Classical Chat: Sounds like folk tales and legends

Dark and sinister forests where good and evil do battle; magic, monsters and heroes: it's no wonder folk tales and legends make gripping subjects for music.
The Wolf's Glen from Der Freischtz, a key work inspired by folkloreThe Wolf's Glen from Der Freischtz, a key work inspired by folklore
The Wolf's Glen from Der Freischtz, a key work inspired by folklore

Composers have seldom been able to resist tapping into the stories passed down from generation to generation when it comes to finding inspiration.

Related: Music inspired by great readsFolk stories often provide a great excuse to let the imagination roam: coming up with suitably dramatic or exotic music to match the supernatural goings-on, or writing descriptive music for the fantastical people and places within them.

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All sorts of pieces have been written based on traditional legends, from epic orchestral works to intimate songs and chamber pieces.

Here are a few of the very best to try out if you want an evening of storytelling:

Mozart - The Magic Flute: Masonic rituals and secrets put on stage or simply a wild tale of magic and mystery from Egypt? Either way, the opera is crammed with extraordinary music.

Weber - Der Freischütz: This is the opera that kicked off German romanticism with its vivid and dark tale involving magic bullets, a hunter and the sinister Wolf’s Glen.

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Schubert - Erlkönig: A terrifying trip into the woods for solo singer and piano as a father and child are hunted by the elf-king of the title. In four minutes Schubert conjures the thrill of the chase and the gloomy, gothic setting of the countryside.

Ravel - Gaspard de la Nuit: Three ferociously difficult pieces for piano based on morbid tales. Dive into the watery depths with Ondine the nymph and meet the crazy dwarf Scarbo.

Strauss - Till Eulenspiegel: Typically madcap collection of bawdy medieval escapades are set superbly to music as the title character wreaks havoc and evades justice and death in breezy fashion.