Classical Music, need composers for certain style

Rhett_Y · 02-13-2002, 02:17 PM

Hello all.

Here is what I am looking for. I am new to classical music, but what I have heard I like the darker sounding music styles with chorols. I.E., O`fortuna (don't know who does it or from what album it is from, would like to know what album it is from thou!!!!!), in the hall of the mountain king (Edvard Gieg). I don't want the happy stuff or instrumentals with just string instruments. I am looking for the darker toned, more ominous sounding recordings, if that makes sense.

Thanks
R~

Stefan A · 02-13-2002, 04:08 PM

Rhett,

Good to hear from you again. O Fortuna is the opening of "Carmina Burana" by Carl Orff.

You seem to like the choral stuff. I am not up on a lot of that, but I will try to throw some in. Some of the pieces are quite long, so the whole thing won't be "dark". But, I will pick pieces that are, or contain this style.

Prokofiev - Alexander Nevsky
Brahms - A German Requiem
Mahler - Symphony #2
Beethoven - Symphony #5 or 7
Wagner - selections from "The Ring"
Bruckner - Symphony #8?
Stravinsky - Rite of Spring

As I think of stuff, I will just add to this list.

rob kilbride · 02-14-2002, 01:17 PM

Here's some movie soundtracks with some dark choral music: Star Wars The Phantom Menace: Duel of the Fates, Bakshi's Lord of the Rings: Helm's Deep, Galdiator:Am I Not Merciful(the part after he stabs Maximus).

Bob_L · 02-14-2002, 01:34 PM

You could try "Catulli Carmina," another composition by Carl Orff in the same style. (I especially like the lyrics. At one point the chorus sings, "Boobs, boobs, boobs, boobs, boobs, boobs, boobs, booooooooooobbsssssss." Of course, they're singing in Latin so no one gets offended except ancient language scholars. :-) )

I'd also recommend the Mahler Symphony #6. It's pretty darn dark. It was used as the score for the midnight flick, The Honeymoon Killers.

Mark Lee · 02-14-2002, 02:19 PM

Mahler's ______ -- you could insert almost any piece here, and it'd most likely be characterized as "dark." The dude just wasn't a happy camper.... (though his 2nd Symphony is more uplifting than most)

Anyway, consider a pair of Requiems as well -- Mozart's (natch), and Giuseppe Verdi's (the Dies Irae was nicked for a recent car commercial, if memory serves).

A modern (though sounding decidedly non-modern in many of his works) composer from Estonia, Arvo Part, has a number of works that might fit the bill. His 70-minute undertaking of the St. John's Passion on the ECM label, entitled Passio, is one of his best works, though he has a number of other great non-choral pieces, especially those on other ECM releases, like Fratres and Arbos. Suitably dark and brooding.

You could also go American; there's Quiet City by Aaron Copland, and the piece everyone knows as "that one from Platoon": Samuel Barber's Adagio For Strings.

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DonMac · 02-14-2002, 05:18 PM

For dark-sounding music, I recommend the following (both choral and non-choral). Definitely get Carl Orff's well-known Carmina Burana as well as his less-known Catulli Carmina. And you should also seek out the music of Igor Stravinsky, such as the choral works Symphony of Psalms and Les Noces (which sounds a lot like Carmina Burana, but actually predated it by two decades), as well as the non-choral works Rite of Spring, Petrushka, Symphony in Three Movements and Symphony in C (assuming you're open to non-choral music). Someone already mentioned Sergei Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky in this thread and in addition to that, I recommend his non-choral Romeo and Juliet Suites, most of which is also dark-sounding and, IMO, the best thing he ever wrote. And music from Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle (aka "Der Ring des Nibelungen"), such as the "Ride Of The Valkyries" which was featured in Apocalypse Now, is a must (although shop carefully if you want "The Ring" music with the singing because many orchestra-only recordings exist). Finally, listen to Requiem masses by different composers (such as Mozart's Requiem) because these feature choruses and, since they are Masses for the Dead, are almost always dark.

.

andrew markworthy · 02-15-2002, 02:56 AM

Nielsen's symphonies are brilliantly dark-sounding (if you see what I mean), especially nos 4 and 5, though they don't have choral sections. There's a very good recording of them conducted by Blomstedt [sp?] which you should be able to get at a cheap price (you can in the UK, so chances are it'll be practically be given away in the USA]. Good recordings, too.

Also try out Rachmaninov's Vespers (purely choral).

Rhett_Y · 02-15-2002, 05:32 PM

Very cool....

Thanks for all the listings....I am now off to search the net to see which ones I like! I just ordered both works by carl orff...Can't wait. I have a feeling this is going to get very expensive,!!!!

Stefen...

The cd I got re:in the hall of the mountain king hasn't left my cd player,,,love it! I have two different versions and love them both!!!! Thanks again.

Thanks, if you come across anymore that might fit the bill please let me know!

Thanks again
Rhett

Andrew 'Ange Hamm' Hamm · 02-16-2002, 08:52 AM

I second the nomination of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet. He got the story right; this is a tragedy, not a romance.

Also, there are some very dark and haunting choral parts of Handel's Messiah, which is the greatest piece of music ever written. Though it does, of course, have a happy ending.

Andrew 'Ange Hamm' Hamm · 02-16-2002, 08:53 AM

Also Moussorgsky's Night on the Bare Mountain.