Danse macabre, Op. 40, is a symphonic poem for orchestra, written in 1874 by the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns. It premiered 24 January 1875. It is in the key of G minor. It started out in 1872 as an art song for voice and piano with a French text by the poet Henri Cazalis.[1] In 1874, the composer expanded and reworked the piece into a symphonic poem, replacing the vocal line with a solo violin part.
According to legend, Death appears at midnight every year on Halloween. Death calls forth the dead from their graves to dance for him while he plays his fiddle (here represented by a solo violin). His skeletons dance for him until the cockerel crows at dawn, when they must return to their graves until the next year.
The piece opens with a harp playing a single note, D, twelve times (the twelve strokes of midnight) which is accompanied by soft chords from the string section. The solo violin enters playing the tritone, which was known as the diabolus in musica ("the Devil in music") during the Medieval and Baroque eras, consisting of an A and an E♭—in an example of scordatura tuning, the violinist's E string has actually been tuned down to an E♭ to create the dissonant tritone.
The first theme is heard on a solo flute,[2] followed by the second theme, a descending scale on the solo violin which is accompanied by soft chords from the string section.[3] The first and second themes, or fragments of them, are then heard throughout the various sections of the orchestra. The piece becomes more energetic and at its midpoint, right after a contrapuntal section based on the second theme,[4] there is a direct quote[5] played by the woodwinds of Dies irae, a Gregorian chant from the Requiem that is melodically related to the work's second theme. The Dies irae is presented unusually in a major key. After this section the piece returns to the first and second themes and climaxes with the full orchestra playing very strong dynamics. Then there is an abrupt break in the texture[6] and the coda represents the dawn breaking (a cockerel's crow, played by the oboe) and the skeletons returning to their graves.
The piece makes particular use of the xylophone to imitate the sounds of rattling bones. Saint-Saëns uses a similar motif in the Fossils movement of The Carnival of the Animals.
The progression and melody of the minor waltz are similar to the jibes (e.g. "their sweethearts all are dead") of the Sailors' Chorus in "Helmsman/Steersman, Leave Your Watch," which begins the third act of Wagner's earlier opera, "The Flying Dutchman".
When Danse macabre was first performed on 24 January 1875, it was not well received and caused widespread feelings of anxiety. The 21st century scholar, Roger Nichols, mentions adverse reaction to "the deformed Dies irae plainsong", the "horrible screeching from solo violin", the use of a xylophone, and "the hypnotic repetitions", in which Nichols hears a pre-echo of Ravel's Boléro.[7]
It has grown to be considered one of Saint-Saëns' masterpieces, widely regarded and reproduced in both high and popular culture.[citation needed]
Transcriptions
Shortly after the premiere, the piece was transcribed into a piano solo arrangement by Franz Liszt (S.555),[8] a good friend of Saint-Saëns. Next to countless other piano solo transcriptions, Ernest Guiraud wrote a version for piano four hands and Saint-Saëns himself wrote a version for two pianos, and in 1877 also a version for violin and piano. In 1942, Vladimir Horowitz made extensive changes to the Liszt transcription. This version is played most often today.
There is an arrangement for Pierrot ensemble (flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano) by Tim Mulleman, and an organ transcription by Edwin Lemare. Greg Anderson created a version for two pianos, two percussionists and violin, which he titled Danse Macbre Baccanale.
The piece is played offstage during the first act of Henrik Ibsen's 1896 play John Gabriel Borkman.
The 1922 film short film Danse Macabre is one of twelve "visual symphonies" set to classical music by it director Dudley Murphy. It depicts the ballet dancers Adolph Bolm as Youth and Ruth Page as Love attempting to evade the grasp of Death (Olin Howland) in Spain during the Black Plague.
The piece was used for the trailer of 1922 Swedish-Danish silent horror film Häxan.
The piece is used as a recurring ironic motif in Jean Renoir's 1939 film The Rules of the Game (La Règle du jeu),
The piece is played in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Hush" (1999), in which the character Rupert Giles plays the song while describing the episode's villains, the Gentlemen.
The piece is used in the animated television series Modern Toss (2005–2008) as the theme tune for the character Mr. Tourette – Master Signwriter.
This piece can be heard in the play performed at the end of the movie Shrek The Third (2007).[11]
In Neil Gaiman's novel The Graveyard Book (2008) the characters dance the "Macabray". In the audiobook, Danse macabre is played between chapters.
Korean figure skater Yuna Kim used the piece as her short program music in 2008–2009 season.
The piece is used as a track in the Napoleonic Wars expansion pack for the game Mount & Blade: Warband (2010) by TaleWorlds Entertainment.
The piece is also referenced in Neil Gaiman's book American Gods (2011).
The piece is used in several instances during the 2011 Grimm episode "Danse Macabre", which is named after the piece.
The 2011 film Hugo features the piece during a brief scene showing the history of early films.
The piece is used as the main theme for Ratched (2020).
This piece is played in Crowley's car as Aziraphale drives it from London to Edinburgh in season 2, episode 3 of the television show Good Omens (2023).[12]
