Classical Music Treat for Halloween

Spooky Listening for Ghoulish Sound

Music affects moods and environment. Classical music has been greatly used in movie soundtracks for dramatic effects.

Those feeling the spirit of the Halloween, consider adding this list of thrillingly devilish classical music, scary and horrifying halloween listening thrills. Some of them may have been used in film scores, like Bach, Johann Sebastian's Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565. This is JS Bach's most famous organ piece. 

• Bach, Johann Sebastian: Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565.This is JS Bach's most famous organ piece, considered to be the most scary organ music. Often associated with dramatic silent films, there are lots of unsettling tension in the music, from the opening motif through the pulsing rhythm of the entire piece.

• Beethoven, Ludwig van: Ghost Piano Trio. A nickname of Beethoven's Piano Trio in D Op.70 No.1, because of the slow movement's ghostly atmosphere.

• Chopin, Frideric: Marche funèbré. Funeral marches are slow ceremonial marches. Chopin's piece is Piano Sonata in B flat op.35. He also wrote another one in C minor.

• Grieg, Edvard: In the Hall Of The Mountain King. It is the fourth part of a musical set written by Grieg from Peer Gynt, an orchestral suite. In the story, Peer Gynt is being chased by the gnomes after he refuses to marry the daughter of the mountain king. This music reflects the tumultuous chase, built on a single fragment that is repeated over, then grows wilder and wilder until Peer Gynt can't take it any longer.

Note: The list is longer when I first wrote it for Suite101.com. I wasn't able to copy my numerous published articles when the company closed. I'll update when info available. Tel. Oct 25, 2011.


(c) October 25, 2011.  Tel. Inspired Pen Web.