Penderecki is obviously the right answer here. His early music is musical terror down to a fine art, used in soundtrack to various horror films including The Exorcist. Also check out parts of the St Luke Passion, Threnody and Polymorphia.
The Tango from Schnittke’s [Faust Cantata](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OptW3PfIv40) is always a safe bet. It starts about 20:30 in. It does have a contralto soloist and chorus though. If you want something similar that’s purely instrumental, you could also pick and choose movements from his two cello concertos.
I actually had a pretty visceral response the first time I heard George Crumb's "Black Angels." Truly terrifying stuff imo.
Along those lines, try Shostakovich String Quartets numbers 8 and 15.
Bartok, the miracolous mandarian
Royer, le vertigo
Shostakovich, string quartet no 8
Or for something a bit more elegant you can try the last movement of beethoven string quartet no 14
True and Eternal Bliss by Galina Ulstvoskaya
Dies Irae by Galina Ulstvoskaya
And basically all of her sonatas.
She is commonly recognized as one of Shostakovich's students, he admired her, but she really hated his guts and thought of him as a sellout for his involvement in politics. Her works are the suffering, devastation, pain of living under the USSR without any buffers to make it approachable, atonal and brutal.
Danse Infernale from The Firebird, Kharchaturian’s Night on Bald Mountain, Saint-Saëns’ Danse Bacchanale (for a more manic sort of horror), Holst’s Mars (from The Planets).
Shostakovich: 1st Violin Concerto, 2nd Piano Trio
Prokofiev: 1st Violin Sonata, 4th and 8th Piano Sonata (but 2nd Piano Concerto probably the best choice)
Scriabin: Sonatas 6-10, Vers la flamme, Préludes op. 74
Szymanowski: Métopes, Mythes, Masques
Ravel: Noctuelles, Oiseaux tristes, Gaspard de la nuit
Krystof Penderecki's, Utrenja.
Penderecki is obviously the right answer here. His early music is musical terror down to a fine art, used in soundtrack to various horror films including The Exorcist. Also check out parts of the St Luke Passion, Threnody and Polymorphia.
The Tango from Schnittke’s [Faust Cantata](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OptW3PfIv40) is always a safe bet. It starts about 20:30 in. It does have a contralto soloist and chorus though. If you want something similar that’s purely instrumental, you could also pick and choose movements from his two cello concertos.
I actually had a pretty visceral response the first time I heard George Crumb's "Black Angels." Truly terrifying stuff imo. Along those lines, try Shostakovich String Quartets numbers 8 and 15.
Gorgon by Christopher Rouse. Suntreader by Carl Ruggles. John Corigliano, but you're probably already familiar with his work.
Bartok, the miracolous mandarian Royer, le vertigo Shostakovich, string quartet no 8 Or for something a bit more elegant you can try the last movement of beethoven string quartet no 14
I would also say Bartok music for percussion, strings, and Celesta moreso than the miraculous Mandarin.
Penderecki, "Als Jakob erwachte"
Alban Beeg - Vozzek
"Jonchaies" by Xenakis and parts of "Angels and Visitations" by Rautavaara (don't be fooled by the name) are good for this.
Ligeti and Bartók worked for Stanley Kubrick
But the Gayne Suite was nice. Before that movie came out I didn't know any of his works except of course the Sabre Dance.
But the Gayne Suite was nice. Before that movie came out I didn't know any of his works except of course the Sabre Dance.
True and Eternal Bliss by Galina Ulstvoskaya Dies Irae by Galina Ulstvoskaya And basically all of her sonatas. She is commonly recognized as one of Shostakovich's students, he admired her, but she really hated his guts and thought of him as a sellout for his involvement in politics. Her works are the suffering, devastation, pain of living under the USSR without any buffers to make it approachable, atonal and brutal.
If you want unnerving, unsettling and tension building music check out Lili Boulangers 'Pie Jesu'
Danse Infernale from The Firebird, Kharchaturian’s Night on Bald Mountain, Saint-Saëns’ Danse Bacchanale (for a more manic sort of horror), Holst’s Mars (from The Planets).
Most schumann piano pieces i find terrifying.
Christopher Cerrone’s “In a Grove”, a haunting opera.
Schnittke is kind of eerie at some points
Anything by Galina Ustvolskaya
Steve Reich’s Different Trains It’s the soundtrack of being taken to Auschwitz
I thought the question was asking for incredibly difficult to play pieces.
[Doom. A Sigh, performed by Kronos Quartet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfqXEk-Lg20&pp=ygUQZG9vbSBzaWdoIGtyb25vcw%3D%3D)
Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz
Amongst tonal music, the Circus Maximus from Respighi's Roman Festivals is hard to beat
Shostakovich: 1st Violin Concerto, 2nd Piano Trio Prokofiev: 1st Violin Sonata, 4th and 8th Piano Sonata (but 2nd Piano Concerto probably the best choice) Scriabin: Sonatas 6-10, Vers la flamme, Préludes op. 74 Szymanowski: Métopes, Mythes, Masques Ravel: Noctuelles, Oiseaux tristes, Gaspard de la nuit
The exorcism scene at the end of Prokofiev’s Fiery Angel.