Now what kind of a Mozart lover would I be if I failed to include the Commendatore Scene from Don Giovanni in a Halloween series? After all, this has been described as one of the most terrifying scenes in opera, and in Mozart's day was considered so dark and disturbing that Mozart and Da Ponte were forced to write an additional "happy ending" finale for the Viennese audience to soften it for them.
This clip features the legendary Sir Thomas Allen as the wayward Don Giovanni, baritone Stafford Dean as his side-kick Leporello, and bass Gwynne Howell as Il Commendatore's ghost, from a 1988 Royal Opera House production with Sir Colin Davis conducting.
Released in 2005, Requiem is an album by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins. In this work, Jenkins interjects movements featuring Japanese death poems in the form of a haiku with those traditionally encountered in a Requiem Mass. At times, the Latin text is sung below the text of the haiku.
A far cry from the Verdi Dies Irae that I featured a few days ago, the Jenkins Dies Irae uses a driving, repetitive beat and a choral chant to create an unsettling mood and sinister feel, and combined with the deviant art chosen for this particular presentation, it really sets the listener on edge.
As a freshman music student I was first introduced to Franz Schubert's Lied (German for "song"), Der Erlkönig (The Elf King), in my freshman music appreciation class. It was presented to us as one of the finest examples of the German art song ever composed, and among Schubert's vast collection of Lieder, it is considered by most, his greatest.
From Wikipedia:
Franz Schubert composed his Lied, "Der Erlkönig", for solo voice and piano in 1815, setting text from the Goethe poem. Schubert revised the song three times before publishing his fourth version in 1821 as his Opus 1; it was cataloged by Otto Erich Deutsch as D. 328 in his 1951 catalog of Schubert's works. The song was first performed in concert on December 1, 1820, at a private gathering in Vienna, and received its public premiere on March 7, 1821, at Vienna's Theater am Kärntnertor.
The four characters in the song — narrator, father, son, and the Erlking — are usually all sung by a single vocalist; occasionally, however, the work is performed by four individual vocalists (or three, with one taking the parts of both the narrator and the Erlking). Schubert placed each character largely in a different vocal range, and each has his own rhythmic nuances; in addition, most singers endeavor to use a different vocal coloration for each part.
The Narrator lies in the middle range and is in minor mode.
The Father lies in the low range and sings both in minor mode and major mode.
The Son lies in a high range, also in minor mode, representing the fright of the child.
The Erlking's vocal line undulates up and down to arpeggiated accompaniment resulting in striking contrast and is in the major mode. The Erlking lines are typically sung pianissimo.
A fifth character, the horse, is implied in rapid triplet figures played by the pianist throughout the work, mimicking hoof beats.
Translation:
Who rides, so late, through night and wind?
It is the father with his child.
He has the boy well in his arm
He holds him safely, he keeps him warm.
"My son, why do you hide your face so anxiously?"
"Father, do you not see the Erl king?
The Erl king with crown and tail?"
"My son, it's a wisp of fog."
"You lovely child, come, go with me!
Many a beautiful game I'll play with you;
Many colourful flowers are on the shore,
My mother has many golden robes."
"My father, my father, and don't you hear
What Erl king is quietly promising me?"
"Be calm, stay calm, my child;
The wind is rustling through withered leaves."
"Do you want to come with me, dear boy?
My daughters shall wait on you fine;
My daughters will lead the nightly dance,
And rock and dance and sing you to sleep."
"My father, my father, and don't you see there
Erl king's daughters in the gloomy place?"
"My son, my son, I see it clearly:
The old willows they shimmer so grey."
"I love you, your beautiful form entices me;
And if you're not willing, I shall use force."
"My father, my father, he's grabbing me now!
Erl king has done me some harm!"
The father shudders; he swiftly rides on,
He holds the moaning child in his arms,
is hardly able to reach his farm;
In his arms, the child was dead.
I have recently been introduced to a new baritone (actually, he's not new, only new to me), who in my humble opinion rivals the great German baritone, Fisher Dieskau. Romanian baritone, Dan Iordachescu, was in his prime at the same time as Dieskau, but because of the political situation in Romania at the time, his opportunities for world recognition were extremely limited. Through the miracle of Facebook, I have recently met one of his lovely daughters, Cristina, who is quite a singer in her own right and when she first sent me this YouTube video of her father singing Der Erlkönig, I was simply blown away.
Using the key of F-Sharp Minor (considered to be the saddest and most emotional key in Western harmony), the late 19th century French composer, Gabriel Fauré, evokes a hauntingly pensive and mournful feel to his Pavane, which is actually a type of dance. Combined with the sensual Neo-Gothic images of the stones and crypts at the cemetery in Staglieno, Italy, this particular presentation is among the most disturbing, yet hauntingly beautiful performances I've ever experienced.
I remember back to the days when I was a teenager and I read J.R.R. Tolkien's Ring Trilogy. His description of the Ringwraiths or Black Riders was terrifying enough, but many years later when I saw the film, they nearly gave me nightmares. I'm sure much of the credit for the frightening effects goes to Howard Shore for his amazing score.
I saved this one for last because of all the pieces I have chosen in this series, this piece has come to typify Halloween for most people. I hardly think that Bach would have ever dreamed that his masterful toccata and fugue, which was meant to be played in the church, would become the American musical Halloween icon. So now I present the J.S. Bach - Toccata und Fuge BWV 565 played by Hans-Andre Stamm.
Thus ends my Thirty-one days of Halloween music series. This one was a challenge, but I had a great time searching and researching all of the pieces that I have presented, and I hope that you have enjoyed them as well!
Act 3 Siegfried rejoins the hunters, who include Gunther and Hagen. While resting, he tells them about the adventures of his youth. Hagen gives him another potion, which restores his memory, and he tells of discovering the sleeping Brünnhilde and awakening her with a kiss. Hagen stabs him in the back with his spear. The others look on in horror, and Hagen explains in three words ("Meineid rächt sich!" - Perjury avenges itself) that since Siegfried admitted loving Brunnhilde, the oath he swore on Hagen's spear was obviously false, therefore it was Hagen's duty to kill him with it. Hagen calmly walks away into the wood. Siegfried recollects his awakening of Brünnhilde and dies. His body is carried away in a solemn funeral procession (Siegfried's funeral march) that forms the interlude as the scene is changed and recapitulates much of the music associated with Siegfried and the Walsungs.
Released in 2005, Requiem is an album by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins. In this work, Jenkins interjects movements featuring Japanese death poems in the form of a haiku with those traditionally encountered in a Requiem Mass. At times, the Latin text is sung below the text of the haiku.
Beethoven had originally conceived of dedicating the symphony to Napoleon Bonaparte. The biographer Maynard Solomon relates that Beethoven admired the ideals of the French Revolution, and Napoleon as their embodiment. In the autumn the composer began to have second thoughts about that dedication. It would have deprived him of a fee that he would receive if he instead dedicated the symphony to Prince Franz Joseph Maximillian Lobkowitz. Nevertheless, he still considered giving the work the title of Bonaparte.
When Napoleon was proclaimed Emperor of France in May 1804, Beethoven became disgusted and went to the table where the completed score lay. He took hold of the title-page and scratched the name Bonaparte out so violently with a knife that he created a hole in the paper. He later changed the title to Sinfonia eroica, composta per festeggiare il sovvenire d'un grand'uomo ("heroic symphony, composed to celebrate the memory of a great man").
I chose this piece because of it's melancholy, almost mournful feel, and the fact that it was composed and performed around the time that Le Nozze di Figaro was being rehearsed, just before it's May 1, 1786 premiere. Being that today is the 244th anniversary of Nancy Storace's (the original Susanna in Figaro), birth, I like to think that perhaps Mozart was longing for her, when he composed this.
The Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major (K. 488) is a musical composition written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was finished, according to Mozart's own catalogue, on March 2, 1786, around the time of the premiere of his opera, The Marriage of Figaro. It was one of three subscription concerts given that spring and was probably played by Mozart himself at one of these. The concerto is scored for flute, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns and strings.
It has three movements: 1. Allegro in A major and common time
2. Adagio in F-sharp minor and 6/8 time
3. Allegro assai in A and crossed common time.
The second movement, in ternary form, is impassioned and somewhat operatic in tone. The piano begins alone with a theme characterized by unusually wide leaps. This is the only movement by Mozart in F sharp minor.
The Messa da Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi is a musical setting of the Roman Catholic funeral Mass (called the Requiem from the first word of the text, which begins Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, meaning, "Grant them eternal rest, O Lord"—see the entry at "Dies Irae"). It was first performed on 22 May 1874 to mark the first anniversary of the death of Alessandro Manzoni, an Italian poet and novelist much admired by Verdi. The piece is also sometimes referred to as the Manzoni Requiem.
Macbeth is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi, with an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and additions by Andrea Maffei, based on Shakespeare's play of the same name. It was Verdi's tenth opera and also the first of Shakespeare's plays which he adapted for the operatic stage.
Written after the success of Atilla in 1846 by which time the composer had become well established, it was before the great successes of 1850 to 1853, Rigoletto, Il trovatore and La traviata which propelled him into universal fame. As sources, Shakespeare's plays provided Verdi with lifelong inspiration: some, such as King Lear were never realized but he wrote his two final operas using Othello as the basis for Otello (1887) and The Merry Wives of Windsor as the basis for Falstaff (1893).
The first version of Macbeth was completed during the middle of what Verdi was to describe as his "galley years". Ranging from 1842 to 1850, this period saw the composer produce 14 operas, but by the standards of the subject matter of almost all Italian operas during the first fifty years of the 19th century, Macbeth was highly unusual. The 1847 version was very successful and it was presented widely. Pleased with his opera and with its reception, Verdi wrote to Antonio Barezzi, his former father-in-law and long-time supporter, on 25 March 1847 just about two weeks after the premiere: "I have long intended to dedicate an opera to you, who have been father, benefactor, and friend to me. It was a duty I should have fulfilled sooner if imperious circumstances had not prevented me. Now, I send you Macbeth which I prize above all my other operas, and therefore deem worthier to present to you"
The 1865 revision, produced for Paris in a French translation and with several additions, was less successful and the opera largely faded from public view until the mid-20th century revivals.
2005, Gran Teatre del Liceu
Conductor - Bruno Campanella
Symphony Orchestra and Chorus of the Gran Teatre del Liceu
Act III, Scene 1
Chorus "Tre volte miagola la gatta in fregola"
Setting: The witches' cave
Lacrimosa dies illa,
qua resurget ex favilla
judicandus homo reus.
Huic ergo parce, Deus,
pie Jesu Domine,
dona eis requiem. Amen.
That day of tears and mourning,
when from the ashes shall arise,
all humanity to be judged.
Spare us by your mercy, Lord,
gentle Lord Jesus,
grant them eternal rest. Amen.
While the term "funeral march" is perhaps a fitting description of the 3rd movement, complete with the Lento interlude in D flat major, "Chopin's Funeral March" is used commonly to describe only the funeral march proper (in B flat minor). The "funeral march" has become well known in popular culture. It was also used at the state funerals of John F. Kennedy and those of Soviet leaders, including Leonid Brezhnev. It was transcribed for full orchestra by the English composer Sir Edward Elgar in 1933 and its first performance was at his own memorial concert the next year. It was played at the graveside during Chopin's own burial at Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.
Franz Liszt (Hungarian: Ferencz Liszt, in modern usage also Ferenc Liszt, from 1859 to 1865 officially Franz Ritter von Liszt) (October 22, 1811 – July 31, 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist and teacher.
Liszt became renowned throughout Europe during the 19th century for his great skill as a performer. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age and perhaps the greatest pianist of all time. He was also an important and influential composer, a notable piano teacher, a conductor who contributed significantly to the modern development of the art, and a benefactor to other composers and performers, notably Richard Wagner, Hector Berlioz, Camille Saint-Saëns, Edvard Grieg and Alexander Borodin.
As a composer, Liszt was one of the most prominent representatives of the "Neudeutsche Schule" ("New German School"). He left behind a huge and diverse body of work, in which he influenced his forward-looking contemporaries and anticipated some 20th-century ideas and trends. Some of his most notable contributions were the invention of the symphonic poem, developing the concept of thematic transformation as part of his experiments in musical form and making radical departures in harmony.
When your mother steps in through the door and I turn my head to see at her, falling on her face my gaze does not first fall, but at the place nearer the doorstep, there, where your dear little face would be, when you with bright joy step inside, as you used to, my little daughter. When your mother steps in through the door with the glowing candle, it seems to me, always you came in too, hurrying behind her, as you used to come into the room. Oh you, a father's cell, ah too quickly bright joy lost too soon!
This is Mahler's famous funeral march written in the form of a canon and based upon the children's song, Frère Jacques, played in the minor. It is also famous for opening with a contrabass solo.
Michael Tilson Thomas; San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.
Sibelius achieved his greatest popularity with Valse triste, a sad waltz which he composed for a play called Death, written by his brother-in-law Arvid Järnefelt. But Sibelius’s immediate circle feared that he was dancing a real Waltz of Death because of his way of living. "Janne, you must give up alcohol. You must," his brother Christian wrote to him on 19th November 1903.
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra - Herbert von Karajan, 1983
This is probably the most magnificent performance ever of The Queen of the Night's most famous aria I've ever heard. The German soprano, Diana Damrau sings with conviction, expression, and confidence. A most chilling and terrifying experience!
Purcell is among the Baroque composers who has had a direct influence on modern rock and roll; according to Pete Townshend of The Who, Purcell was among his influences, particularly evident in the opening bars of The Who's "Pinball Wizard". The song "Procession" by British rock band Queen is obviously inspired by the processional section from Purcell's "Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary," which was also adapted for the synthesizer by Wendy Carlos to serve as the theme music for the 1971 film A Clockwork Orange. Meanwhile, noted cult New Wave artist Klaus Nomi regularly performed "The Cold Song" from King Arthur during his career, including a version on his debut self-titled album, Klaus Nomi, from 1981; his last public performance before his untimely death was an interpretation of the piece done with a full orchestra in December 1982 in Munich. Purcell wrote the song for a bass, but numerous countertenors have performed the piece in homage to Nomi. In the 21st century, the soundtrack to the 2005 film version of Pride and Prejudice features a dance titled "A Postcard to Henry Purcell," which is a version by composer Dario Marianelli of the Abdelazar theme.
Using the key of F-Sharp Minor (considered to be the saddest and most emotional key in Western harmony), the late 19th century French composer, Gabriel Fauré, evokes a hauntingly pensive and mournful feel to his Pavane, which is actually a type of dance. Combined with the sensual Neo-Gothic images of the stones and crypts at the cemetery in Staglieno, Italy, this particular presentation is among the most disturbing, yet hauntingly beautiful performances I've ever experienced. 
