There is not enough Halloween, spooky or scary music in the orchestral and wind band repertoires. Big, Loud, Angry, Sneaky and most of all, that style of music never fails to captivate audiences as well as the imagination in listeners young and old alike. Edvard Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King” has always been one of my favorites. When Dan Bassett and the South Florida Pride Concert Band asked me to compose Halloween style music for them, I was absolutely ecstatic! Nobody has ever asked me to write that style as a commission before. I have a few that I have composed, but strictly for myself, because I wanted to! I started with my favorite gaming characters I LOVE to play: Ogres and Goblins and Trolls. Then I immediately felt the rhythm of those words and how it fit perfectly to the Wizard of Oz song “Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!” and that was all it took to get me putting notes on the page. It was so much fun to write. I know it is fun to perform. And audiences? They WILL be entertained. It has several great sound effects that involves everybody in the band, crazy fun melodies and you never know what is coming next. It is one of my favorites. It may end up being one of yours, too.
