they are very culturally specific.
Perhaps the whole thing is best summed up by Francis Bacon.
operaramblings 
It could be argued that the most recognized classical theme in Europe is from the intro of the Te Deum by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. But no one (unless a classical music enthusiast) knows it by name. This is because it is the signal tune of European Broadcasting corporation, so you hear it at the beginning of the Eurovision Song Contest or sport events etc.
So, is it well known or not?
I’d say that is exactly what makes a piece well known.
I agree that most famous classical music is famous today because of other associations: TV commercials, TV themes (more of a British tradition, I think, except for the Lone Ranger), played at ceremonies like weddings or commencements, used in movies, etc.
I think the initial fame of Pachelbel’s Kanon in D’s was due to a large amount of airplay (before it became a wedding staple – yes, I admit I play it on the organ frequently!) Beethoven’s 5th (first movement) and 9th (last movement) Symphonies and Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture are about the only classical works that are well-known today simply because they are (and maybe Vivaldi’s 4 Seasons).
Of course, I approach this as a classical musician and music fan, so my concept of well-known and/or famous classical music is a bit skewed. 🙂
Even with Beethoven’s 5th I wonder how many people would recognize anything other than the first few bars.
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There is a youtube video in this somewhere – someone needs to take a camera out onto the streets of random cities and 1) ask random people to name a piece of “classical music” or 2) play them little excerpts and ask if it sounds familiar.