Posted by In the series Red Queen on Amazon Prime, Ezequiel keeps whistling a song that becomes the protagonist: discover this famous piece of classical music.
There is something weirdly fascinating in the series Red Queen, which landed on Amazon Prime in February 2024: an obscure atmosphere, an intelligent investigator, a cruel kidnapper, and many mysteries that need to be revealed. The show is based on the book of the same title by Juan Gómez-Jurado, following the intuitions of Antonia Scott, the most intelligent woman in the world, helping the Red Queen project to solve the worst crimes of our days.
Directed by Koldo Serra, Red Queen catches the spectators with its darkness. The villain is scary because it impersonates inexplicable evil: for most of Season 1, Ezequiel seems to torture his victims even though they are not guilty of anything. Their parents are the real targets of his actions, but that makes him even scarier for those at his mercy.
A good villain needs a dark aura around him. With Ezequiel, the creepy role is played by the song he whistles when his victims are around. Something many of us recognize from our knowledge of classical music, even though it’s not immediate to identify. The song that keeps following you in Red Queen, whistled by Ezequiel in the scariest scenes, is In the Hall of the Mountain King, from the Peer Gynt Suite No 1 by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg. You can listen to it below.
In the Hall of the Mountain King is one of the most famous pieces of 1800’s classical music. It is part of the larger work Peer Gynt, which Grieg composed as incidental music for Henrik Ibsen’s play of the same name.
The composition depicts the protagonist, Peer Gynt, sneaking into the hall of the mountain king, where trolls and other mythical creatures reside. The music is known for its dramatic and intense nature, reflecting Peer’s misadventures in the mountain hall. The piece features a repetitive and building melody that creates a sense of tension and excitement, making it one of Grieg’s most well-known and frequently performed compositions.
In the Hall of the Mountain King has been widely used in various forms of popular culture, including movies, commercials, and television shows, due to its evocative and memorable quality. One of the reasons why the modern audience knows it is Man, the short animation created by the famous illustrator Steve Cutts, denouncing humanity’s unrespectful practices against the natural world. Watch it below, with the same music in the background.
In the Hall of the Mountain King is a perfect choice as the signature melody of a cruel villain like Ezequiel: the song shares a feeling of fear and anxiety, a musical piece misaligned with the natural harmony of the world. It’s precisely the mood Grieg wanted to generate for Ibsen’s work. Almost two centuries later, the song still represents one of the most potent expressions of 19th-century Romantic music.
