OT: Classical Music

[AgentZero]

So I've been working away on Hell is for Heroes, and happened to throw on Carmina Buranah O Fortuna, and found that it blew a mighty hole in my writer's block. Does anyone know of similar sounding pieces? Not necessarily by the same composer, but something with that same dark, brooding kind of feeling.

I can only keep Carmina on repeat for so long before the effect wears off, methinks.

[Baron Munchausen]

Now that's an interesting insight. Music therapy!

Brooding? Only parts of the O Fortuna chorus strike me as 'brooding'. The rest of it is so strident that it's frequently used as battle music. Surely you've seen some of the WW II movies that use O Fortuna during some big shoot-out? There are several. So in my mind 'similar' music to O Fortuna would be 'Classical Thunder' type pieces.

The "infamous" William Tell Overture by Rossini
(Hint: The Lone Ranger theme. )

The 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky (with cannons!

The 'Mars' movement from The Planets by Holst
(Now there is a famous piece of battle music!)
I think the 'Jupiter' movement from this work is also very stirring. It's more on the 'positive' side like the victory celebration after the battle though -- so it's only useful if there is a victory in this story.

Montagues and Capulets from the Opera 'Romeo and Juliet' by Prokoviev

Tchaikovsy is also supposed to have made a pretty fierce 'Montagues and Capulets' piece in his Romeo & Juliet Opera but I've never heard it.

In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg

The Ride of the Valkyries by Wagner
(Yet another 'infamous' piece of classical music )

There are more. Rather than type them all out I'll point you to the URL where you an order the CD:
http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/...al+Thunder.htm

And then after 'classic' classical music there are things like movie and game soundtracks. You might try the Starship Troopers soundtrack. Very 'military' stuff.

[AgentZero]

I tells ya music therapy can do wonders for you. I suppose 'brooding' isn't quite the right word for it, but there is something almost tragic about it. After all, whenever it's been used in WWII films, it's been when the good guys are losing, or during scenes that demonstrate the horrors of war. Hardly cheerful stuff, at any rate. Although if you want something that really brings tears to your eyes, try witnessing O Fortuna as the music for a dishwasher powder ad. I weep for the future, I really do.

As for the rest, I'll have a look into them, but thanks in advance!

[Hugh Manatee]

I don't recall the actual o fortuna piece, I can't place the music with that name in me head but, there's this chopin piece I really like called Revolution or something like that, I forget what number it was though, but usually searching chopin+revolution will find. It's pretty agressive anda little broody when played right and I find it good "conquest" music. Chopin in general rocks like that.

EDIT: I found an old compilation album with it on it, I've attached a low quality sample, it's Etude No.12 for piano in C minor, AKA 'Revolutionary' - 'Fall of Warsaw'

[Baron Munchausen]

Agent Zero wrote:

As for the rest, I'll have a look into them, but thanks in advance!

Let me know what you find 'works' to set the mood for writing. I'm curious.

[Hunpecked]

"Night on Bald Mountain" by Mussorgsky via Rimsky-Korsakov is quite a stirring piece of music.

If you can find it, you might like the battle music from the 1962 film "Taras Bulba".

I liked the music from the 1965 film "Battle of the Bulge", especially the German "Panzerlied" (just about anything seems more martial when you sing it in German).

The old "Victory at Sea" TV series had scads of music to complement its combat footage. You can find some samples here:

http://victoryatseaonline.com/victory_music.html

Edit: The "Conan the Barbarian" soundtrack also has some nice "barbaric" battle music.

[Cyclop]

I too am a huge classical fan while I am working or playing a game. I made a cd with most of the music already listed (Conan & O'Fortuna are favorites) but here are some more soundtrack/scores not listed:
- Star Wars Duel of the Fates
- 13th Warrior - Glow Worm
- Gladiator
- Hunt for Red October
- Star Trek Bird of Prey Song
- Last of the Mohicans
- The Patriot
Many others but these are a few on my own mix "Battlefield Classics". Let me know if anyone wants an MP3 of these. I would be happy to send a few over.

[TurinTurambar]

I was also wading thru the soundtrack samples of THIS at Buy.com and thought there was some pretty cool stuff on it.

[Morkilus]

You'll find nothing else by Orff that resembles O Fortuna. If you enjoy dark, huge choral pieces, there are many options though...

-Requiems by Mozart, Verdi, Brahms, Berlioz (usually the Dies Irae)
-Prokofiev's soundtrack for Alexander Nevsky, esp. "Battle on the Ice"
-Shostakovich's Babi Yar symphony (don't remember the number)
-Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde
-Anything by Wagner or Bruckner if you have the patience for it...
and finally
-end battle of Final Fantasy 7

All quite better quality than Orff, no offense.

[Hunpecked]

Not to resurrect a dead thread or anything, but I just saw "Van Helsing" on cable. The music for the opening sequence and for the carriage chase would seem to make suitable backgrounds for combat.