Scary Halloween Music
Here’s Some Modern and Classical Music for That October 31 Party
For centuries, composers have written music about death and evil spirits that can send shivers up spines at All Hallows parties.
Halloween parties need ghoulish music to go along with frightening costumes and there is plenty from which to choose, with works ranging from Felix Mendelssohn to Michael Jackson.
Some of it goes back centuries, as numerous symphony orchestras demonstrate during their annual Halloween concerts. Here are some from the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) concert selections.
Start with Mendelssohn’s First Walpurgis Night. It’s the haunting story of conflict between Druid and Christian forces a couple of thousand years ago, reminiscent of demons, witches, animal sacrifices, departed spirits and grotesque scenarios. Walpurgis Night was originally April 30, the last day of winter, but much of its tradition, including destructive youth pranks, has been transferred to October 31.
Xena and Dance of the Furies
Next there is Gluck’s Dance of the Furies from Orfeo ed Euridice, another classical piece that can send shivers up the spine. In it, the Furies, a group of real weird characters who dispense their own brand of justice, proceed to punish Xena for killing her father by temporarily driving her insane, to the accompaniment of some very scary sounds disguised as music. She might be remembered from the television show Xena: Warrior Princess.
Another choice from previous centuries is Liszt’s Dance of Death. It is based on a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in which men and women rise from their tombs to perform the dance of death.
The last LPO classical selection for the Halloween concert is Dvorak’s The Midday (or Noon) Witch, which carries its own scary message.
Another classical Halloween favorite that has been offered by some orchestras is Nosferatu: A Symphony in Horror. It is an adaptaion of Bram Stoker's Dracula novel.
Monster Mash, Thriller and Rocky Horror
Fast forwarding to more modern times, there is Bobby "Boris" Pickett’s Monster Mash from 1962. It has proved its Halloween value by surviving a couple of generations of October 31 parties.
Michael Jackson’s Thriller, a 15-minute Halloween classic that is even danceable, has also survived as perhaps the modern Halloween must music. It comes from the 1980s when Jackson himself was not considered so scary. The Thriller video also includes some spooky narration by Vincent Price.
Of course, there is also the soundtrack from the 1975 Rocky Horror Picture Show, a movie that blended science fiction and Halloween for a cult midnight audience. For years, it drew costumed movie fans to sing along with the music, including The Time Warp and Over at the Frankenstein Place.
For kid parties, the Halloween Channel has traditionally offered such tunes as Halloween Spooktacular, plus The Moon-Rays Thrills and Chills, and Boo, Cackle, Trick or Treat
