Expert: David Froom - 4/20/2004

Question
Hello,
Thank you for your prompt response.

Yes the play is set in England in 1887. It is adapted from a short story of Wilde's, which was written for children, so will be for a family audience. Having said that, it is supposed to be scary, especially the first entrance of the ghost. I am looking for three specific pieces, as well as some more general sections to cover scene changes, interval etc. The three pieces are:

1/. to cover a silent section of the play, where the family are searching the corridors of the old house. About 1 minute in duration.

2/. a slow, atmospheric piece where, after the family has gone to bed, the clock on the wall slowly turns to midnight, and the ghost enters in a ghoulish mist! About 30-40 seconds in duration, though could continue under the ghost's first speech, which runs about another minute.

3/. where there is thunder and lightning outside, the periodic flashes lighting up the ghost's portrait on the wall. About 30 seconds.

Does this give a better idea?

Any pointers gratefully received!

Thank you,

Jamie-------------------------
Followup To
Question -
Hi,

I will shortly be directing a stage adaptation of Oscar Wilde's "The Canterville Ghost". I am looking for suitable music to use in the play, to create the right atmosphere and (hopefully) be contemporary to the period (late 19c).
Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you,

Jamie
Answer -
Jamie,

The late 19th century is one of the richest periods of classical music, with a HUGE range of music (and resultant atmospheres).  If you are as specific as possible -- even to decade, country (I assume England), and specific moods you are seeking to evoke -- I may be able to be of more help, at least in terms of pointing you in the right direction.  "Ghostly," can mean so many things: eerie or spooky, but also more threatening or frightening;  it could be ethereal or clangerous.  And are there any other kinds of music you are looking for, or is it ghostly throughout? (Sorry, I haven't read this play, though I know some Wilde.) Please give me more to go on.

David Froom

Answer
I am going to suggest 8 pieces for you to listen to, all written within 25 years or so of 1885.  I am guessing you will want to pick places from these, and probably fade in/fade out -- or find a striking moment of beginning/ending with a fade out/in on the other side.  

If you track these down (any decent library with a decent music collection would have these), and if any of it works, great.  If not, you might let me know why not, and I'll try to respond.

In each case, you may wish to jump around -- or if possible, listen to the whole works (sometimes 30 minutes or more) looking for places you might be able to use.

Some of these have singing.  The singing is surrounded by parts without singing, so you could excerpt from those parts, if you object to the sound of the voice (singing in German).  Also, on any CD or LP you find these pieces on, you might find things you like better packaged with it, so jump around.

Here goes:
Straight-forward scary
Modest Mussorgsky:  NIght on Bald Mountain
Camille Saint-Saëns: Danse Macabre

Hyper-tragic/dramatic:
Gustav Mahler:  Symphony #6

Gently tragic:
Gustav Mahler:  Kindertotenlieder (Songs on the Death of Children)

Weirdly spooky (in spots, or throughout):
Arnold Schoenberg:  Verklärte Nacht
Arnold Schoneberg:  Erwartung
Arnold Schoenberg:  Pierrot Lunaire
Anton Webern: 5 pieces for string quartet

I am recommending Russian, German, and French music.  The English composers at this time were not so much into the spooky things.  But Wilde, of course, had an affinity for Paris, and his play Salome was turned into an opera (a strikingly expressionist one) by the German composer Richard Strauss.  So this wouldn't be far off.

Happy listening,
David Froom