I mostly listen to “intellectual” rock music by the likes of Brian Eno and PJ Harvey, but I like the Carmina Burana and the heavier parts of Mozart’s Requiem. I’m not a fan of solo operatic-style vocals as much as works with multiple voices; regular opera doesn’t grab me, at least not yet.
Basically, I like scary choral music that sounds like it’s from the score of a movie about children possessed by Satan. Can anyone here recommend some works I might like?
The obvious ones are Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz, Night on Bald Mountain by Mussorgsky, and Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by Bach. You’ve probably heard the latter; it’s played a lot at Halloween.
The OP wants choral music. Alas, I cannot help with the scary angle without going into opera, but since you like Carmina Burana have you tried Baroque oratorios? Handel’s Messiah and Samson may suit. Actually, pretty much all of his oratorios. Bach’s Christmas Cantatas may also suit.
Several choral tracks from Howard Shore’s score to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, evoking the Nazgul, are pretty spooky.
My husband is a fan of modern classical music, so I asked him for recommendations. He recommends a composer named György Ligeti. He was an Austrian-Hungarian composer whose music was used in several Kubrick films, including 2001 and The Shining.
Go to iTunes and check out a piece called “Lux aeterna.” Some of the creepiest choral music around.
Missed the edit window, but here’s a YouTube link for “Lux Aeterna.”
How is **Verdi’s Requiem **not yet mentioned? The Dies Irae is the benchmark for cinematic satanic choral music.
Or you could just go get the soundtrack to The Omen.
There’s a really sweet piece entitled “Kristallnacht”, but I’m having a hard time finding it on Google. This isn’t that surprising, as there is a more popular set of pieces created from the the writings of Jews who went through it. This was more of an experimental piece that played with a lot of dissonance to create the feel of broken glass and the horror of that night.
For those of you who know music (not really a spoiler, just don’t want to overwhelm those that don’t know the terminology): it featured an alto and soprano part that often “resolved” in minor seconds, and a section that was E-Eb-D-C in eighth notes repeated across a nonharmonic repeated bass quarter notes (that I can’t remember) ending with a Bb in the bass and A-C#-E in the treble, which is followed by repeating the theme at the beginning, where the words are just repeating Kristallnacht with aforementioned minor seconds ending it.
How about the Oscar-winning score for The Omen, a movie about a child who actually was Satan? Even the song “Ava Satani” was nominated for an Oscar (man, I wish I could’ve seen that performed at the ceremony!).
oooooo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vl5McGN2L-E orchestral version …
Creepy, but not the same composer as the guy I mentioned. See post #6
Might try E Nomine–not quite exactly choral, but definitely sinister-sounding and very cool, with choral elements. Check out Mitternacht and Vater Unser
Midnight Syndicatealso has a lot of good scary music–can’t remember if any of it is choral, though.
I was going to mention the Verdi Dies Irae, too.
You might also try the Dies Irae from Berlioz’s Grande Messe des Morts. I’ve never really heard the whole work, but it’s posted on YouTube. It starts about 5 minutes into this segment. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSCS3j1YdnY The “Tuba mirum” section starts about 1 minute into this segment. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpyQE82m8sg
Is this the kind of thing you’re looking for? It’s from Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky. Or how about Rachmaninoff’s symphony The Bells (based on the poem by Edgar Allan Poe)? The Russians seem to be pretty good at “scary” choral stuff.
“On Earth as it is in Heaven” from the soundtrack of “The Mission” by Ennio Morricone.
Or “Itaipu” by Philip Glass.
Both of these remind me of “Carmina Burana” and, oddly, both are written in the Giuranni language.
I came here to suggest the Dies Irae from Verdi’s Requiem. I was lucky enough to be in a choir that did it and hot damn, I nearly had an orgasm from it. If you’ve ever seen the Japanese film “Battle Royale,” its used in the opening.
The first three or so minutes of the Dies Irae is really the best part, but the entire work can be pretty powerful, but it drags on with too many operatic solos IMHO.
Another vote for Verdi’s Requiem, especially the *Dies Irae. *Many composers have written Requiems, and by their very nature lots of them are kind of scary.
I would try “Submission” from the soundtrack of 300. It definitely has a sinister tone to it.
How about Prokofiev’s Battle Across the Ice?
Nothing like being charged by freaking Teutonic Knights comming to exterminate you … and singing nonsense in Latin as they come. 