re: Can anybody recommend some dark classical music for me?

I'm currently working on a video project and require a some background music for one of the scenes. The scene is filled with death and darkness, by darkness I mean both the darkness that lies within people and the darkness of combat. Btw the scene is not medival warfare its modern. Also the character its centered around is rather dark himself but heroic in the same light. If you have any recommendations could you please post them? I would prefer that there be no lyrics since the purpose is background or theme music.

Mahler's 6th.  Or 1st...

Gorecki's 3rd.   The vocals are just another instrument in this one. 

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"Music is for fools, the future is prisons and math" - Alan Sparhawk

If you need something a little faster than what has been suggested, try sections of Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring". It literally caused a full scale riot at the premiere. Also, it has been used to death in movies and commercial, but the 1st & last selections of Orff's "Carmina Burana" can be quite powerful in a cinematic setting. The vocals are in Latin and therefore pretty much meaningless to the average American. One of the most effective uses I have ever seen of music in combat scenes was in "Patriot Games". We hear a brass choir playing "America the Beautiful" while the visual scene swaps back and forth from Admiral Greer's funeral in Arlington to the Columbian jungle where the abandoned covert American operatives left to twist in the wind are being overun. Along those lines, the Adagietto from Mahlers 5th Symphony can be used to create ironic tension between what is heard and what is seen.

 model563 wrote:

Gorecki's 3rd.   The vocals are just another instrument in this one. 

Thanks alot :), I think I might use this for the closing or memory scenes.

Fascinating question, I've never really thought about dark classical music. Carmina Burana instantly springs to mind, Verdi's Dies Irae is about as dramatic as they come, not sure if it'd class as dark though. Howabout the opening of Fauré's Requiem?  I'm not sure I've ever seen any recordings but I remember singing a four-part Elgar piece called The Tempest, a real hidden gem that would absolutely fit the bill.
On a similar note as written before, I think the setting of Barber's Adagio for Strings in Platoon as they're in the helicopter makes it one of the most memorable sequences in cinema.

Not sure how well it would work for your project but Hector Berlioz's Symphony Fantastique is great, especially the last movement.

You could also look into Gustav Holst's Mars, The Bringer of War and Benjamin Britten's War Requiem.

Definitely take a look into some 20th Century Music, there's a lot of darkness there. Some examples being Krzystof Penderecki's "Tren pamieci ofiarom Hiroszimy" (Threnody in memory of victims of Hiroshima), Henry Cowell's "The Banshee", and many others.

Good luck with your project!

You could always use "Dance to our Demise" from Fullmetal Alchemist, but the original title is "Botou". 

It's a dark-sounding piece.

"Requiem for a Dream" from Lord of the Rings would suit that situation nicely as well.

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"Might controls everything. And without strength, you cannot PROTECT anything. Let alone yourself." -Vergil

you should look up a German band called Lacrimosa
They are a gothic classical group...if youre lookinf for dark...you should look into them...
that and I can almost guarantee that their music would make whatever youre making unique with something that not many people have hear already.....

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Your conscience, ~Valicetra~

Moonlight Sonata is really deep. Vivaldi's winter gradually becomes opressive and sad (makes me cry).

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Siga la luna. Beso las estrellas.

Mahlers Symphony #13 -- BabiYar -- so named for mass exterminations in Russia -- can't get much darker than that. 

If you are looking for something a little more traditional, Bach Passicaglia and Fugue for pipe organ (e power biggs) or Brahms Symphony #4 -- 1st movement.

Also, Howard Hanson symphonies can have some very brooding dark stuff.

If you're looking for some dark instrumentals, you might want to check out some anime soundtracks.  It sounds cheesy, but they're mostly completely instrumental, and oftentimes very dark and deep to aid serious plotlines.

I'd suggest checking out the Blood+ soundtrack; the music was composed largely by Hans Zimmer.  He uses a lot of deep string orchestrations - cellos, contrabass, and the like, and the plot of the show centered around similiar situations as yours; fighting, combat, and the mental toll of warfare.  Fullmetal Alchemist had some pretty intense tracks, though I can't remember their names at the moment.

Like others have mentioned, "Carmina Burana" by Carl Orff comes to mind, specifically the "O Fortuna" selection.  It's just a tad cliche for your sort of scenario, mind you.  I also agree that "Requiem for a Dream" would be fitting.

If you want something a little more modernized, perhaps some of Apocalyptica's instrumentals.  I'd suggest "Romance" or "Farewell."

Best of luck with your production!