Can you suggest some "dark" composers of classical music?

Bach had dark moments.

Gounod ‘s work became the theme for Alfred Hitchcock.

Shostakovich can be pretty dark. His String Quartet No. 8 is one of the darkest works of classical music I know. Also, the first movement of his 6th symphony is a good one.

I’m diggin through my iTunes here…

Anything in a minor key is a candidate…

Bach cello suites – maybe not always dark, but not cheery and playful, either

Moussorgsky: Night On Bald Mountain

Satie:Préludes Flasques
Satie: Aperçus Désagréables
Satie: Peccadilles Importunes

Brahms: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 3 in D minor

Kronos Quartet have a version of Jimi Hendrix’s Purple Haze that is amazing.

Beethoven

Wagner had some interesting pieces.

If I remember correctly, Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring had some interesting moments, both bright and dark.

Some of Bach’s music is pretty dark.

A lot of times it would be anybody who wrote in a minor key.

I just listens to the above linked music by Shostakovich. It was pretty dark.

Hector Berlioz Symphony fantastique Oooh…shivers!

www.hberlioz.com

My two favorites A Night on Bald Mountain and Toccato and Fugue in D minor have already been mentioned but here is an awesome CD of dark classical music downloaded a while ago. Its got some good stuff on there.

Saint-Saëns
Tchaikovsky
The 99 Darkest Pieces Of Classical Music

Chopin, Richter, and Rachmaninoff are among the many listed here.

@uberbatman Maybe you and @wundayatta ought to meetup for a little music making on his bald mountain. lol

Mahler’s symphonies no. 7 and 9, if want to hear something really dark and depressing…

These are excellent.

Maybe some Alan Hovhaness

“LENTO SOSTENUTO TRANQUILLO MA CANTABILE”
From Symphony No. 3 (“Symphony of Sorrowful Songs”)
Written by Henryk Mikolaj Górecki
David Zinman, conductor
Dawn Upshaw, soprano
Performed by London Sinfonietta

For me, nothing could top the Danse Macabre by Saint-Saens

Oooh, yes, second the Górecki, @Pachyderm!

The saddest piece I know is Tchaikovsky’s 6th symphony (“Pathetique”) – the despair is palpable.

Bruckner
Arvo Pärt
Bernard Herrmann