# Finding the right piece



## mintymike (Oct 2, 2014)

Hello everyone,

I'm researching music for the opening credits of a short film. I'm looking for something similar in tone to the opening credits of Sleuth (1972 version), you can listen to it here: YouTube
Basically I'd like to have something mysterious, maybe even a bit dark. I was thinking of a passage from Smetana's My country, but maybe someone could recommend something better?

Thanks.


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## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

You're being somewhat schizophrenic here. "Mysterious and a bit dark" pretty much contradicts the Sleuth opening (which is actually pretty bad anyway). Try the overture to Janacek's opera Vec Makropoulus ("The Makropoulus Case/Affair").


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## Animato (Dec 5, 2013)

I suppose you will find a lot of mysterious/dark music in Beethoven's orchestral music:
Egmont Ouverture
slow movement of his 3rd and 7th symphony
or try his extraordinary slow movement of his 4th piano concerto.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Why not Crumb's Black Angels? 

Ok, or... 

You could rip off ol' Kubrick and use some Ligeti. Maybe the metronomes piece would be suitably mysterious. 

Adams' Harmonielehre might make a nice soundtrack for the credits. 

Ok, but really mysterious this time... and dark - the opening of Schubert's D960 piano sonata. No kidding this time, that's actually what you're looking for.


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## mintymike (Oct 2, 2014)

Thank you for the Janacek hint, seems interesting and worth exploring.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

I like the idea of the Egmont Overture. Presumably you'd have to pull out a snippet of it rather than the whole thing. Some of it is quite stormy, some more sedate.

Or try the beginning of Bartok's Wooden Prince. Slower bit that skews more mysterious and moody. 

You don't want Smetana.


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## mintymike (Oct 2, 2014)

Wow, GreenMamba, that Bartok... Just wow! I've been listening to it over and over again for the past 40 minutes. This is it. Especially a portion in the middle.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

symphonie fantastique

march to the scaffold?


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## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

How to recommend when we have no clue as to what the short film is about? Or, even whether the opening credits are simply words or words with images and other visuals in the background?


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

GreenMamba said:


> I like the idea of the Egmont Overture. Presumably you'd have to pull out a snippet of it rather than the whole thing. Some of it is quite stormy, some more sedate.
> 
> Or try the beginning of Bartok's Wooden Prince. Slower bit that skews more mysterious and moody.
> 
> You don't want Smetana.


I love the opening of _The Wooden Prince,_ Wagner's opening of the ring cycle revisited, and "gone easterly."


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Dark and mysterious? Kaljo Raid's First Symphony, opening movement.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Unless you get a specific excepted permission (technically, at least) from the copyright holder for use of music in the soundtrack of your student film, you should be looking at only music which is in the public domain.

Even music in the public domain will have some copyright liability, as the recording itself is under copyright, even if the music recorded is not.

Or get a student or young composer to write some original music for your under credits theme for you 

Just sayin'


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## mintymike (Oct 2, 2014)

Thanks. I'm aware of the copyright restrictions. There's a decent collection of PD music on musopen.org. Many times it's the performance that's copyrighted, but the composition itself isn't (the 75 years rule). So I was also thinking that I could get some music academy students to make a recording on a low budget and that would do the trick.


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## mintymike (Oct 2, 2014)

Dear all. My plan of hiring students to play Bartok won't work. Bartok won't be in the Public Domain till next year. Egmont overture is not quite it. Anything in the tone of Wooden Prince but from a composer who died at least 70 years ago?


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