Anthems or ambiance, these are the tones that rattle your bones.
#76213
The song written by Johann Sebastian Bach titled Toccata and Fugue in D minor has very often been referred to as "The Phantom of the Opera" song, but this is very far from the truth.

Actually, the validity of Bach being the original composer has been questioned because, quite frankly, there isn't any proof. Either way, it doesn't change the fact that it is an EPIC peice of music and has been a significant backbone for many creepy scenes from movies throughout time. Bach died in 1750, but "T&F", as I will refer to it, wasn't first published until 1833 by Felix Mandelsshon (Germany). Anyway, I digress, because I did not intend to stray into a debate of who should be credited for writing one of the greatest organ pieces in history that has also become synonymous with horror movie culture. Rather, I wanted to make music fans/lovers aware of some of the times you may have heard this piece played, and not have realized what you were hearing... here are just a few samples of movies that you may or may not know of:
1: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) opening sequence to movie
2: The Black Cat (1934) starring Karloff and Lugosi
3: Fantasia (1940) Yes, the Disney classic, but it's played by a symphony instead of a solo organist. Pretty neat!
4: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) another classic Disney film. T&F is played by Capt. Nemo on board the Nautilus
5: The Phantom of The Opera (1962) This is the film in which the Phantom (Herbert Lom) is seen playing T&F on his organ, in his lair under the opera house, and is the sole reason why it is referred to as the "Phantom of the Opera Song"... Which is strange to me, because this movie didn't seem that popular. At least not as popular as the actual musical version written by Andrew Lloyd Webber, or the 1925 version with Lon Cheney Sr. but never-the-less it is the root cause of all the mislabeling and confusion.
6: a piece of T&F can also be heard in one of the scenes from the Leo DiCaprio movie "The Aviator"
7: Okay, now who hasn't bought a "Spooky Tunes" type CD around Halloween time at some point that didn't have T&F featured on it? Go ahead, thumb through your collection and find it... You KNOW it's there on one of 'em, heck maybe even 2 or 3 of them! You're gonna go look now aren't you? AREN'T you?! :lol:

Can you think of any other times you've heard this CREEPtastic organ music played?? Join in if you want, and post up some references so we can hear

So, sorry for all the movie references in the "music" section, but I just wanted to have a bit of fun and set the record straight about one of my all time favorite pieces of SPOOKtacular music, and maybe a bit of Halloween related trivia as well. For sure my favorite to play on Halloween night for all the victims....err... I mean, trick-or-treaters to listen to. :twisted:

Hope this might have been a neat and fun way to help start getting people motivated for the festivities this year!! AS IF YOU NEEDED ANY MOTIVATION, RIGHT? I leave you with this... Tell me that organ isn't beautiful!