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Looking for powerful and 'spooky' Choir/Orchestra works

10K views 31 replies 29 participants last post by  Ralfy 
#1 ·
Hi Guys,

I'm looking for some classical works that are best described as above, Powerful and maybe even spooky for choir and orchestra.

If you don't know what I mean, which I find very likely, I'm talking about stuff like Dies Irae from Mozart's Requiem and O Fortuna from Karl Orff's Carmina Burana

If you have any pieces in mind, please share.

Thanks :)
 
#3 ·
The most powerful Dies Irae out there is definitely Verdi's, and I second Night on a Bald/Bare Mountain.
 
#6 ·
Hmmm,

Let say:

Handel:

-Worthy is the lamb/men from Messiah
-He gave them hailstones for rain from Israel in Egypt
-Praise the Lord from Solomon
 
#11 ·
Good if you think so, but for me, it is only a classical example of Handel theatrality. A dark and slow movement followed by a fast and and joyous one. Typicallty handelian. Saw this pattern too in Israel in Egypt.

It's good but not sublime imho.
 
#9 ·
#12 ·
May I recomend a few pieces from Mozart's "Don Giovanni"?

The Overture
The Finale
Scene XV( Act two), the scene with the "Il Commendatore statue"

And for something very spooky and frightening( for musicians and classical music loves, hehe)....Stravinky's "Rite of Spring"!...( Anything from Phillip Glass might be as scary too!)

Musically,
4/4 player
 
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#13 ·
Stravinsky: Rite of Spring; Symphony of Psalms (try to listen to this with an all boys choir)

The Overture to Don Giovanni is spooky? I verily disagree with that.

Ottorino Respighi: Pines of Rome (particularly second movement)
The Original Soundtrack to the movie The Omen is terribly frightening for me, as well as the Original Soundtrack to the movie Signs.
Wagner: Siegfried's Funeral March from Gotterdammerang; Prelude to Act III from Lohengrin (this one is much more for power than spookage); Finale to Gotterdammerang
Berlioz: Hungarian March from La Damnation De Faust (Once again, if you wish for mainly power); Royal Hunt and Storm from Les Troyens
Holst: "Neptune: The Mystic" from The Planets
 
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#16 ·
I'm glad the Ring cycle worked its way into the discussion. Alberich is also spooky in "Bin ich nun frei?" in the 4th scene of Das Rheingold.

Not exactly flash-fright, but more like "inexorable menace" can be found in Alberich's son in the Hagen's Watch scene from Act I, Scene 2 of Gotterdammerung.
 
#15 ·
Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King" and "Chase of the Trolls" (??) from Peer Gynt. The latter is very difficult to find, as many albums, for some reason (who knows why) love to omit it (only one is the performance by Blomstedt and the San Francisco Sym- which Im trying to get my hands on). The other you can find in a snap.

Others, Danse Macabre by Saint-Saens, and Cloudburst from "Grand Canyon Suite" by Groffe.
 
#22 ·
Felix Mendelssohn's cantata Die erste Walpurgisnacht op. 60. Not exactly from the composer's top-draw, but parts of it should be sufficiently phantasmagorical to satisfy, especially the druids and pagans singing 'Come With Prongs and Pitchforks' in an effort to scare the Christians. It's not a serious horror story - more of a satire about a pagan May-Day ritual that was banned by decree and that some of the heathen folk have decided to defy the authorities and carry on with it.

If they haven't already been mentioned then try the Witches Cave scene that starts off Act III of Verdi's Macbeth and also the Wolf's Glen scene from Act II of von Weber's Der Freischutz.
 
#24 ·
Wagner's Tristan does have a part for chorus, not very big, though,in the first act .
Prokofiev's opera "The Fiery Angel" is beyond spooky - it's so creepy it could give you nightmares ! It's the story of a young woman in 16th century Germany named Renata who is haunted by demons and is looking for a mysterious angel of fire , and gets involved with
a wandering knight named Ruprecht who loves her but she does not , and finally gets involved in a horrible exorcism in a nunnery and is sentenced to be burned at the stake for sorcery !
Prokofiev's 3rd symphony makes use of music from the opera and is also extremely creepy . You have to know the story of the opera for it to have its full effect, though .
The DG and Philips recordings of the opera are hard to find now, as well as the DVD, but
seek them out if you dare ! But the opera is not for the faint of heart !
There are quite of few recordings of the symphony, though . Those of Gergiev,
and Neeme Jarvi are highly recommendable .

Dvorak's spooky oratorio "The Spectre's Bride" is about a young woman whose betrothed falls in battle . She prays for his return , but it's his ghost that returns !
I have the mono Supraphon recording conducted by Jaroslav Kromholc with the Czech Philharmonic , and I recommend it highly .
 
#25 ·
I think Ralph Vaughan William's Dona Nobis Pacem is one of the most powerful pieces to me. It can be spooky at times too. Definitly check it out!
 
#29 ·
If you like O Fortuna, you may probably like:
Era - Ameno
Vangelis - Conquest of the Paradise
The Song of the Dragonborn (from Skyrim)
Era - Divano
Song of the plains (soviet army chorus and band)
Hallelujah - Händel
maybe even Adiemus - Adiemus or Cantus Inaequalis
or even the romanian anthem, a powerful choir , which can be also sung by a men choir. Or la Marseillaise
 
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