The Nightmare Before Christmas and Symphony Fantastique : Music For Halloween
/Today is Halloween, and we are completing our playlist with two excellent selections. First, is Hector Berlioz’ Symphony Fantastique, and second some selections from the animated classic, The Nightmare Before Christmas. These two pieces may seem random, but they share something in common. Let’s first look at Berlioz’s work.
Written in 1830, Berlioz was telling the story of the life of a troubled artist. The last movement is describing a “witch’s sabbath,” taking place at the artist’s own funeral.
Two things will help us better understand what we are hearing.
First, Berlioz uses the Dies Irae melody, which is a plainchant melody from the middle ages included in specific Masses for church. Dies Irae means “Day of Wrath.” The melody was well known and appears dozens of times and in a variety of ways in classical music.
Some other examples of this melody from classical music and film scores:
Second, Berlioz uses unique special effects. At one point in the Witch’s Sabbath, the violin part is told to play “Con Legno,” which means to play with the wood of the bow. At this point, the wood of the bow is struck against the string. Con Legno creates an effect that sounds like dry bones rattling against each other.
The last work is the music from The Nightmare Before Christmas. First, this seems like a perfect end to our Halloween music journey because it brings one season to a close and opens up another not too far off. Second, it uses the Dies Irae melody in Jack’s Lament and several other places throughout the movie. Danny Elfman does adapt it to suit the film, but the main idea is easy to hear. Listen to this audio clip to compare the traditional melody used in the requiem mass with the chorus phrase from Jack’s Lament, and you will understand what I am describing.
Finally, enjoy your Halloween evening. All of us from M3 Creative Academy wish you a spooky night and buckets full of the good candy!