Back when I did a weekly radio show, I always loved it when the air date coincided with Halloween. Composing music for macabre themes and horror elements is always a lot of fun and throughout history there are great pieces to bring out the underworld. On the art music side, one tends to hear Saint-Saens' Dance Macabre which is a perfect piece to set the tone. But there are lots of other great choices too and I thought I'd share a few of the pieces that might fit that bill.

Dirk Brosse and the Brussels Philharmonic explored the work of film composer Mark Isham at this year’s World Soundtrack Awards in this first album to shine a spotlight on the composer’s film and television work. It will be released by Silva. Joining the orchestra for some of these studio recordings include the composer himself on trumpet as well as Thomas Hooten (the LA Philharmonic principal trumpet). The selections include a good number of jazz-infused moments from Isha

Releasing in November, Silva is sharing fans a live concert release, Stand By For Action! Gerry Anderson fans may recall a similarly-titled compilation from Silva a few years back that included a lot of the iconic television music from this British production company that introduced the world to Supermarionette TV. That release featured classic theme songs as well as fan-favorite cues. In April of this year (2022), a full symphony orchestra was brought together in Birmingh

Mark Abel--Spectrum Isabel Bayrakdarian, soprano. Carol Rosenberger, piano; Hila Plitmann, soprano. Kindra Scharich, mezzo-soprano. Adam Millstein, violin. Max Opferkuch, clarinet; David Samuel, viola. Dominic Cheli, piano; Trio Barclay: Dennis Kim, violin. Jonah Kim, cello. Sean Kennard, piano; Jeff Garza, horn. Christy Kim, flute; Jeffrey LaDeur, piano. Delos DE 3592 Disc One: Total Time: 43:45 Disc Two: Total Time: 48:06 Recording: ****/**** Performance:

Director Ti West (The Sacrament; The Innskeepers) turns now to an origin story for a primary character in this year’s X. Pearl presents the backstory of the poor farm girl trapped dealing with a devout mother and sick father with her eyes set on the sort of glamor-filled life she sees in the movies. The film appeared at this year’s Venice and Toronto Film Festivals and soon after hit theaters in mid-September. Tyler Bates and Chelsea Wolfe turned out decidedly creepy score