Danse Macabre (Saint-Saëns)
The Danse Macabre ( Eng. " Dance of Death "), op. 40 , is a symphonic poem by the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns .
instrumentation
General
The piece was written in 1872 in the Hotel Fuentes in Tangier , Morocco , where Saint-Saëns stayed for a long time. Many sources state that the hotel is located on the Zoco Chico , the small market. But it has only been there since the early 20th century. At the time of composition, however, it was on Calle de los Cristianos. It was originally a piece for voice and piano. The text came from the writer Henri Cazalis . Only two years after this version, in 1874, did Saint-Saëns rewrite the composition for orchestra , the human voice has now been "replaced" by a solo violin.
The work is dedicated to Madame C. Montigny Remaury (1843–1913).
In addition to the version for voice and this one for orchestra , Saint-Saëns also arranged the piece for violin and piano and for two pianos. Various composers such as Ernest Guiraud , Théodore Ritter , Edwin Lemare and Franz Liszt created transcriptions for organ , piano four hands or for solo piano. The 1969 debut album by the Dutch symphonic rock band Ekseption also contains an adaptation of Saint-Saëns' work.
Web links
credentials
- ↑ Chapter General Information in the International Music Score Library Project