Top 11 Scared Works, GMG Halloween Special

[North Star]

There seemed to be demand for this...

So, 11 Halloween-themed works that sound scary/spooky/etc, or are scary to play 

Have at it!

Luciano Berio: Sequenza for Oboe. -- At least it's scary to play!

[DavidW]

Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique, you know what movement.

[Cato]

Pelleas und Melisande by Arnold Schoenberg has some scalp-shocking sections! 

[Brian]

Scherzo "vivace", Gothic Symphony, Havergal Brian (absolutely my #1 pick, for this reason)
The Noon-Day Witch, Antonin Dvorak
Der Erlkonig, Franz Schubert
final scenes of Wozzeck, Alban Berg
Symphony No. 6, Bohuslav Martinu (at least in parts)
Symphony No. 10, Shostakovich

If I was having trick-or-treaters come to my door, I would play K.A. Hartmann's Symphony No. 6 and Lutoslawski's Concerto for Orchestra. And a lot of Bach organ music.

[Brahmsian]

Penderecki - Polymorphia!!!!

[bhodges]

Schoenberg: Pierrot Lunaire - I mean, smoking tobacco out of a skull - c'mon! 

--Bruce

[Brian]

Schoenberg: Pierrot Lunaire - I mean, smoking tobacco out of a skull - c'mon! 

--Bruce

And those big black moths!

[bhodges]

And those big black moths!

Yeah! (Now returning to confirm orders of dry ice, rubber insects, Popeye costumes, fake blood and scars, pumpkins)

--Bruce

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

I agree with the mention of Pierrot Lunaire - that is some seriously disturbed stuff.

Other pieces that I find creepy:

Berio: Visage (possibly the single creepiest thing I've ever heard)
Shostakovich: Quartet #13 (only piece to ever give me a nightmare)

A lot of Penderecki: certainly Threnody and parts of Utrenja, as well as The Dream of Jacob, though this last one is probably due to its use in The Shining.

Ligeti's Requiem, the Kyrie thereof (another Kubrick reference!)

At first listen, Bolcom's Black Host for organ...maybe I'll blast this one for trick-or-treaters.

[vandermolen]

Waxman: 'The Making of the Female Monster' (from Bride of Frankenstein film score)

[knight66]

Night on the Bare Mountain
Danse Macabre
Schnittke Faust Cantata

This last wins my prize. Satan is sung simultaneously by two singers, it is hair raising.

Mike

[Brahmsian]

Wagner - Siegfried - Prelude of Act II

[TheGSMoeller]

Penderecki - Polymorphia!!!!

Yes!   
Put this on near your front porch for trick or treaters, should scare them.

[kyjo]

Some that haven't yet been mentioned:

Prokofiev: PC 2, 1st movement
VW: Symphony no. 6, 4th movement
Scelsi: Uaxuctum (hat tip to John! )
Leifs: Hekla (or anything else by him)
Kabelac: The Mystery of Time
Nordgren: Symphony 3 or 5 (can't remember which)
Saeverud: Peer Gynt
Kilar: Dracula (film score)
Frankel: The Curse of the Werewolf (film score)
Shchedrin: Anna Karenina (ballet)
Vogel: Thyl Claes (oratorio)
MacMillan: The Confession of Isobel Gowdie

[Marc]

Wagner - Siegfried - Prelude of Act II

The prelude of Die Walküre is pretty scary, too.

I was thinking of the Finale ('Salve Regina') of Poulenc: besides scary (the repeated sound of the guillotine blade), I find it also very moving.

But of course there's so much more: what about, for instance, Don Giovanni's descent into hell (Mozart)?

[Brahmsian]

The prelude of Die Walküre is pretty scary, too.

I was thinking of the Finale ('Salve Regina') of Poulenc: besides scary (the repeated sound of the guillotine blade), I find it also very moving.

But of course there's so much more: what about, for instance, Don Giovanni's descent into hell (Mozart)?

Agreed, on both counts, Marc! 

[Brahmsian]

Perhaps an inadmissable entry, but John Carpenter's score to the original Halloween (1978) film.

and

Ligeti - Musica Ricercata, II (Mesto, Rigido E Cerimoniale)

[North Star]

Lots of wonderful entries, and many that I haven't heard yet, I'll certainly listen to some of these around Halloween.

Berlioz's La damnation de Faust & Prokofiev's Fiery Angel are pretty Halloweeny operas, I think. Oh, and the glowing head of the Mandarin!

[Cato]

Put tracks 8 and 9 on a loop:

[asin]B0007ACVK0[/asin]

[knight66]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dR78SQeRiC4&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DdR78SQeRiC4

Here it is folks...the Faust...thrill yourselves, scare yourselves. And I dare you to suggest that this is not in a category all of its own. Hell's Tango