AN UNRAVELING MUSICAL MYTHS HELL-O-WE'EN SPECIAL: A SPOOKY SOUNDTRACK FOR ALL HALLOWS' EVE

It's that time of year again - when chill seekers look to the dark side of classical music to get their creep on.

More often than not, both newcomers to the genre and seasoned listeners alike are faced with an annually occurring dilemma: will it be Saint-Saëns' Danse Macabre of Orff's O Fortuna to set the mood come this All Hallows' Eve? 

With list after list nominating popular, oldie-but-goodie bone-chillers (featured in both online and in print media), the challenge here at Unraveling Musical Myths hasn't been which piece from the standard Hallowe'en canon to highlight, but rather, how to narrow down the spookiest of selections from an arsenal of less familiar diabolical delights, especially curated by the author of this blog for the season.

I have selected from my boiling cauldron the following 13 bone-chilling rides through hell featuring just enough crazed cacophony to make even the bravest listener cower beneath the covers.

UPDATE: In honor Unraveling Musical Myths' long-time reader, Classical_Music_Fan, I have added an additional 13 spooky selections to this years' edition. The links for these extra, tumultuously terrifying treats are listed in the comment section at the end of this post. 

VÍCTOR AGUDELO - EL SOMBRERÓN

We begin within the dark, humid corridors of a Columbian village in the dead of night, where, in the distance, sound the ominous din of horse hooves, steadily clip clopping along cobble stoned streets. Neither quickening or slowing, they march at a determined pace until a sickening high pitched squeal breaks the rhythm: it is the whistle of El Sombrerón, the phantom of the night, sat upon his black steed. 

 

In the distance, a funeral bell tolls - a warning to the would-be hoods, drunks and gamblers of their fate should they engage in public mischief: a desperate sprint for their lives under the moonlit night, chased by El Sombrerón upon his trusty horse. At their side, two angry, vicious black dogs are released from their metal chains, and are sicced upon his victims. 

 

The thrilling chase is based on the local legend of El Sombrerón (known in English as The Man in the [Black] Hat), a mysterious (allegedly real) villager who once roamed the streets upon his black stallion, clad in all black attire. Although rumored to have never harmed another living soul while alive, his menacing appearance instilled in all those who encountered him both curiosity and fear. A constant stern-jawed expression only added to the ever churning rumor mill: who was El Sombrerón? What did he want? Was he good, or evil?

The mysterious man in the black hat continued to spook villagers well after his death, as a phantom menace of virtue.

But make no mistake, dear reader, Columbian composer Victor Agudelo's El Sombrerón dispenses with any trace of virtue: a menacing brass section gruesomely groans to the start-and-stop rhythm of hoof beats, as the listener places himself in the place of the would-be victim. A brief respite - portraying the mysterious chaser "losing" the chased as he cowers behind a brick lined wall under the cover of night - is brazenly interrupted by brash horns as the pace quickens to match the victim's racing heart. With a bone-chilling and sickeningly frustrating pace, El Sombrerón will leave the listener on the edge of his or her seat. 

 

Questions about the ultimate fate of the victim are left unanswered by the brass section, which repeatedly approach crescendi, only to be cut off just before the crest as the mysterious Man in the Black Hat advances and retreats.

 

ALEXANDER MOSOLOV - THE IRON FOUNDRY 

Inspired by The Procession of the Sage from Igor Stavinsky's masterful Rite of Spring, Alexander Mosolov's steely musical interpretation of an iron factory running at full steam begins methodically, with an unintentionally menacing start of the iron master's machine, represented by the stroke of a tam-tam. Percussion and brass sinfully interplay among each other as the machine reaches full power and as the rest of the factory begins to function in unison.

Considered a prime example of Soviet futurist music by a composer known for his brutalist scores, Mosolov's Iron Foundry unveils the horrific cacophony which can be found in everyday life.