# "Haunting", Halloween music



## Vor Gott (Jan 26, 2011)

A good friend of mine is a director of the organization running a local historical mansion, the Victorian Mansion in Portland, Maine, and she needs "haunting" (i.e., dark) music to play at an upcoming Halloween festival being held there. The pieces which she has so far expressed approval of, however odd some of them might seem for this atmosphere, include: Verdi's _Requiem_ (Dies Irae), Montaques and Capulets (The Dance of Knights) from Prokofiev's _Romeo and Juliet_, and (obviously!) "Bach's" _Toccata and Fugue in D minor_. I am surprisingly stumped as to many more small pieces and excerpts which convey the same mood. If she just wanted something "scary", an obvious choice would be the second movement from Mahler's 9th-I cannot imagine how sick and deranged a man must be in order to write such a thing!

If anyone could aid me with this, I would be very grateful!


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## pjang23 (Oct 8, 2009)

Although cliché, I think this is the ideal haunted house piece. 

Rachmaninoff - Prelude in C sharp minor


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem, the start of it and its build up. The whole piece is quite spooky.


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## HerlockSholmes (Sep 4, 2011)

I'm a self-proclaimed expert when it comes to haunting music.

Artyomov's Requiem, which is downright frightening:





Cherubini's Requiem, Agnus Dei:





Bach's Fantasia in G minor:





Shosty's famous 8th:





And of course, Schoenberg:





And finally, whatever the hell this is:


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

I say  to a lot of those. 

Here's a great one:






Kikimora is a Russian fairytale character who is a house spirit, who is a curse to the home which she inhabits, whistling in the night, breaking things, spinning flax.


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## Trout (Apr 11, 2011)

I would have to say, Crumb's _Black Angels_ (though posted many times in this forum) is probably the scariest thing I have heard.





Runners-up include Penderecki's _Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima
_





Ligeti's spooky _Lux Aeterna_





Bartok's _The Miraculous Mandarin_





and Carter's _String Quartet No. 3_ which I might label more as bizarre than actually terrifying





:tiphat:


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

The slow movements (2nd & 3rd) of *Bartok's* _Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta_. This piece was used in Stanley Kubrick's horror flick _The Shining_ which shows that it would be apt for the situation which you describe (but on the other hand might not work, esp. if people hearing it there might know it from the film, it might go down as a bit too cliche?). Anyway, this popped into my mind instantly...


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Also this Penderecki used in the Shining towards the end for the "haunted hotel" scenes. Would be perfect for a haunted house. If people recognize it from the movie, even better.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Fomr the romantic period:
Raff's 5th symphony ("Lenore")
Franck's Le chasseur maudit


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

also this thread:
http://www.talkclassical.com/10842-holiday-music.html


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## jalex (Aug 21, 2011)

And definitely Pierrot Lunaire.


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## itywltmt (May 29, 2011)

Old thread to look at: http://www.talkclassical.com/13994-terrifying-music.html

This may be just me, but "The Fall of the House of Usher" by the _Alan Parons Project _is a good one - I also had a few contributions to the above-mentioned thread...

The "Usher" piece supposedly makes use of some of the sketches left behind by Debussy from an unfinished opera on the subject. I can't point to the link on YouTube from my work machine, but it's easy to find.


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## GoneBaroque (Jun 16, 2011)




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## itywltmt (May 29, 2011)

Plerase read my blog this week, full of scary favourites:
http://www.talkclassical.com/blogs/itywltmt/413-trick-treat.html


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## Igneous01 (Jan 27, 2011)

im surprised no ones mentioned night on bald mountain from mussorgsky? it is definitely haunting, but I admit, too much overplay of it can make it not so scary anymore


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

HerlockSholmes said:


> And finally, whatever the hell this is:


This made me burst with laughter, I'm not sure if that's the proper effect of haunting music.


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## Fsharpmajor (Dec 14, 2008)

Igneous01 said:


> im surprised no ones mentioned night on bald mountain from mussorgsky? it is definitely haunting, but I admit, too much overplay of it can make it not so scary anymore


The original orchestration by Mussorgsky is more visceral and frightening than Rimsky-Korsakov's, as well as sounding less familiar because it is much less often heard.


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## MossDef (Oct 14, 2011)

How about the "Danse Macabre" of Saint-Saëns? That one is short and creepy.


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

I have to go with the master. Not only did it save the film and make it what it is but it became the theme to the holiday itself. Viva, old-school ways of film-making with low budget where the director goes ahead and makes the music himself...only to come up with a timeless masterpiece. Thank you, John Carpenter.


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## LordBlackudder (Nov 13, 2010)




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## dirtchsmyth (Nov 24, 2013)

I know it may not conform to most people's idea of classical music, but I find Richard D. James "Stone in Focus" to be atmospheric and very creepy



It is definitely minimalist and thrilling to listen to in the dark.


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## Flamme (Dec 30, 2012)

In an empty house


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