# Best Halloween music



## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

For the kiddies tomorrow night. My nomination:


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## Tchaikov6 (Mar 30, 2016)




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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

Walter/Wendy Carlos. Clockwork Orange, particularly the Purcell funeral music


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

This is my Halloween favorite:


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## Vronsky (Jan 5, 2015)




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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

Don't forget this one!


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

Trick or treat! Run for your life.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Haunted ballroom:


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)




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## Botschaft (Aug 4, 2017)




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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Here's what I have used for trick-or-treat incidental music for some years now, opening the windows of the cabin and letting the music blast out into the air. I don't know if it ever frightened off any of the little costumed sweets-beggers, but I'm pretty sure none of them ever heard anything quite like it before:
































I hope that's "classical" enough for all of you hard noses out there! And if I hear any "boos" it better be from just the ghosts!


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Here's another goodie often overlooked:


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## Biwa (Aug 3, 2015)

György Ligeti - Volumina


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## Buxtehude (Jun 14, 2018)

I always thought the Agnus Dei part of Poulenc's Gloria was creepy


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

*Alexander Glazunov 
The Forest
*Moscow State Symphony Orchestra 
Veronika Dudarova





*Sir Arnold Bax
November Woods
*The BBC Philharmonic
Vernon Handley 





*Vladimir Rebikov
The Devils are Amused*
Pianist: Christine


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

Hard to top this:


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## Torkelburger (Jan 14, 2014)

Good Halloween music from Schubert, Grieg, and Berlioz:


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

My favorite composer of horror music is Christopher Young
Sinister Soundtrack 
Hellraiser - Soundtrack
The Power Soundtrack
The Fly - Soundtrack


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Jacck said:


> My favorite composer of horror music is Christopher Young
> Sinister Soundtrack
> Hellraiser - Soundtrack
> The Power Soundtrack
> The Fly - Soundtrack


I agree! I was just driving around yesterday with Hellraiser and Hellraiser II soundtracks on. Very spooky, eerily beautiful. Gorgeously orchestrated, too!


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

I hate Halloween as much as Easter, Christmas and any other festival. Bah humbug!


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

Merl said:


> I hate Halloween as much as Easter, Christmas and any other festival. Bah humbug!


We do not celebrate any Halloween in Czech Republic. Helloween is a day of the dead souls and so people visit graves to light candles there. No spooky and scary stuff and costumes (fortunatelly). But in a month or so, we have a day of the devils where people dress as devils and visit children that misbehaved. Most of them are not as scary as those Austrian ones here


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

See 4th movement:

At Night. Stillness of the night in the forest. Entry and departure of the wild hunt, with Lady Holle and Wotan. Daybreak: 29:20


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

FWIW, the setting of Mussorgsky's _St. John's Eve on Bald Mountain_ is thought to be in Kiev, Ukraine. "Lysa Hora or Bald Mountain is a concept of East Slavic, and particularly Ukrainian, folk mythology related to witchcraft. According to legends, ravens, black eagles, witches and other paranormal creatures periodically gather on the 'bald mountains' for their 'Sabbath'." (Wiki)

St. John's Eve is 23-24 June by our calendar, just after the summer solstice.


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## scottTrumpet (Oct 31, 2018)

I haven't seen any mention of Vangelis' album Heaven and Hell, so I'll mention it here. Obviously Vangelis' works aren't performed by an orchestra, but I really would say that he "orchestrated" using his synthesizers. When I listen to many of his pieces, I can picture an orchestra performing them. When I imagine what Spiral would sound like with a full brass section, including bass trombones and with several timpanists pounding out the rapid arpeggios which underlay what this piece transitions into, it gives me chills. I know many might consider this heresy, but I'm in process of purchasing midi instruments and sample libraries so that I can try out my ideas.

As for good music for Halloween, I'll mention some pieces off his Heaven and Hell album: 




The fifth piece, which begins at 22:00 is rather weird and might fit Halloween well. His 7th piece on the album is his Hell rendition, beginning at 28:47. That piece transitions into a really beautiful resolution, with a female vocal performance ending at 37:00. There are no lyrics, the singing is simply "ah"s. It does sound rather dated because of the recording equipment available back then and the sound quality costs of multi-track recording, and he's using old analog synths. Still, he's good at creating a very terror-stricken and spooky atmosphere.

-Scott


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

Classical in a scary context, even Bach and Beethoven. Works for me. :devil:


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

No Toccata in D minor? Sort of classic "haunted house music":


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

Ravel's bolero in a Halloween style
Alfred Schnittke - The Master and Margarita: Bolero (Ravel)




this is part of a soundtrack for the movie Master and Margaritha. I haven't seen the movie, but I absolutely love the book. I am sure the evil bolero is related to the devils ball in the book.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

And some more:






This has always had a Halloweenish feel for me:






And how about this, which was used to such blood curdling effect in _The Shining_:


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