All Souls’ Day marks the end of Allhallowtide, the second of two Christian celebrations related to Halloween (the first being yesterday, All Saints’ Day.)

All Souls’ is a celebration that commemorates the dead. Not surprisingly, there are loads of great pieces linked with death – our own or that of a loved one. One of my favorites is “Bring Us, O Lord God”, a setting of a prayer for a peaceful death by the poet and priest John Donne, composed by the English cathedral musician William H. Harris.

Halloween is a funny holiday. It has its light, fun side, with kids, costumes, candy, parties. It also has a darker side, making us contemplate death as the summer world “dies” into winter. Somewhere in between, we delight in facing our darkest fears from a safe distance – like watching a horror movie from the safety of our living rooms.

The Dance of Death is an old allegory for the harsh reality of life – no matter who you are in life, how important or unimportant, we all end up dead in the end. Perhaps this holiday helps us address this reality with a sense of humor. Camille Saint-Saëns‘ famous symphonic poem, Danse Macabre, had its beginnings as an art song that he wrote, in which death plays his violin, calling souls to their death. Shortly after he wrote it, Saint-Saëns expanded, adapted, and crafted into this Halloween favorite. It follows a predictable, but fun hallows eve legend – death awakens at midnight, dances his wild dance, but returns to the grave with the morning sun.

We all have our own rituals when preparing for a holiday. Some put up the Christmas Tree the day after Thanksgiving, some wait until Christmas Eve. Maybe there are TV specials or movies that you MUST watch every year. Some decorate like mad a month before Valentine’s or St. Patrick’s day. Or maybe you’re really into Americana on the 4th.

Every October, I have a canon of scary short stories that I read. It always begins with Poe, especially the Fall of the House of Usher, includes a handful of things like Sleepy Hollow, and ends with a generous portion of Blackwood and Lovecraft. But for now, let’s stick with Poe – how about The Masque of the Red Death?

André Caplet is mainly remembered for his orchestrations of the piano works of his friend, Claude Debussy, especially Clair de Lune. It’s difficult living in the shadow of such a great master; Caplet left behind a generous catalog of works in many different genres, including this gothic tone poem inspired by Poe’s short story. A classic string quartet instrumentation is greatly augmented by the harp, which makes the small ensemble sound much larger than five players.