As promised, here's a follow-up to Part 1 and Part 2 of Halloween classical treats, based on your suggestions:
Malcolm Arnold: Tam o'Shanter - A 1951 "program music" overture based on the spooky poem by Scottish bard Robert Burns:
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Sally Beamish: Haunted House - A little piano trio for young musicians by the wonderful Scotland-based composer and violist:
Hector Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique - with its psychedelic nightmare of a "March to the Scaffold" and it wild "Witch's Sabbath," how could this NOT have made the original list? Here's that last movement, conducted by Leonard Bernstein:
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Andre Caplet: The Masque of the Red Death - a chamber piece based on Poe's short story for harp and string quartet by the French composer, conductor, and friend of Claude Debussy
George Whitefield Chadwick: Tam o’Shanter -Long before Malcolm Arnold, in 1914, this leading American composer wrote an orchestral piece based on the Bobby Burns poem.
George Crumb: Ghosts of the Alhambra (Bridge 9335) - The American master's haunting 2008 setting of poems by Federico Garcia Lorca
Antonin Dvorak: The Noon Witch - After the "New World" symphony, Dvorak turned to a new genre, the symphonic poem, and based his music on supernatural Czech tales. The most fun? Naturally, the one about a witch.
Philip Glass: Dracula - Music meant as a score for the silent film starring Bela Lugosi. It was premiered by Kronos Quartet with the film playing:
Charles Ives: Hallowe'en - One of the "Outdoor Pieces" by the American maverick. written in more than one key at a time:
Franz Liszt: Mephisto Waltz no. 1 - How could a Halloween NOT include Franz Liszt, the man who (before he became a Franciscan tertiary) wrote some of the scariest musical representations of supernatural and/or diabolical themes? The possible choices are many, but I'm going with the first Mephisto Waltz, one of many of his pieces inspired by Goethe's Faust. Here's a live performance by the great Chilean pianist (and Liszt grand-pupil), Claudio Arrau:
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Heinrich Marschner: The Vampire - I pretty much don't need to explain why I'm including this 1828 German Romantic opera, right? Or why I'd give you a clip featuring Jonas Kaufmann?
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Modest Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain - Yeah, shoulda included this scary Russian tone poem on my original list! Thanks to Michael Feldman (yes, THAT Michael Feldman) - who suggested the score for Disney's Fantasia in general - here 'tis:
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Carter Pann: Soiree Macabre from "The Piano's 12 Sides - A chance to give a shout-out to a marvelous young American composer:
