The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music: Happy Halloween! Vote for the spookiest classical music you know.

ALERT:  On Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, the UW Wind Ensemble Chamber will perform a FREE concert of “Integrales” b, Edgard Varese; “Rondino” by Ludwig von Beethoven; and Kammersymphonie (Chamber Symphony), Op. 9, by  Arnold Schoenberg. Scott Teeple (below) is the conductor and Scott Pierson is the guest conductor.

By Jacob Stockinger

Today, Oct. 31, 2012, is Halloween in the U.S., although many celebrations took place last Saturday night to benefit from the weekend.

It is the night of scary hobgoblins and ghosts. It is also the time when disguises and costumes often reveal rather than hide one’s true identity.

But most of all it is a chance for spooky art – Houses of Horrors, Ghost stories and Horror Movies – and The Ear wants to know what you think is the scariest or spookiest music ever written.

For many people, it is Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain.” Here is a link to one performance on YouTube:

The Ear knows one person who likes to play loud organ music – Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor – for young Trick-or-Treaters. And he is not alone. Take a look and listen at various versions of the famous organ piece at NPR’s “Deceptive Cadence” blog where you’ll be treated, not tricked, by the blog’s makeover and new appearance:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2012/10/29/163701843/halloween-fright-five-versions-of-that-terrifying-toccata-and-fugue

You can also hear Halloween-related music today on Wisconsin Public Radio, especially on The Midday (noon to 1 p.m.), which will, I expect, have a Quiz Question related to Halloween. For information or to stream programs, visit ww.wpr.org.

I recently heard a wonderful and absorbing  live performance by the all-student University of Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra of the famous “Symphonie Fantastique” by Hector Berlioz (below)that includes hallucinatory drugs and a death march to the scaffold and gallows.

And I was struck how the clarinets are used to create a very eerie, even frightening sound, in the Witches Sabbath section. It is a masterful use of orchestration by Berlioz.

Take a listen and let me know.

What do you think is the spookiest or eeriest piece of classical music for Halloween?

Vote for your favorite by leaving a COMMENT in the blog section of this blog, preferably with a link a YouTube performance, if possible.