# Dark classical composers?



## EdwardTheFat

Hello everyone, this is my first post.
I love classical and rock music, I've always liked rock music that is dark/melancholic/eerie, like bands such as Joy Division, The Chameleons, Echo and The Bunnymen, King Crimson, Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Smiths, etc...etc.

Can you recommend me some composers whose works are dark/melancholic/eerie and the name of the works? 
Thanks everyone.
All the best.


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## Iforgotmypassword

I just posted this in the string quartet thread, this is the kronos quartet playing a composition by Bryce Dessner, more on the heavy side than dark but i love it. 




heres another of his compositions:







 This is from a group that he's in called clogs, pretty good stuff.

Of course Shostakovich:




Arvo Part's Tabula Rasa isnt necessarily dark, but its just got this really heavy vibe to it along with some dissonance in there and on top of it all, regardless it puts me in another plane of existance.


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## regressivetransphobe

Well, save for some single mood pieces, classical music tends to have a more all-encompassing approach than rock genres like post-punk, so it can be hard to answer questions like this. It's sort of like trying to recommend dark turkey recipes.

That said, maybe these will jive with what you're looking for.




















 (debateable, but I find this very sad)


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## tdc

Off the top of my head Id just suggest checking out various works by : Stravinsky, Penderecki, Bartok, Shostakovich, Mahler, Prokofiev, and Takemitsu.


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## Trout

In addition to tdc, I'd say Ligeti, Wagner, some Beethoven, Barber, Sibelius, Hindemith, Grieg, Berg, Berlioz, Janáček, and Mussorgsky.


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## Art Rock

Not mentioned yet (I think): Britten's War Requiem.


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## starthrower

Ligeti-Atmospheres; Volumina Get the Clear or Cloudy box set. It's great
Penderecki-Threnody
Lutoslawski-Symphony No.2
Charles Ives-Symphony No.4

For rock music you definitely want to try A History Of Madness by Thinking Plague, and 
U Totem's self titled release. Also some Univers Zero, and Henry Cow's Western Culture.


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## jurianbai

Gorecki string quartet no.3 is like a doom/stone metal piece.


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## Air

I'm gonna treat this like a top 5 exercise, it'll be interesting. Just got to ask myself, what are the top 5 darkest, eeriest classical music works out there? Let's see...

1) Penderecki: Symphony No. 3
2) Varese: Arcana
3) Gubaidulina: Viola Concerto
4) Mahler: Symphony No. 9
5) Scriabin: Vers la Flamme

An extremely unconventional one for this topic is Chopin's 2nd ballade, which might just about have the saddest, darkest, and most eerie (if it can be called that) ending in music history - but a darkness much different from what is exhibited in the pieces I listed above. It's a really subtle, terribly tragic a minor ending that sucks all optimism out of a formerly major key romp, trailing off into hopeless sorrow - which in some ways makes it far worse than loud dramatic minor key endings like Chopin's 1st ballade or Tchaikovsky's Doumka. Also, a lot of Baroque organ works have a dark, heavyweight quality to them - I would recommend Pachebel's Magnificat Fugues or Buxtehude. Bach can seem cheery next to these. But for ol' J.S., the BWV 1052 harpsichord concerto has always been a popular choice for metal/rock fans. If I recall the progressive metal band Symphony X made good use of it in one of their songs.

Dang, I'm feeling depressed already... Happy listening!


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## Il_Penseroso

Art Rock said:


> Not mentioned yet (I think): Britten's War Requiem.


Exactly , Very dark and passive ...

-------

There are some Shostakovich you may find so dark :

Symphony No.14 (A cycle of songs by Lorca, Apollinaire, Rilke and Küchelbecker, all about Death ... It's also dedicated to Benjamin Britten)

The Film music for Kozintsev's King Lear (one of the most passive music scores I've ever heard)

Of the post-modern repertory you may choose Symphony No.3 by Gorecki (also called Symphony of Sorrowful Songs)


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## norman bates

Karol Szymanowski - Symphony n.3 (song of the night), and many other works





Giacinto Scelsi - Uaxuctum (and many other works)





Lili Boulanger - Pie Jesu





Peter Warlock - The curlew





Messiaen - Jardin du Sommeil d'amour (from the turangalila symphony)




i don't know why but it reminds me of the atmospheres of Bocklin's paintings

John Dowland - In darkness let me dwell





Barbara Pentland - Midnight among the hills





Liszt - La lugubre gondola





Schubert - Winterreise





Hindemith - Sancta Susanna





Fartein Valen - The churchyard by the sea





Ligeti - Requiem


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## Sid James

Some excellent suggestions above, but one I'd like to add is Renaissance composer *Heinrich Schutz*, most of the little I've heard by him is pretty dark. Here's one of his motets, _Heu mihi Domine_ for bass solo & choir -


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## norman bates

i was forgetting about the beautiful Missa pro defunctis by Orlando di Lasso


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## Aramis

Scott Joplin was pretty dark


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## Iforgotmypassword

Some might disagree with this one, but when I first heard Vivaldi's Winter(or the four seasons for that matter) it was one of the darkest most eerie pieces I had ever heard, It just gave me a very dark feeling that I didn't understand. It now stands as one of my favorite pieces. 




Bach's cello suites can be very dark as well at times, I particularly like the second suite. When I recently saw this preformed I was very moved by the intimacy, dark atmosphere as well as complexity and it made me take a second look at Bach who I had ignorantly ignored due to his popularity.


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## Saturnus

I can't believe no one mentioned Gesualdo yet!:






If you want more modern stuff I'd suggest Dallapiccola: 





Bartók: 
3rd movement from the Music for Strings, percussion & celesta 



Night's music from Out of doors suite.




Penderecki's early works: 
Threnody: 




And last but not least, Grisey's "Partiels": 





Just go wild on the "Related videos" from those, I think you wont be disappointed.


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## Vaneyes

Most Schnittke. Most Mahler is half 'n half.


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## notesetter

Allan Pettersson





I think the general consensus is that his 8th Symphony is one of the most accessible. Very dark, but with some moments of great beauty.

Also, Martinu's Fantaises Symphoniques (Symphony #6)





The recording by Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony is one of the most manic, hair-raising performances on record.


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## haydnfan

Crumb's Black Angels, doesn't get much darker or haunting.


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## superhorn

There's nothing darker or weirder that the third symphony of Sergei Prokofiev . 
The music is based on his weird and terrifying occult opera "The Fiery Angel", which takes place in 16 th century Germany during the Inquisition,and deals with sorcery,demonic possession, and demonology . The music is almost unbearably tense,violent and disturbing.
There are two recordings of the complete opera on DG and Philips,but they may be hard to find,and a DVD from Philips,too,also hard to find. I
The story deals with Renata, an insane young religious mystic who is searching for an "angel of fire" which she had known from childhood as an imaginary? friend. She is loved by
the wandering Knight Ruprecht,who is obsessed with her,but she does not love him. 
Together,they get invloved with the balckest black magic, and eventually,when she goes to a convent to try to escape her demons,which have been terrifying her for so long, she is accused of witchcraft, and is subject ot an exocism which goes horribly out of control. She is sentenced to be burned at the stake as a witch !
This opera will give you the creeps ,and so will the symphony drawn from the music.
There are number of recommened recordings by Neeme Jarvi,Valery Gergiev, 
and Ozawa. Try it if you dare !


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## kv466

I'm sure you're gonna get some excellent suggestion as you have already so this is just one piece you probably won't be recommended. I've always considered it to be nice and dark yet a beautifully composed strange piece of music.


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## Kopachris

Chopin, while never outright "dark" is definitely very melancholy at times. Try some of his nocturnes.


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## Pieck

haydnfan said:


> Crumb's Black Angels, doesn't get much darker or haunting.


It doesnt get much uglier either


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## norman bates

Pieck said:


> It doesnt get much uglier either


i think that the expressionist effect of the violins at the start are incredibly evocative and inventive, the title "the night of the electric insects" is really appropriate.


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## Fugue

haydnfan said:


> Crumb's Black Angels, doesn't get much darker or haunting.


If I were to write a string quartet, the Shostakovich 8 would probably be my main influence.
Don't know what that says about me!?


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## haydnfan

Fugue said:


> If I were to write a string quartet, the Shostakovich 8 would probably be my main influence.
> Don't know what that says about me!?


It says that you're awesome! Perfect candidate for a dark, intense work I love it.


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## Huilunsoittaja

Fugue said:


> If I were to write a string quartet, the Shostakovich 8 would probably be my main influence.
> Don't know what that says about me!?


It means on the outside you look like a pretty normal person, maybe with glasses, but inside, you make monstrous creations in your mind.


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## Pieck

Huilunsoittaja said:


> It means on the outside you look like a pretty normal person, maybe with glasses, but inside, you make monstrous creations in your mind.


No it doesnt, it means he's awesome


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## Tapkaara

Bax's symphonies are rather dark (certainly the First), and the rest of his symphonies are at least "dusky." His tone poems tend to have a more light, fanciful air, and I like them much less than his symphonies as a result. His tone poem November Woods is somewhat dark, but not really a gripping musical experience.

Go for Bax's First.


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## Ralfy

My favorites are "Winterreise" and the Nocturnes.

Also, there used to be a "dark classical" site but I think it's offline. However, there are lots of links to forum threads and web pages that can be found through search engines.


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## Norse

When looking at his production as a whole, I've always felt Rachmaninov is a pretty dark composer, though I'm not sure if that's the superficial, general view of him. Isle of the Dead is one obvious example, there's also quite a few darker pieces among his Preludes and Etude-tableux (opus 23, 32, 33 and 39)


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## Fugue

Sibelius Symphony No.4 is a good candidate for darkness. It's my fav of his symphonies. 
Composed when he was suffering from the big C.
In four brooding movements, just listen to thew way it begins with menacing basses and cellos.
Mind you, even in his darkest hour he was able to produce the most delicious melodies.
I like the Osmo Vanska version, listen to it late at night and you'll cry yourself to sleep.


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## Tapkaara

Fugue said:


> Sibelius Symphony No.4 is a good candidate for darkness. It's my fav of his symphonies.
> Composed when he was suffering from the big C.
> In four brooding movements, just listen to thew way it begins with menacing basses and cellos.
> Mind you, even in his darkest hour he was able to produce the most delicious melodies.
> I like the Osmo Vanska version, listen to it late at night and you'll cry yourself to sleep.


Just to clarify slightly, Sibelius did not have cancer, though he thought he might. He did have a throat tumor, and it was removed at one point, but it was not cancerous. The fear of possibly having cancer did, though, cause him to abstain from drinking and smoking for many years!

The 4th is a good suggestion for a dark piece.


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## Fugue

I bow to your better knowledge!


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## Tapkaara

Fugue said:


> I bow to your better knowledge!


No bowing needed! Just like anyone in here, when we have a litte bit of extra knowledge on something, we feel the need to share it!


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## Stasou

Pretty much anything Shostakovich. Also, try Kullervo, Sibelius' symphonic poem.


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## Tapkaara

Stasou said:


> Pretty much anything Shostakovich. Also, try Kullervo, Sibelius' symphonic poem.


Especially that last movement of Kullervo, "Kullervo's Death." One of the most tragically explosive endings in all of music.


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## robert

Allan pettersson period........well maybe some schnittke....


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## robert

Sent in error


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## Tapkaara

Mussorgsky is often quite dark, I think.


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## iwanttoDrum

cant believe i am still alive after hearing all of it. had some reouble sleeping that night and it ROCKED!!!


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## Vronsky

Tapkaara can you list more dark composers, please? I realy like Shostakovich (especialy Piano Trio No.2 in E minor Op.67), can you suggest something?


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## millionrainbows

Yes, definitely Pettersson. Here is a dark CD:

www.amazon.com/Musik-Aus-Der-Stille/dp/B0000253CT/ref=sr_1_6?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1420481718&sr=1-6&keywords=Musik+aus+der+stille

This video sounds considerably lighter and jazzier than the CD, which features a soprano being strangled.


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## Chronochromie

Shepard Fairey said:


> Tapkaara can you list more dark composers, please? I realy like Shostakovich (especialy Piano Trio No.2 in E minor Op.67), can you suggest something?


Have you heard Schubert's String Quartet No. 13 "Rosamunde" and No. 14 "Death and the Maiden"? Dark indeed.


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## scratchgolf

Shepard Fairey said:


> Tapkaara can you list more dark composers, please? I realy like Shostakovich (especialy Piano Trio No.2 in E minor Op.67), can you suggest something?


Seeing how he/she hasn't logged on since Aug 5, 2013, I wouldn't hold my breath on more recommendations from Tapkaara.


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## cwarchc

You can "try" some Ustvolkaya, she can be very dark, in a complex way


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## Lili Boulanger

i'm so thankful for this recommendations, i only knew Boulanger, and i was looking more dark classical music, this is so beautiful, thank you!!
Cheers from México.


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## R3PL4Y

Vaughan Williams usually isn't, but his 4th and particularly 6th symphony may be what you are looking for. 



Also Shostakovich 14.


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## Heck148

EdwardTheFat said:


> Hello everyone, this is my first post.
> I love classical and rock music, I've always liked rock music that is dark/melancholic/eerie,


Shostakovich - try symphonies 8, 14 - or some of the quartets....
Allan Pettersson
Gorecki

Penderecki can be pretty dark, too.


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## Medtnaculus

Mosolov (sonatas), Roslavets (piano works), late Scriabin, Schmitt (ombres, crepuscules, symphonie concertante), Majerski (piano preludes), Obukov (prayers), Flynn (wound), Scelsi (uaxuctum), Bridge (gargoyles, sonata), Casella (a notte alta), Ratio (moonlight on jupiter), Pingoud (symphonic poems), Decaux (clairs de lune).

Mosolov really is the king. There's an interesting quote which I think describes his music rather well:

“Mosolov is one of the few composers who isn’t afraid of expressing skull-cracking, brain-drilling, eye-gouging, strung up by the neck and bludgeoned to death in an insane asylum, anguished horror.”


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## MarkW

Although composerologists theorize that Dark Composers should cause the world of classicsal music to expand forever with increasing speed, no one quite knows how they work.


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## Bettina

MarkW said:


> Although composerologists theorize that Dark Composers should cause the world of classicsal music to expand forever with increasing speed, no one quite knows how they work.


Good post...I like your (implicit) reference to the universe. And all of this reminds me, one of my favorite dark pieces is "Mars, The Bringer of War" from Holst's suite The Planets.


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## Pugg

Lili Boulanger said:


> i'm so thankful for this recommendations, i only knew Boulanger, and i was looking more dark classical music, this is so beautiful, thank you!!
> Cheers from México.


Greetings to Mexico to, and a very warm welcome to Talk Classical.


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## Bevo

Tchaikovsky's last 3 numbered Symphonies each have their moments. Of course Barber's Adagio for Strings has a reputation of being melancholic. Weber's first Clarinet Concerto is great. I find Mendelssohn's Piano Concertos to be a little overlooked as well. If you're going for eerie though, Mozart's 24th Piano Concerto nails it, in my opinion. Best of luck.


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## hpowders

Allan Pettersson is as dark as it gets.


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## Pugg

cwarchc said:


> You can "try" some Ustvolkaya, she can be very dark, in a complex way
> 
> View attachment 60321


Very dark if I may say so .


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## Orfeo

Some of *Glazunov's* later scores are pretty dark, even morbid.
-Eighth Symphony (esp. the middle movement), Ninth Symphony (unfinished),
-Two Pieces Improvisation for piano (1918),
-Prelude & Fugue for piano or organ (1900).

*Myaskovsky*
-Third, Sixth, Seventh, Tenth, Thirteenth, Sixteenth, Twenty-Fourth Symphonies.
-Piano Sonata no. IV
-String Quartet no. IX

*Popov*
-Symphony no. I

*Bruckner*
-Symphony no. IX

*Ives*
Symphony no. IV

*Schmidt*
Fourth Symphony

*Lehar*
Operetta "Der Zarewitsch"

*Suk*
Asrael Symphony

*Novak*
Die Profundis (Symphonic poem for orchestra & organ)

*Roslavets*
Violin Concerto no. I


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## Judith

What about Bachs Toccata and Fugue! They sound really dark to me!


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## Larkenfield

Here. Schoenberg could be dark when he was portraying the language of the unconscious.  






Actually, this earlier version recorded in mono is far more eerie, dark and stark though the recorded sound is not as good. IMO, the Boulez performance is tame by comparison:






Imagine Trick or Treaters coming to the door on Halloween with this playing in the background frightening them to death!... heartwarming stuff not likely intended for children or adults subject to nightmares.


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## Nocture In Blue

The Devils of Loudun by Krzysztof Penderecki is darker than a moonless night.


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## Captainnumber36

Beethoven's Piano Sonatas are amongst my favorite darker works.


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## SONNET CLV

When I'm not listening to my Swans records (of which _Filth_ remains my favorite)









or Einstürzende Neubauten's _Halber Mensch_,









or Throbbing Gristle's _Mission Of Dead Souls_,









each of which readily transports me (safely) into the melancholic, eerie world of doom, gloom, and darkness, I take pleasure in the more classical nightmare worlds of the following works:

Bela Bartok's _Music For Strings, Percussion And Celesta_

Galina Ustvolskaya's Symphony No.5 "Amen"

Dmitri Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 15 In E-Flat Minor, Opus 144

Kaljo Raid's Symphony No. 1 in C minor

Allan Pettersson's Symphony No. 6

Karol Rathaus's Sinfonie Nr. 1, Op. 5

Krzysztof Penderecki's Symphony No. 2 "Christmas Symphony"

György Kurtág's _Stele_ for Large Orchestra, Op. 33

...

There are many such works, any of these guaranteed to perk you up in the same way Joy Division and the Bunnymen do, but with that "classical" touch.

Try a couple of these from my list and see what you think. And give a listen to those albums mentioned at the beginning of this post, if you are not yet familiar with them.

In the meantime, I'm getting back to listening to my Lydia Lunch collection, almost all of which is on black vinyl discs. Here are a couple of good ones to "revel in despair" over:









and


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## allaroundmusicenthusiast

SONNET CLV said:


> When I'm not listening to my Swans records (of which _Filth_ remains my favorite)
> 
> View attachment 163829


A Swans fan, my man! For me, Filth is top 3, after To Be Kind and The Seer


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## Animal the Drummer

Here's what some will consider a nomination from left field: for me Schubert in his lowest moods is perhaps the darkest of the great composers. "Winterreise" and the late string quartets have been picked out in earlier posts (I'd add "Der Zwerg" which in my book out-darkens any of these) but there seems to me to be a strong current of melancholy underlying a fair number of his brighter-sounding pieces too. I remember working through his piano sonata in D years ago and being left with the distinct impression that much of that music, even (perhaps especially) the finale, was Schubert putting a brave face on fundamentally far sadder emotions.


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## ansfelden

Schubert at moments is the darkest romanticism, like Rilke.


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## Reichstag aus LICHT

Animal the Drummer said:


> Schubert in his lowest moods is perhaps the darkest of the great composers. "Winterreise" and the late string quartets have been picked out in earlier posts (I'd add "Der Zwerg" which in my book out-darkens any of these)


I second "Der Zwerg", and add "Der Doppelgänger" and "Erlkönig" to that list.


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## Pat Fairlea

Dark?
Sibelius' 4th Symphony.


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## SONNET CLV

allaroundmusicenthusiast said:


> A Swans fan, my man! For me, Filth is top 3, after To Be Kind and The Seer


I picked up _Filth_ back in the days when I was collecting punk/goth/industrial/alt rock music that featured album covers with teeth. The Neubauten album, too. I still have quite a few of these "teeth" discs, and I've come to add other music by certain of the bands on the strength of what I heard from the originally purchased "teeth" albums. I have _Greed_ and _The Seer_ from Swans (_The Seer_ is a good "teeth" album, too) and several discs by Neubauten. Both bands have remained favorites in their genres.

Another good "teeth" album of the era is the following:


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## Vronsky

Ligeti's Requiem
Stockhausen's Samstag aus Licht
Xenakis' Keqrops
Feldman's Triadic Memories
Nono's Como una ola fuerza y luz
Lutosławski's Musique funèbre


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## MasterRaro

Has Crumb's Black Angels been mentioned yet? It's about the war in Vietnam, there's even sections where the strings need to create the sound of bombs dropping from overhead. Chilling piece


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## mossyembankment

The fact nobody else has suggested him makes me think I may be an outlier, but I find a lot of Debussy's music to have an eerie melancholy. E.g., the Preludes. Ravel also. These are maybe less aggressively dark than some of the other suggestions, but I actually think they may have some of what you're looking for based on the bands you listed in your original post.


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