A Haunting Halloween Music Playlist Including Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor Guaranteed to Send Chills Up Your Spine

What’s one important element needed to set the scene for a truly haunting Halloween party? Did I hear you say, “Irksome, skin crawling music that evoke spooky and scary,” that’s what I thought. So, here’s a truly haunted music playlist recommended by (And my exclusive interview with) local master pianist and ghoul organist Sir Michael Barnes, who recently for a Halloween concert performing on a Hook and Hastings tracker pipe organ of 1883 held at The Old Church in Portland, Oregon kept everyone spellbound in their seats.

What's important for you musically when performing on an tracker pipe organ? I like to think I'm amusing and amazing the Old Church audience, who are used to lovely, classy, weekly concerts of classical music. Perhaps this Halloween concert is just as lovely, in it's way, but a little more theatrical and silly.

Why is that important? It's all part of showing the audience members of 2016 that a historical tracker pipe organ built by the Hook & Hastings brothers in 1883 can still be enjoyed in the present, with seasonal music, chosen for this creepy holiday.

How did you choose your repertoire for this haunting Halloween event? I usually have a guest appearance or two on this concert, but unfortunately not this year. I will play all organ solos, and to choose these, well, it involves a broom, cauldron and a magic wand. With a mixture of dexterity, poetry and senility thrown in . . .

What songs did you plan to play on the organ? Or was it a surprise? It's always a surprise, (even to me!) although Bach's Toccata and Fugue in d minor is a staple. Which means I have to practice even at midnight.

What special skill and talent is needed to perform on a Hook and Hastings organ? On an organ from this period, of this type, all controls of the sound are by the hands and feet. There is a bit of mechanical noise as the levers and "trackers" track the keys and pedals depressed, and send the messages to the varied pipes to play. The shutters open and close for volume control. On this organ, when I 'couple' the two keyboards together, or the keyboards to the pedals, a ghostly thing happens: the keys depress by themselves while my hands are elsewhere. The organ can be hand-pumped. The pumper in this recital would be called a "pumpkin" . . .

Did you plan to perform in costume? That has been my tradition, but let me tell you, wearing a kilt can be risky on that old wood bench, for several reasons.

A Haunting Halloween music playlist guaranteed to send chills up your spine recommended by Sir Michael Barnes, Ghoul Organist

1. Marche Funebre d’une Marionnette composer Charles Gounod
2. Scherzo from Grand Sonata in E Flat composer Dudley Buck
3. March of the Dwarfs and In the Hall of the Mountain King composer Edvard Grieg
4. Theme from The Munsters composer Jack Marshall
5. Theme from The Addams Family composer Vic Mizzy
6. The Graceful Ghost Rag composer William Bolcom
7. Theme from JAWS composer John Williams
8. Witch Doctor composer Ross Bagdasarian
9. Toccata and Fugue in d minor composer J.S. Bach

Sir Michael Barnes was knighted in Dunkeld Cathedral, Scotland, in a freak accident. Westminster Presbyterian Kirk and Temple Beth Israel are today his favorite haunts.

Pacific Youth Choir staff biography says, “Michael Barnes has accompanied singers and instrumentalists of all ages since his earliest years in Seattle. He is heard on several CDs and has played for Pavarotti, Sarah Brightman, Dawn Upshaw, and visiting singers from the Chicago Lyric, Houston Grand, and Metropolitan Operas. He has taxied Sherill Milnes in his car and hugged Marilyn Horne. No coward, he has toured tirelessly for Community Concerts and is one timid third of the hapless and hilarious comedy troupe "The BoZoArtZ Duo." He collaborates with the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus, the Bravo! Vancouver Chorale, Portland Opera, Portland State University, Marylhurst University, and holds sway over the noon concert series at The Old Church. He is the organist at Westminster Presbyterian Church and assists at Temple Beth Israel and Sixth Church of Christ Scientist.”