# Holiday music?



## Scrythe (Oct 20, 2010)

Can anybody list some music appropriate for the upcoming holidays?

Any spine-chilling music about witches and ghosts for Halloween?

Any cheerful music that conjures images of snow and ice skating for Winter/Christmas season?

Thanks,
Scrythe


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## Argus (Oct 16, 2009)

Early Penderecki and Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker. You should be able to determine which one is appropriate for which holiday.:tiphat:


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## Delicious Manager (Jul 16, 2008)

There is a piece by Charles Ives called _Hallowe'en_. It is one of his _Three Outdoor Pieces_. It's a riotous piece. Ives also wrote pieces commemorating other American holidays (_Washington's Birthday_, _Decoration Day_, _Fourth of July_ and _Thanksgiving Day_).

Other music depicting or suggesting ghostly things might be:
Berlioz - Dream of a Witches' Sabbath (5th movement from the _Symphonie fantastique_)
Musorgsky - Night on the Bare Mountain
Saint-Saëns - Danse macabre

Other holidays or seasons which have inspired classical music includes:

Josef Bohuslav Foerster - Symphony No 4 in C minor (_Easter Eve_)
Alexander Glazunov - The Seasons

And, of course, hundreds of Christmas pieces.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Scrythe said:


> Can anybody list some music appropriate for the upcoming holidays?
> 
> Any spine-chilling music about witches and ghosts for Halloween?


maybe is not spine-chilling but it's a very funny piece: Tam'o Shanter by Malcolm Arnold







Scrythe said:


> Any cheerful music that conjures images of snow and ice skating for Winter/Christmas season?


Sleigh ride by Leroy Anderson, obviously





but there's also another piece called sleigh ride composed by Delius


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Some more:

Henry Cowell, "The Banshee", very witchy piece;
Smetana: "Macbeth and the Witches", a surprising work;
Tchaikovsky:"The Seasons", 12 piano pieces, including a troika-trip;
Debussyreludes for piano, "Des Pas sur la Neige" / Steps in the Snow;
Waldteufel:"Ice Skater´s Waltz / Les Patineurs" for orchestra ...

Also worth mentioning are Langgaard´s beautiful 4th Symphony , "Leaf-Fall",
Tchaikovsky´s "Winter Dreams" Symphony, 
and Rangström:"Häxorna" f.Soprano & Orchestra, poem by Karlfeldt.


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

Hallowe'en - Moussorgsky's Night On Bald Mountain or Saint-Saens' Dance Macabre 

Chrimbo - Prokofiev's Troika (from Lieutenant Kije Suite) or Fry's Santa Claus Symphony


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Scrythe said:


> Can anybody list some music appropriate for the upcoming holidays?
> 
> Any spine-chilling music about witches and ghosts for Halloween?
> 
> ...


What an odd question. Me think you are perhaps better off with one of these CDs:-

_Get Festive! Holiday Favorites To Light Up Your Party_ (CD, Limited Edition specially compiled). Artists include Stevie Wonder, Louis Armstrong, Elton John, Bryan Adams and many more! Plus the CD cover has images of snow and ice skating, too.


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## Falstaft (Mar 27, 2010)

Flipping Argus's recommendations around, you could try Penderecki's 2nd Symphony "Christmas" and Tchaikovsky's macabre tone poem _Francesca da Rimini_!


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Delicious Manager said:


> Alexander Glazunov - The Seasons


And it's politically correct too!  Just lovely, really.


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## Lui (Oct 8, 2010)

Woww, a lot of really good music here! :O


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## Scrythe (Oct 20, 2010)

Yeah, great stuff. Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'd appreciate more.....if there _are_ more.

And I retract my request for 'spine-chillling' halloween music. Anything with witches or ghosts or the like would be great.

Thanks,
Scrythe


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## Scrythe (Oct 20, 2010)

Seems to be easier to find music more suitable for halloween than christmas......

If I may contribute to my own post, here's some "halloween" music:

Berlioz: Lélio, Ou Le Retour À La Vies - 1st mvt: Choer Des Ombres ( I love this piece)

And any organ work by Messiaen (one of my favorites being Apparition de l'Eglise éternelle )

Scrythe


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