The Devil Has All The Best Tunes: Part 1

The Devil Has 

All The Best Tunes

Part One: 

When the Devil Came to Music 

In this new three part series we will look at how western music evolved to not only accept pagan, occult and witchcraft themes but also embrace them and be inspired by them.

How music was demonised in early music history

In the West, around the 9th century AD music wasn’t so great. Just tribal and folk songs and plainchant by monks which later evolved into Gregorian chant ( still not very exciting). Anything more interesting or breaking from the Christian and catholic norms was decidedly frowned upon; it must be evil and the work of Satan.

Not much happened for years but fast forward to the 17th century and music got a whole lot more interesting!

Unfortunately for the likes of JS Bach, the church weren’t so impressed.

Too many notes!

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was deeply admired in his lifetime for his skill as an organist, but not always appreciated for his compositions. In fact, several church authorities criticised his music. 

Johann expressing his views on what the church said

The old robed ones and bishops thought his music was  “too elaborate” for worship

Many church leaders during Bach’s time preferred simple, clear, modest church music.

Bach, however, wrote:

• highly complex counterpoint

• rich harmonies

• long, expressive melodies

• intricate fugues

Some felt this distracted from the sacred text rather than serving it.

A famous complaint:

Bach’s employer in Leipzig, the church superintendent Johann August Ernesti, accused him of writing music that was “too theatrical.”

To the more conservative clergy, Bach’s powerful emotional style seemed overly dramatic for Lutheran worship.

They were more keen on the music of George Frideric Handel (1685–1759) was one of the most important composers of the Baroque period. His music is known for its grandness, emotional power, and dramatic flair. He wrote in many genres, but is especially famous for oratorios like Messiah (in 1741).  

Handel: available for weddings, festivals…

So much for the religious side of things though let’s get to where he things get more darker and juicy…

Let’s look at John Dee

John Dee (1527–1609), the Elizabethan magus, mathematician, and astrologer, did not compose music in the way that Bach or Handel did, but he did have a deep relationship with music — especially mystical, mathematical, and angelic music.

Dee believed music was a divine, mathematical language

Dee’s happy face

Dee followed the Pythagorean (below) and Neoplatonic idea that music reflects the harmony of the cosmos.

To him, music was not merely artistic — it was:

• mathematical

• spiritual

• magical

• part of the structure of creation

He believed musical intervals mirrored the proportions that shaped the heavens, angels, and sacred geometry.

So for Dee, music was cosmic harmony made audible.

Dee and the “angelic music” of his scrying sessions

In his angelic conversations (with scryer Edward Kelley), Dee describes:

• hearing angelic chants

• perceiving divine harmonies

• receiving the Enochian “keys,” which he believed had a musical cadence

Some angels even instructed him in the melodic intonation of sacred names.

The “music” associated with these sessions would have been:

• otherworldly

• chant-like

• monotonic or modal

• intended for magical or ritual use

Modern reconstructions of Enochian calls often use plainchant-like melodies because that is closest to what Dee described.

 Dee’s library shows his deep interest in musical theory

Dee owned books on:

• mathematical music theory

• Pythagorean harmonics

• celestial harmony

• ancient Greek music

This suggests he thought of music as a scientific and magical discipline, not just entertainment.

So what was John Dee’s music like?

Although Dee did not leave behind composed works, the music that surrounded and influenced him was:

Renaissance polyphony

Clear, sacred, modal choral music in the style of Tallis and Byrd.

Courtly instrumental music

Lute songs and consort pieces like those of John Dowland.

Chant-like angelic intonations

Simple, solemn vocal tones used in ritual or angelic communication.

Mathematical and mystical music

Music understood as cosmic harmony—“the music of the spheres.”

And so the seeds were being sown by the likes of John Dowland (1563-1626)  for music and lyrics that explored the magical, the natural and the darker side of human spirit. Even Tudor Britain had goths!

Dowland: the 16th century Eddie Van Halen

The Devil’s Fifth: the tritone that shapes music into darker forms.

In music theory, the “Devil’s Fifth” usually refers to the tritone — an interval that spans three whole tones (e.g., F–B, B–F, C–F#, etc.). It is also sometimes called:

• The Devil’s interval

• Diabolus in musica (Latin: “the devil in music”)

• The augmented fourth (A4) or diminished fifth (d5)

Why is it called the Devil’s Fifth?

During the medieval and early Renaissance periods, Western church musicians considered the tritone highly dissonant, unstable, and difficult to sing within early modal systems. It didn’t fit well into the modes used for plainchant, and theorists warned composers to avoid it.

Although the idea that the Church banned the tritone is exaggerated, it was definitely treated with suspicion because:

• It sounded harsh, unresolved, and unsettling

• It disrupted the smooth, sacred aesthetic of early church music

• It created tension that wasn’t stylistically acceptable in medieval worship

Because of that unsettling quality, it gradually gained a reputation as diabolical, hence the nickname.

What does it sound like?

The tritone divides the octave exactly in half, giving it a very tense, eerie sound. Today, it’s used deliberately to create:

• Mystery

• Unease

• Dark or supernatural atmosphere

https://youtu.be/lHJ7tyGAHRw?si=Yko9ugaOeyMt4BC0

Pagan and witchcraft influence in classical music:

Classical music just loved witchcraft and the occult!

By the 18th and 19th centuries, the western religions were loosening their grip on what art, literature and music could be like. During the classical, romantic and modern music periods composers could run riot with musical and lyrical themes and landscapes. This was a period of intense musical activity and development and sure enough good ol’ Nick had a big part to play!

Here’s some compositions that either refer to or are influenced by witchcraft and the occult. Many of modern rock and metal songs are influenced by these works.

Modest Mussorgsky – Night on Bald Mountain (1867)

Perhaps the most famous “witchcraft” piece in classical music.

It depicts a witches’ Sabbath on St John’s Eve, complete with demons and dark rituals.

The wild, swirling orchestration makes it a favourite in Halloween concerts.

Modest: kinda rough around the edges but hey he was a musician after all!

Hector Berlioz – Symphonie Fantastique, Movement V: Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath (1830)

Berlioz imagines himself witnessing his own funeral attended by witches, sorcerers, monsters, and spirits.

The “Dies Irae” chant merges with grotesque dances—a masterpiece of Gothic Romanticism.

Carl Maria von Weber – Der Freischütz (1821), The Wolf’s Glen Scene

One of the most chilling moments in opera.

A dark pact is made in a haunted ravine filled with spirits, demonic visions, and magic bullets.

Often described as the first “Gothic horror” scene in opera.

Igor Stravinsky – The Rite of Spring (1913)

Not explicitly witchcraft, but deeply pagan.

Ritualistic music depicting ancient sacrifices, earth magic, and primal ceremonies.

Its pounding rhythms give it an almost spell-casting intensity.

Paul Dukas – The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (1897)

A mischievous tale from Goethe about a magic spell gone wrong.

Light-hearted but very magical, filled with enchanted broomsticks and runaway magic.

Guiseppe Verdi – Macbeth (1847/1865)

Verdi’s operatic version of Shakespeare features witches who prophesy Macbeth’s rise and fall.

The famous “Witches’ Chorus” is atmospheric, eerie, and full of dark energy.

Franz Liszt – Mephisto Waltz No. 1 (1860)

Inspired by the devilish stories of Faust.

Liszt frequently explored the supernatural, and this waltz portrays Mephistopheles using music as seduction and chaos.

More compositions worth checking out 

Giacomo Puccini – Turandot, Act I (1926)

Béla Bartók – The Miraculous Mandarin (1926)

Henry Purcell – Dido and Aeneas (1689), The Sorceress & Witches

Gustav Holst – The Planets (1914–1916)

Not literal paganism, but heavily inspired by Roman gods and astrology:

• Mars, the Bringer of War

• Venus, the Bringer of Peace

• Mercury, the Winged Messenger

• Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, etc.

Holst was deeply interested in mysticism, Hinduism, astrology, and folklore.

Béla Bartók – Cantata Profana (1930)

Edvard Grieg – Peer Gynt (1875)

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – The Snow Maiden (1882)

Manuel de Falla – El Amor Brujo (1915)

Frederick Delius – Song of the High Hills (1911)

Claude Debussy – Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (1894)

 

Other Notable witchcraft and Pagan-Themed Classical Works

• Ottorino Respighi – The Fountains of Rome / The Pines of

• Richard Wagner – Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, etc.

• Zoltán Kodály – Háry János Suite

• Alexander Scriabin – Poem of Ecstasy, Prometheus

• Henryk Górecki – Beatus Vir and other works

• Ralph Vaughan Williams – The Solent, In the Fen Country

Carl Orff – Carmina Burana (1936)

Trivia time: Iron Maiden once used a part from the piece

Béla Bartók – Cantata Profana (1930)

Jean Sibelius – Pohjola’s Daughter

Other Notable Pagan-Themed Classical Works

• Alexander Scriabin – Poem of Ecstasy, Prometheus

• Henryk Górecki – Beatus Vir and other works

Less-known but witchcraft-themed works

• Johann Hummel – Witches’ Dance (Hexentanz)

• Franz Xaver Sussmayr – Der Spiegel von Arkadien (Witch’s Scene)

Obscure but deeply magical.

• Leoš Janáček – The Cunning Little Vixen

And so, that brings us, musically speaking up to the 20th century. Join us for part two to see what the Devil had in store for then!

You can hear most of these pieces of music on our YouTube playlist below: