Diabolus in Musica

[ehpianist]

Can you help me make a list  of all pieces associated with the devil, hell and other such infernal themes.  Not just for piano, but for all classical genres.

Liszt Dante
Liszt Mephisto Waltzes
Moussorgsky Night on Bald Mountain
Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique
Mozart Don Giovanni

please continue... no matter how cliché please write down all the pieces that come to mind and their composers.

Elena
https://www.pianofourhands.com

[xvimbi]

Some pieces that come to mind:

Dvorak: Kate and the Devil (opera)
Guiseppe Tartini: Sonata in G minor (The Devil's Trill)
Frank: Le Chasseur Maudit
anything dealing with Faust, e.g. Gounod: Faust (opera)

I'll keep my eyes open.

[rafant]

Saint Saens: Danse Macabre
Mozart: Don Giovanni
Dukas: The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini
Liszt:: Totentanz

[zz]

a lot of Scriabins music
vers la flamme (towards the flames)op72
poeme satanique op36
sonata 6 op62
sonata 9 op68(black mass)
I others that I cant remember right now

[ujos3]

Alkan    Scherzo Diabolique

Meyerbeer       Robert le Diable (opera)
Liszt                Robert le Diable variations (piano)
Chopin            Robert le Diable (piano, cello)-Gran duo concertant

Stravinsky       Histoire d'un soldat
 

[ehpianist]

How could I forget, Prokofiev's Suggestion Diabolique and Ligeti's l'escalier du diable.

More orchestral/chamber works if you can think of any.

Elena
https://www.pianofourhands.com

[quasimodo]

giussepe tartini "La Sonate du Diable" (Violin sonata)

[quasimodo]

Liszt : Mephisto Polka ; Parcours satanique, Paraphrase sur Robert le Diable

I've just discovered "Diabolus in Musica" stands for the interval F-B, considered devilish in ancient times, because of its dissonance...

[quasimodo]

Weber : Freischutz

[SteinwayTony]

Prokofiev's Opus 4 cycle for solo piano has a piece called Suggestion Diabolique...I think it's the fourth one (there are four in total) but I'm not sure.

[steinway88]

Scriabin: Prometheus:Poem of Fire, The Preparation for the Final Mystery

[donjuan]

Bellini - Norma

[quixoticcafe]

Smetana's Opera The Devil's Wall (Certiva Stena) composed in 1882

The opera deals with plans for the marriage of Vok Vítkovic, whose courtiers desire an heir for him, while the hermit Benesÿ prefers that he stay single, to ensure the bequest of his property to the church. Benesÿ is helped by the devil Rarach, who sometimes assumes his identity and brings Vok into danger by damming the river Vltava, an event recounted in local Czech legend. All comes out well enough in the end, when Hedwika shows her love by crossing the flooded area, a demonstration of her love for Vok, who marries her, while Benesÿ breaks the curse of the dam.

Heinrich Marschner's Opera The Vampire

The subject is taken from Lord Byron's tale of the same name. The scene is laid in Scotland in the seventeenth century and illustrates the old Scottish legend of the vampire, a phantom monster which can only exist by sucking the heart-blood of sleeping mortals.

Cesar Franck's Oratorio- Les Beatitudes (1869-79) One of The Bass Soloists sings the part of Satan.

[rafant]

Tchaikovski: Overture Francesca da Rimini (after Inferno V, by Dante)
Tchaikovski: Symphonic Poem Manfredo
Rachmaninoff: Opera Francesca da Rimini

[ehpianist]

Great suggestions!  Please keep them coming!


Elena
https://www.pianofourhands.com

[sharon_f]

Two more operas come to mind.

"The Devil and Daniel Webster" by Douglas Moore
and
"The Devils of Loudon" by Penderecki

[ujos3]

J. Strauss             Diavolin-Polka Op.244

K. Penderecki       The Daemons of Loudun (Opera)

P. Hindemith         The Demon (Opera and Ballet suite)

[allchopin]

Chopin: 'Devil's Trill' Prelude in Eb minor Op. Post
Liszt: Mephisto Waltz (Mephisto Polka, what is this...)
Wagner: Flight of the Valkries

[rafant]

3 more operas:

Monteverdi: Orfeo
Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice
Offenbach: Orphee aux Enfers

To Allchopin: Why Flight of the Walkiries?

[zz]

Chopin: 'Devil's Trill' Prelude in Eb minor Op. Post
Yo, what do you mean
Chopin never wrote a posthumous prelude in eb minor

[maxy]

BTW

Supposedly Suggestion Diabolique is a mistranslation...
A closer "interpretation" would be "obsessive hallucination".  Nothing related to the devil. (that's what a Russian chick told me).

How about Schubert's Erlkonig?

[allchopin]

zz:
https://www.riprense.com/Chopin.htm

A recording of the lost prelude here (by Kallberg):
https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~kallberg/Prelude.mp3

[xvimbi]

A recording of the lost prelude here (by Kallberg):
https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~kallberg/Prelude.mp3

Man, when Chopin wrote this he must have been on drugs or in serious troubles. Maybe the performance is just bad, or my speakers have a mind of their own...

[allchopin]

Man, when Chopin wrote this he must have been on drugs or in serious troubles.

I guess you don't consider slowly dying from TB serious troubles.. 

[zz]

zz:
https://www.riprense.com/Chopin.htm

A recording of the lost prelude here (by Kallberg):
https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~kallberg/Prelude.mp3

Thanx
interresting,
new music by chopin.
never thought I would experience that.
is there more stuff like that somewhere...

[ravel]

it doesnt say  anything about the piece in its title, but prokofiev's toccata opus 11 is one hellish piece.

[rafant]

Another opera:

Arrigo Boito: Mefistofele

[ehpianist]

BTW

Supposedly Suggestion Diabolique is a mistranslation...
A closer "interpretation" would be "obsessive hallucination". Nothing related to the devil. (that's what a Russian chick told me).

How about Schubert's Erlkonig?

Very interesting comment about the Prokofiev mistranslation.  I will have to investigate that.

Ah, Die Erlkonig!  I forgot about that one. Thank you.

Elena
https://www.pianofourhands.com

[klavierkonzerte]

paganini caprice for solo violin no.13  nicknamed the devils chuckle

[rafant]

Humperdinck: Hansel und Gretel (opera)

For further investigation, since I'm not sure if the source of the work is demon-related:

Dvorak: The Noon Witch.
Auber: Fra Diavolo (Diavolo sounds as demon in spanish: "Diablo", but maybe I'm wrong, sorry)

Since sorcery is a demon manifestation, any witch-related music works well for this list.

[ehpianist]

Doesn't Stravinsky's Rake Progress fall into this category?  Isn't it a Faustian tale?

Elena
https://www.pianofourhands.com

[chopinisque]

How come no one's mentioned Tartini's Devil's Trill?