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Music for Hallowe'en
It's often remarked that 'the Devil always gets the best tunes', and as Hallowe'en approaches I'm struck by how true this is. Both in standalone pieces like Liszt's Faust Symphony and within larger works such as Elgar's Dream of Gerontius or Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, it's often the devils, demons, spirits and other supernatural villains who end up stealing the show!
We've put together a selection of some great recordings and performances of works with a Hallowe'en flavour, some fairly well-known but some perhaps less familiar; you can browse through them below.
The tale of Faust, the scholar who strikes a deal with the Devil only to inevitably come to grief later, has been a rich well of inspiration for composers and artists over the years; Liszt's Faust Symphony is one of the most enduringly popular works on this subject, featuring portrayals of the unhappy Faust himself, his love interest Gretchen and, of course, the devious Mephistopheles himself. Kenneth Riegel's voice and Leonard Bernstein's conducting combine to make this a truly memorable performance.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Combining a selection of dances from Gounod's Faust with the rather more light-hearted Galop infernal (popularly known as the Can-Can) from Offenbach's mercilessly satirical Orphée aux enfers, this album shows that it's not all darkness and damnation.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
Premiered in 1983, Schnittke's macabre treatment of Faust's final hours - with the Devil morphing from a plangent countertenor to a cabaret-style contralto on the stroke of midnight, and one of the most bone-chilling demons' choruses you're ever likely to hear - really deserves to be better known.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
Most people have heard of Tartini's proverbially challenging Devil's Trill Sonata and Saint-Saëns' Danse macabre, but the legend of Death as an out-of-tune fiddler has given rise to a number of other violin works on a similar theme; this fiery disc from Angèle Dubeau showcases some of the lesser-known examples as well as those that have entered the standard repertoire.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
The legend of the ghostly Flying Dutchman draws from Richard Wagner arguably his finest and most bracing overture, which here raises the curtain on a commanding performance in the title role from veteran Wagnerian Donald McIntyre; Wolfgang Sawallisch's conducting and Vaclav Kaslik's cinematic staging make for a thoroughly gripping audio-visual experience.
Available Format: DVD Video
The late Sir Colin Davis was widely regarded as a consummate expert on Berlioz; who better to provide a performance of the Symphonie fantastique, with its grotesque, hallucinatory Witches' Sabbath? The special effects from the LSO, particularly in the last movement (col legno bowing from the strings, shrill shrieking from the E flat clarinet...), are delicious.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
No selection of Hallowe'en hair-raisers would be complete without an appearance from Modest Mussorgsky, whose Night on the Bare Mountain certainly sent me scurrying behind the sofa as a child watching Disney's Fantasia! Here the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine treat us to both the well-known Rimsky-Korsakov version and Mussorgsky's original, much more modern-sounding work - and don't miss the wild ride of the witch Baba Yaga in the Pictures at an Exhibition!
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
The origin of Hallowe'en is, of course, the eve of All Saints' Day ('All Hallows'); moreover, 31st October is also celebrated in many countries as the anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. What better way to dispel the shadows, then, than with Mendelssohn's rousing Reformation Symphony, based on Luther's hymn Ein' feste Burg? The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under rising star Edward Gardner give a stirring and uplifting performance.
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
David Smith - Head of Digital
