Recommendations sought for "spooky" classical music

alfaniner said:
Might as well add The Day The Earth Stood Still in there, as well!
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Keeping along the lines of famous 50s scifi/horror, the Forbidden Planet score is so remarkably different from most other Hollywood scores, it sounds like music not just from another time, but from another universe. It's definitely "spooky" but I don't quite consider it "Halloween spooky", if you know what I mean. Worth a listen or ten, though it's definitely an acquired taste.
 
Nate Whilk said:
Part of this one is very familiar to all, but few know its name! Schubert, "Der Erlkönig" (orchestrated by Berlioz) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3ALWvtvt_U
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I never knew there was a Berlioz-orchestrated version of that. But when I went to your youtube link to listen to it, I also came across a version by Jessye Norman, with just the original piano accompaniment, which I think is much better (I don't know if it qualifies as "spooky" musically, unless you understand the German lyrics. Which are very spooky indeed.) Although IMO it would have been even better if they'd used the type of piano owned by Schubert (a Conrad Graf instrument), instead of the standard present-day instrument. Still, it's a brilliant rendition.

http://youtu.be/8noeFpdfWcQ
 
Nate Whilk said:
Bach Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-582/detail/
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That happens to be my favourite Bach organ piece, and has been for a very long time. Sadly, it is often played very badly, and on hopelessly inappropriate organs. I can't get the links to the allofbach.com site you provided to play properly (lack of bandwidth, I presume), but both the organists and the instruments in the links seem very sound, IMO. Whether the resulting music fits into someone's personal definition of "spooky", I can't tell of course.
 
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Jupiter Suite from Holst's The Planets, "Nightmare" from Ronan Hardiman's Lord of the Dance, pretty much all of Jocelyn Pook's Untold Things, and (my personal favorite, VERY eerie indeed) Johann Johannson's "The Rocket Builder."

"Tubular Bells" is also a classic (was used in The Exorcist, I believe) - I recommend the version by California Guitar Trio as it's nice and minimalist, very good for creating a spooky atmosphere, but any version would probably do. And Ludovico Einaudi has a lot of eerie, atmospheric minor key piano pieces too.

Hope you like something out of that! I prefer a spooky ambiance created by classical too.
 
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FromBelgiumWithLove said:
I never knew there was a Berlioz-orchestrated version of that. But when I went to your youtube link to listen to it, I also came across a version by Jessye Norman, with just the original piano accompaniment, which I think is much better (I don't know if it qualifies as "spooky" musically, unless you understand the German lyrics. Which are very spooky indeed.)

[snip]


http://youtu.be/8noeFpdfWcQ
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Never mind about the spookiness, just play it. The world can never hear enough Schubert!
 
It may not be quite what you had in mind but how about music from "The Nightmare Before Christmas"

I could suggest some other instrumental stuff that's not classical though, more instrumental rock type stuff ("Frankenstein" by E Winter being an obvious one) :)
 
Or, if you want to go for something a bit more ambient that is actually creepy, try Buckethead's album "Pumpkin" or its sequel "Pikes". I'm pretty sure they're made specifically for playing on Halloween.
It's totally different from normal (also classical) music, so it might not be what you're looking for, but all the creepier because of it.

 
Milbrandt said:
Or, if you want to go for something a bit more ambient that is actually creepy...
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There's a person or group named "Death Ambient" which seems to specialize in this. (But it's still ambient, not "classical" or anything related to it.)
 
Well, no one has mentioned Bernard Herrrmann, so I'll throw that one there. As you may know, he's famous for his Peycho score. Aside from that, I strongly recommend the music he did for Vertigo.
 
These might border on the edge of classical, but I suggest you look them up, especially the first one. Spookiness depends, of course, not just on the music, but the setting and also on how you present the music (overwhelming? subdued?). Sorry. Too little time to do a proper search to give you links, but very little searching should lead you to good stuff by all of these.

1. Nox Arcana. Very creepy music, almost classical, written mostly to be creepy. It succeeds. Buy two or three of their CDs. Google their "Night of the Wolf" video.

2. midnightsyndicate.com Listen to their video "Dark Legacy." Buy stuff.

3. Sacred Chants of Shiva (Craig Pruess). It's a full album. Not specifically creepy, and not creepy at all if overdone, but played in the background of the right setting, almost to the point of not hearing it, and the vocals will shiver your spine.

4. Mannheim Steamroller's Halloween CDs (I think there are two). This is more playfully creepy than actually creepy, but worth a listen.
 
azzthom said:
Ligeti's Requiem and Liszt's Totentanz spring to mind. I'll keep thinking though, because I like this type of thread.
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Also from Ligeti (and on the 2001: A Space Odyssey sound track)

Atmospheres


And Lux Aeterna


for non-Theremin electronic action there is (as someone mentioned before) the Forbidden Planet.

 
Film and game soundtracks are good sources. Some of the things in my Halloween folder include Red Dragon and Silent Hill music. You can also find odd little goodies floating around the net like this
 
I was going to throw in Bernard Hermann as well. Psycho is a given, but a couple pieces that I like are Death Hunt from On Dangerous Ground and Talking Drums from White Witch Doctor.
 
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