# Does anyone here like scary Classics?



## Clouds Weep Snowflakes (Feb 24, 2019)

Well, I like horror movies, so I like things that have to do with ghosts playing piano and such; can anyone here supply such examples? I think part 3 of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata fits perfectly:






I also think Mozart's Requiem is pretty scary (again, I like that); not surprising as a Requiem is a prayer for a person who passed away:






Any other suggestions?


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Night on Bald Mountain
by Eugene Ormandy;The Philadelphia Orchestra Danse macabre, Op. 40
by Lorin MaazelPeer Gynt, Op. 23: IV. In the Hall of the Mountain King
by Andrew Davis;The Philharmonia OrchestraMarche funèbre d'une marionnette
by Eugene Ormandy;The Philadelphia OrchestraL'apprenti sorcier
by L'Orchestre National de FranceToccata & Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565: Toccata
by E. Power BiggsHänsel und Gretel: Prelude "The Witch's Ride"
by Gürzenich Orchestra of Cologne;John PritchardSymphonie fantastique Op. 14, H. 48: IV. Marche au supplice. Allegretto non troppo
by The Cleveland OrchestraThe Planets, Op. 32: I. Mars, the Bringer of War
by Lorin MaazelDie Walküre: Ride of the Valkyries
by Eugene Ormandy;The Philadelphia OrchestraHallowe'en
by Gilbert Kalish2 Episoden aus Lenau's Faust, S. 110: No. 2, Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke "Mephisto Waltz"
by Eugene Ormandy 


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Night on Mt. Triglav - Rimsky-Korsakov
Symphony no. 3 - Gliere (2nd movement)
Baba Yaga, Kikimora - Liadov


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## Littlephrase (Nov 28, 2018)

Bartók’s movements of “Night Music” are perfect if one wants some goosepimples.


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

I suggest you Bach's organ pieces:


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## Clouds Weep Snowflakes (Feb 24, 2019)

Thanks for the comments folks! Anyone else?


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)




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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

If you want music that sets an eerie, creepy mood, try any of the symphonies of Humphrey Searle. If you know the horror movie The Haunting (not the insipid Netflix ripoff), Searle's symphonies are in the same sound world as the score to that movie.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.

Weber's Der Freischutz

Marschner's Der Vampyr


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

I don't ever recall having a need to turn on the lights, to stave off fright, while I listened to a piece of music. (I often enjoy music in my darkened listening room, with only the orange/blue glow of the amplifier tubes to cast shadows.) But I have used the opening movement [Funebre, Energico] of Kaljo Raid's Symphony No.1 in C Minor (1944) as incidental music for a stage production of a dramatization of Poe's short story "Murders in the Rue Morgue." Quite effectively, too, I think. If you don't yet know this dark, mysterious piece of music, give it a listen.






I seem to feel I've advocated for this very music in prior posts.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

_Night on Bald Mountain_ is scary enough, but Tomita takes the cake. I used to play this for my very young nieces and nephews on Hallowe'en, and it scared the **** out of them.


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## Clairvoyance Enough (Jul 25, 2014)

Bach

Sonata for Harpsichord and Violin in B minor




BWV 25 first chorus 




BWV 543, the fugue especially 




Zelenka's Missa Votiva 



Misere 1 




That said, baroque era choral music and similar things tend to sound more somber than scary to me. Stuff like Liszt's Faust symphony or Rachmaninov's Isle of the Dead are also good, but I think these pieces evoke something more like actual terror.

Schnittke

Sonata for Cello and Piano 




Second hymn for cello and double bass 




Ligeti Piano Concerto 2nd movement, which might contain more dread than anything else I've heard (shoutout to his string two quartets and his requiem as well). The scary part starts at 4:00, but the transition from the 1st to 2nd movement is an unforgettable experience, and a big reason it's frightening. You should sit through it even if you don't like it. 




Jonchaies by Xenakis


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## Clouds Weep Snowflakes (Feb 24, 2019)

Thanks everyone! Does anyone have some more?


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

Franz Liszt - Dante Sonata
Scriabin - Black Mass sonata
Sigmund Krähe - "Eternal Night"


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Of course, there's always this:






and this:






and this:


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

also

Alexander Mosolov - The iron foundry





George Crumb - Night of the electric insects





Charles Ives - In the night (from A Set of pieces for Theatre orchestra)

Giacinto Scelsi - Uaxuctum





Karol Szymanowski - Symphony 3 (Song of the night)





Carl Ruggles - Suntreader





Rued Langgaard - Insektarium


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

There is a corpses' bacchanal in Carl orff's _Der Mond_ as the moon stolen by the four men now lights up the underworld.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Fritz Kobus said:


> Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.
> 
> Weber's Der Freischutz
> 
> Marschner's Der Vampyr


Since folks are posting videos, here are a couple:


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

Rite of Spring!!!


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## Bourdon (Jan 4, 2019)

Let us stay with Bach 

As you can see,it brings people together and they get what they want.With a serious organ player the church might be empty.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Not terribly scary--to me anyway--but Respighi found the Butantan snake research institute in Brazil and its denizens pretty creepy. He didn't like snakes at all. Here is _Butantan_ from Brazilian Impressions, with obligatory _Dies Irae......._


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

William Bolcom "Black Host"

St. Saens "Danse Macabre"

Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique "witches coven" movement

Bartok "Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta" slow movement

Or just buy the score from the film "The Shining"; there is an unauthorized 2-CD version you can probably find with the Bartok and lots of other stuff:

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/shining-special-edition-cd-soundtrack-114042693

Wendy Carlos wrote "Rocky Mountains" for "The Shining" if you can't find the one above


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

I think one of the scariest classics is Holst's "The Planets," especially "Mars, the bringer of war." In fact all of it is scary (Saturn, bringer of "old age," too), because of the immensity of space. It reminds me of Pink Floyd's "Astronomy Domine," one of the lines being "Neptune, Titan, stars can frighten."


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