The Well-Tempered Ear

What is the best classical Halloween music?

October 29, 2023
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By Jacob Stockinger

There is a lot of spookily appropriate classical music to mark Halloween, which is this Tuesday.

The British radio station ClassicFM has published its choice of the “20 scariest Classical music pieces” for Halloween. Here’s a link to the website, which has links to performances of the pieces:

https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/scary-classical-music-halloween/

But much has been left out from J.S. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D  minor to Beethoven’s “Ghost” Piano Trio, from the finale of Chopin’s “Funeral March” sonata  to Philip Glass’s film score for “Dracula” (below):

At the bottom is a YouTube video that has another selection that offers 2.5 hours of Halloween music, maybe something you want to play while you pass out goodies to trick-and-treaters.

Do you have a favorite piece of classical music that particularly expresses the mood or atmosphere of Halloween?

The Ear wants to hear. 


Classical music: This week’s “Just Bach” concert on Wednesday afternoon features Halloween fare as well as instrumental and vocal music typical of Johann Sebastian

October 29, 2018
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IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR SHARE IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.

By Jacob Stockinger

BOO!!

But this time it’s all treat and no trick!

This month’s FREE concert in the new midday series of Just Bach (below, in a photo by John W. Barker) falls on Wednesday – that is, on Halloween!

In keeping with the spooky holiday, this week’s Just Bach concert will feature one of the traditional pieces of classical music used on Halloween: the mighty and well-known Toccata and Fugue in D minor for organ. (You can see an abstract and fascinating animated graphic depiction of the work in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

The FREE concert runs from 1 to 2 p.m. at Luther Memorial Church (below) at 1021 University Avenue. The audience is permitted to eat lunch and drink refreshments during the midday concert.

Two other works are on the program.

One is the Suite No. 5 in C minor for solo cello, played by James Waldo (below). A discerning friend of The Ear heard Waldo play a different solo cello suite at a concert last month by the Madison Bach Musicians, and said it was probably the finest interpretation he had ever heard. And he has heard a lot of them.

The last work will be the Cantata No. 163 “Nur Jedem das Seine,” or “To Each His Own,” with singers and instrumentalists performing on period instruments with historically informed performance practices.

For information about the series, go to: https://justbach.org

Specifically, if you want to know more about the dates and programs, go to:

https://justbach.org/concerts/

And if you want to know more about the performers, go to: https://justbach.org/about-us/

Finally, if you want to know more about the background and genesis of the new concert series, here is a link to a previous post:

https://welltempered.wordpress.com/?s=Just+Bach


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