Danse macabre

E885454

Danse macabre is a famous symphonic poem by Camille Saint-Saëns that vividly depicts skeletons dancing at midnight to the sound of Death’s fiddle.

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Statements (44)

Predicate Object
instanceOf symphonic poem
associatedTheme dance of death NERFINISHED
memento mori
basedOn French superstition about Death summoning the dead to dance at midnight
poem "Danse macabre" by Henri Cazalis NERFINISHED
catalogueNumber R 171 (Roux catalogue of Saint-Saëns) NERFINISHED
composer Camille Saint-Saëns NERFINISHED
compositionYear 1874
countryOfOrigin France
depicts Death playing the fiddle
skeletons dancing at midnight
endingCharacter abrupt and ghostly fade of the dance at dawn
genre program music
hasArrangement piano duet arrangement
solo piano arrangement
violin and piano arrangement
influenced later depictions of the dance of death in music
key G minor
language French
notableEffect scordatura tuning of the solo violin
xylophone imitating rattling bones
notableInstrument harp
solo violin
woodwinds
xylophone
notableRecording recordings by the Berlin Philharmonic
recordings by the London Symphony Orchestra
recordings by the Philadelphia Orchestra
openingMotifRepresents twelve strokes of midnight
opusNumber Op. 40
orchestration full symphony orchestra
originalVersion song for voice and piano
originalVersionTextAuthor Henri Cazalis GENERATED
popularUse Halloween-themed events
concert repertoire
film soundtracks
television
premiereDate 1875
structure introduction and dance with variations
stylePeriod Romantic
tempoIndication Allegro
timeOfActionInProgram midnight
tonalCenter G minor
typicalDuration about 7 minutes

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Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Camille Saint-Saëns notableWork Danse macabre