Here's something you might be interested in.
For Halloween, there's always Mussorgsky's Night on the Bald Mountain.
The initial inspiration was a short story by Nikolai Gogol based on Russian folk myths.
The story in the music is about a mountain without trees, bald, near Kiev. Legend has it witches would gather there to hold sabbath.
In a letter, Mussorgsky explains:
"So far as my memory doesn't deceive me, the witches used to gather on this mountain, gossip, play tricks and await their chief — Satan. On his arrival they, i.e. the witches, formed a circle round the throne on which he sat, in the form of a kid, and sang his praise. When Satan was worked up into a sufficient passion by the witches' praises, he gave the command for the sabbath, in which he chose for himself the witches who caught his fancy."
Allow me to clarify this.
When he says "Satan" he means a male goat the witches brought for Satan to possess.
When he says, "...the witches who caught his fancy." he means Russian-witch women getting worked into a frenzy and having sexual relations with the goat.
This is paganism on a heroic scale.
What Mussorgsky is going for is Satanic Bacchanalia and I think he gets it.
Of course, the music ends as the sun rises on St. John's Day and good triumphs over evil--or does it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHLnQQwtsPg&feature=related
For Halloween, there's always Mussorgsky's Night on the Bald Mountain.
The initial inspiration was a short story by Nikolai Gogol based on Russian folk myths.
The story in the music is about a mountain without trees, bald, near Kiev. Legend has it witches would gather there to hold sabbath.
In a letter, Mussorgsky explains:
"So far as my memory doesn't deceive me, the witches used to gather on this mountain, gossip, play tricks and await their chief — Satan. On his arrival they, i.e. the witches, formed a circle round the throne on which he sat, in the form of a kid, and sang his praise. When Satan was worked up into a sufficient passion by the witches' praises, he gave the command for the sabbath, in which he chose for himself the witches who caught his fancy."
Allow me to clarify this.
When he says "Satan" he means a male goat the witches brought for Satan to possess.
When he says, "...the witches who caught his fancy." he means Russian-witch women getting worked into a frenzy and having sexual relations with the goat.
This is paganism on a heroic scale.
What Mussorgsky is going for is Satanic Bacchanalia and I think he gets it.
Of course, the music ends as the sun rises on St. John's Day and good triumphs over evil--or does it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHLnQQwtsPg&feature=related