Use Your Imagination 6
The Devil's Work

Many composers have turned to the dark side for inspiration. There were probably many reasons for this fascination; religion, Goethe's ever-influential Faust, high morbidity rates, and the like.

However, rather than trying to make a religious point, much of this "devillish" music is inspired and powerful. It is a sense of awe of the dark side that comes through most in their music.

Here’s some of the best-known explorations into the underworld:

1. Dukas – The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
   Dukas owned this story, long before Mickey Mouse and Disney got hold of it. It is the classic tale of magic powers gone wrong. The sorcerer’s apprentice plays with powers beyond his control in his master’s absence, and nearly comes to grief, but for the late intervention of his master.
2. de Falla – El Amor Brujo (Love, The Magician) - Danza Ritual del fuego (Ritual Fire Dance)
   Although commonly known as the "Ritual Fire Dance", the full title of this piece is 'Danza Ritual del fuego para ahuyentar los malos espiritus' (Ritual Fire Dance to Drive Off Evil Spirits). Haunted by the ghost of her former lover, the lead character performs this dance of exorcism to free herself.
3. Gluck – Orfeo ed Euridice - Dance of the Furies
   This blustery music portrays the terrible resistance that Orpheus encounters on entering Hades, looking to ressurrect his Eurydice.
4. Liszt – Mephisto Waltz No. 1
   Liszt was quite preoccupied with the devil and his supernatural powers for quite a while, and wrote several tribute pieces in his life, the most famous of which is this clattering piece for the piano.
5. Mussorgsky – A Night on Bald Mountain
   I'm sure that this music has been in the background in countless movies and arcade games. It's perfect - so sinister and wild. Evil spirits take over the night sky and hound the cast until the morning light frightens them off.
6. Prokofiev – Scythian Suite, op.20 - 2. The Enemy God and the dance of the Spirits of Darkness
   Some more pre-heavy metal, classical noise. This loud and unrelenting music conveys the sheer force of the Scyths, an ancient race from Russia.
7. Ravel – Gaspard de la nuit - 2. Le Gibet (The Gallows). Très lent
   The gentle rocking motion in this piece conveys the effect of bodies swinging in the breeze after a hanging.
8. Saint-Saëns – Danse macabre
   Set after midnight in a graveyard, this music conjures up images of all kinds of spooky scenes, with clattering skeletons etc.
9. Stravinsky – L'Oiseau de feu (The Firebird) - Danse infernale du roi Kachtchei (Infernal Dance of King Kaschei) Stravinsky uses powerful, jazzy rythyms and punchy orchestration to set the devils jumping.
10. Vaughan-Williams – Job - A Masque for Dancing - 2. Satan's Dance of Triumph. Vaughan-Williams uses some powerful effects to conjure up the Devil's early triumph over Job and his faith.