# Looking for powerful and 'spooky' Choir/Orchestra works



## Kiddiarni (Jul 4, 2007)

Hi Guys,

I'm looking for some classical works that are best described as above, Powerful and maybe even spooky for choir and orchestra.

If you don't know what I mean, which I find very likely, I'm talking about stuff like Dies Irae from Mozart's Requiem and O Fortuna from Karl Orff's Carmina Burana

If you have any pieces in mind, please share.

Thanks


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## ChamberNut (Jan 30, 2007)

Some suggestions:

Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique - 5th mvt. Songe d'une nuit du sabbat.

Mussorgsky - Night on the Bare Mountain

Jerry Goldsmith - From the soundtrack to The Omen (1976), many eerie tracks such as _Ave Satani, The Killer Storm, The Altar_


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## opus67 (Jan 30, 2007)

The most powerful Dies Irae out there is definitely Verdi's, and I second Night on a Bald/Bare Mountain.


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## Manuel (Feb 1, 2007)

I have the impression I already suggested something by Anatoli Lyadov.

(And something was said about adding a choir to Shostakovich's Chamber Symphony).


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## Amy (Aug 3, 2006)

I would recommend 'Dance of the Knights' from Prokofiev's 'Romeo and Juliet'- it's overplayed but it works! I would also suggest listening to Rimsky-Korsakov's 'Scheherezade', which is incredibly powerful with some quite sinister movements. Hope that helps!


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## Handel (Apr 18, 2007)

Hmmm,

Let say:

Handel: 

-Worthy is the lamb/men from Messiah
-He gave them hailstones for rain from Israel in Egypt
-Praise the Lord from Solomon


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## zlya (Apr 9, 2007)

Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle gets quite spooky, particularly towards the end.


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## Edward Elgar (Mar 22, 2006)

Handel, you've forgotten "Since by Man came Death" That is both a spooky and powerful choral/orchestral work!


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## opus67 (Jan 30, 2007)

Hey, you might want to check out this CD 
http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B00008ETZ9/103-9684326-7451839?SubscriptionId=0GG8XQKS2SN3T3MS6TG2


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## fox_druid (Feb 12, 2007)

Bach's mass in B minor bwv 232 - the third Kyrie Eleison
Antonio Vivaldi's magnificat in g minor
Tomas luis de Victoria's masses


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## Handel (Apr 18, 2007)

Edward Elgar said:


> Handel, you've forgotten "Since by Man came Death" That is both a spooky and powerful choral/orchestral work!


Good if you think so, but for me, it is only a classical example of Handel theatrality. A dark and slow movement followed by a fast and and joyous one. Typicallty handelian. Saw this pattern too in Israel in Egypt.

It's good but not sublime imho.


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## 4/4player (Nov 17, 2006)

May I recomend a few pieces from Mozart's "Don Giovanni"?

The Overture
The Finale
Scene XV( Act two), the scene with the "Il Commendatore statue"

And for something very spooky and frightening( for musicians and classical music loves, hehe)....Stravinky's "Rite of Spring"!...( Anything from Phillip Glass might be as scary too!)

Musically,
4/4 player


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## LaciDeeLeBlanc (Jul 17, 2007)

Stravinsky: Rite of Spring; Symphony of Psalms (try to listen to this with an all boys choir)

The Overture to _Don Giovanni_ is spooky? I verily disagree with that.

Ottorino Respighi: Pines of Rome (particularly second movement)
The Original Soundtrack to the movie _The Omen_ is terribly frightening for me, as well as the Original Soundtrack to the movie _Signs_.
Wagner: Siegfried's Funeral March from _Gotterdammerang_; Prelude to Act III from _Lohengrin_ (this one is much more for power than spookage); Finale to _Gotterdammerang_
Berlioz: Hungarian March from _La Damnation De Faust_ (Once again, if you wish for mainly power); Royal Hunt and Storm from _Les Troyens_
Holst: "Neptune: The Mystic" from _The Planets_


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## Manuel (Feb 1, 2007)

Alberich's monologue at the begining of Siegfried's second act is creepy if sang properly.


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## Rondo (Jul 11, 2007)

Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King" and "Chase of the Trolls" (??) from _Peer Gynt_. The latter is very difficult to find, as many albums, for some reason (who knows why) love to omit it (only one is the performance by Blomstedt and the San Francisco Sym- which Im trying to get my hands on). The other you can find in a snap.

Others, _Danse Macabre_ by Saint-Saens, and _Cloudburst_ from "Grand Canyon Suite" by Groffe.


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

Manuel said:


> Alberich's monologue at the begining of Siegfried's second act is creepy if sang properly.


I'm glad the Ring cycle worked its way into the discussion. Alberich is also spooky in "Bin ich nun frei?" in the 4th scene of *Das Rheingold*.

Not exactly flash-fright, but more like "inexorable menace" can be found in Alberich's son in the _Hagen's Watch_ scene from Act I, Scene 2 of *Gotterdammerung*.


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## Hector (Dec 23, 2011)

Try "Night Chorus" from _The Death of Klinghoffer_ by *John Adams*.


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## BradPiano (Dec 22, 2011)

Might I suggest Wagner's Tristan und Isolde? There is no choir, but it has some insanely powerful moments. Sorry if this was already suggested.


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## LordBlackudder (Nov 13, 2010)

slightly muffled quality for some reason.


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

Walton - Belshazzar's Feast


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Mahler Symphony No. 3.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Felix Mendelssohn's cantata Die erste Walpurgisnacht op. 60. Not exactly from the composer's top-draw, but parts of it should be sufficiently phantasmagorical to satisfy, especially the druids and pagans singing 'Come With Prongs and Pitchforks' in an effort to scare the Christians. It's not a serious horror story - more of a satire about a pagan May-Day ritual that was banned by decree and that some of the heathen folk have decided to defy the authorities and carry on with it.

If they haven't already been mentioned then try the Witches Cave scene that starts off Act III of Verdi's Macbeth and also the Wolf's Glen scene from Act II of von Weber's Der Freischutz.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

ChamberNut said:


> Some suggestions:
> 
> Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique - 5th mvt. Songe d'une nuit du sabbat.
> 
> ...


He said choir and orchestra (or she).


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

Wagner's Tristan does have a part for chorus, not very big, though,in the first act .
Prokofiev's opera "The Fiery Angel" is beyond spooky - it's so creepy it could give you nightmares ! It's the story of a young woman in 16th century Germany named Renata who is haunted by demons and is looking for a mysterious angel of fire , and gets involved with 
a wandering knight named Ruprecht who loves her but she does not , and finally gets involved in a horrible exorcism in a nunnery and is sentenced to be burned at the stake for sorcery ! 
Prokofiev's 3rd symphony makes use of music from the opera and is also extremely creepy . You have to know the story of the opera for it to have its full effect, though .
The DG and Philips recordings of the opera are hard to find now, as well as the DVD, but 
seek them out if you dare ! But the opera is not for the faint of heart ! 
There are quite of few recordings of the symphony, though . Those of Gergiev,
and Neeme Jarvi are highly recommendable . 

Dvorak's spooky oratorio "The Spectre's Bride" is about a young woman whose betrothed falls in battle . She prays for his return , but it's his ghost that returns !
I have the mono Supraphon recording conducted by Jaroslav Kromholc with the Czech Philharmonic , and I recommend it highly .


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## pluhagr (Jan 2, 2012)

I think Ralph Vaughan William's Dona Nobis Pacem is one of the most powerful pieces to me. It can be spooky at times too. Definitly check it out!


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## Manok (Aug 29, 2011)

Anything by Penderecki.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

I know it's too late, but I've just compared Goldsmith's work for _The Omen_ to Kilar's work for _Dracula_.

Not even close. Goldsmith sounds almost exactly like Kilar made safe for children.


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Alexander Scriabin - Prometheus: The Poem of Fire

Incredibly powerful, rather spooky and choir in the final minutes.


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## Nina (Dec 27, 2012)

Kiddiarni said:


> Hi Guys,
> 
> I'm looking for some classical works that are best described as above, Powerful and maybe even spooky for choir and orchestra.
> 
> ...


If you like O Fortuna, you may probably like:
Era - Ameno
Vangelis - Conquest of the Paradise
The Song of the Dragonborn (from Skyrim)
Era - Divano
Song of the plains (soviet army chorus and band)
Hallelujah - Händel
maybe even Adiemus - Adiemus or Cantus Inaequalis
or even the romanian anthem, a powerful choir 



, which can be also sung by a men choir. Or la Marseillaise


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## Clump (Sep 5, 2012)




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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Some Frank Martin, perhaps.


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## Ralfy (Jul 19, 2010)

Britten's _Curlew River_


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