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Countdown: The Top 13 Creepy Classics

Enjoy Classical MPR's special Halloween programming.Image by Leigh Prather


Creepy Classics Top 5, hosted by Bill Morelock

56:26


October 31, 2013

There are certain pieces of music that can send chills up our spines or make our hair stand on end. Sometimes it was the intent of the composer to write a scary-sounding piece; other times, the fright factor derives from an association we have with the music, as can happen with the score for a scary film.

We all react to the music in different ways, and that's why we asked you for your help in choosing the "Creepy Classics." And you responded in droves, and now it's time to find out how things landed.

Grab some candy, and behold the shocking results below.

1. Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain

2. Saint-Saens: Danse Macabre

3. Bach: Toccata and Fugue in d minor

4. Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique (March to the Scaffold and Witches' Sabbath)

5. Grieg: Hall of the Mountain King

6. Herrmann: Psycho Film Music

7. Williams: Harry Potter Film Music

8. Mozart: Don Giovanni (Final Scene)

9. Dukas: Sorcerer's Apprentice

10. Gounod: Funeral March of a Marionette

11. Schubert: Der Erlkonig

12. Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 2: Funeral March and Finale

13. Rachmaninoff: Isle of the Dead