Dark and eerie piano pieces

**MagicMarker** · Jul-23-2011, 05:15

Hi, could you please suggest some DARK and EERIE piano pieces for me?
I've been researching on the net and have come across these composers:
- Rachmaninoff
- Beethoven
- Chopin
- Tchaikovsky
- Liszt
- Ravel
- Scriabin
They are NOT what I'm looking for. Please do not suggest any works by these people.

I'm looking for pieces that focus on using the lower register of the piano (using lots of low notes - including the really really low notes on the piano). It's difficult to find.

I hope you are able to help me.

Thank you.

**Curiosity** · Jul-23-2011, 05:33

These maybe?

**Sid James** · Jul-23-2011, 05:51

I'm thinking Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jésus (20 Contemplations of the Infant Jesus), (1944). This is quite a dark work written towards the end of WW2, as Messiaen was experiencing the deprivations & bombings & all that in Paris leading up the the liberation. Don't listen to it if you're depressed

!!! I have it on disc played by Michel Beroff. A long work comprising many pieces, it lasts for about 90 minutes at least. I can't recommend any particular piece from the set as I'm not hugely familiar with it as yet, but here's some of it played by Pierre-Laurent Aimard (one of the main bell-like themes comes up slightly after the 4 minute mark) -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1PHEGMfKEE

**MagicMarker** · Jul-23-2011, 06:11

Thanks for the suggestions.

I really like this piece.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Su8L...eature=related

If you could suggest similar works, that would be much appreciated.

**Curiosity** · Jul-23-2011, 06:16

I wouldn't call that Nyman piece dark - I'd call it lightweight personally, certainly compared to the depths of darkness the composers listed in the OP have plunged into!

**Comistra** · Jul-23-2011, 07:32

Originally Posted by MagicMarker

Thanks for the suggestions.

I really like this piece.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Su8L...eature=related

If you could suggest similar works, that would be much appreciated.

You might like some of the music from Joseph Rojo's "Dream Seeker" album. There are a few tracks you can listen to in full here, and previews (as well as MP3s for purchase) here. This was the first thing that I thought of upon hearing that Nyman piece.

I'd also recommend Dvořák's Humoresques, but that might just be a personal bias showing through.

**clavichorder** · Jul-23-2011, 08:34

Brahms makes wonderful use of the base in the piano, and I recommend this piece because I'm listening to it right now http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7dtv...eature=related

Medtner can have a certain mysticism to him and he like Brahms is intensely thick and makes use of those base notes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLYw8...eature=related

**clavichorder** · Jul-23-2011, 08:36

Or perhaps this Medtner piece, its also in A minor like the work you liked above and is really haunting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tezwC...el_video_title

**HarpsichordConcerto** · Jul-23-2011, 09:22

Mists (1981) by Iannis Xenakis would work well for a slasher-horror movie? Something chilling about the sounds produced. I'll give it some credit for that.

**regressivetransphobe** · Jul-23-2011, 11:45

It seems like all I do is pimp Satie lately, but
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iLvB-xBBE4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfixNLjn3Tw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBL4I6Q6d14

**notesetter** · Jul-23-2011, 16:41

Jean Sibelius - 3 Lyric Pieces 'Kyllikki'

Kyllikki was a figure in Finnish mythology, and as with many such legends, is surrounded by a sense of evil. The only problem is that the piece may be too subtle for your desires, but dark and contemplative it definitely is. It's worth a listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kkiaRId8hQ
3 parts - one for each movement