What is Danse Macabre by Saint-Saëns about?
Camille Saint-Saëns’ Danse Macabre, Op. 40, was composed in 1874 as an orchestral tone poem based on a French legend about Death appearing every Halloween at midnight.
When was Danse macabre composed?
Saint-Saëns’ first version of his Danse Macabre was composed in 1872 as an art song for voice and piano. The text by poet and doctor Henri Cazalis followed the legend. Saint-Saëns reworked the piece for orchestra, with solo violin replacing the vocal line.
What is the Danse Macabre or dance of death?
The Danse Macabre, or dance of death, is a medieval concept about the power of death as an equalizer. No matter who you are or where you come from, death finds us all. The term has a death positive tone. It’s not intended to evoke fear or worry.
Why is the Danse Macabre so popular?
The danse macabre is no exception. Since its earliest days, this iconic dance made its mark on all mortals. This motif is a challenge to all of humanity to confront the ever-present prospect of mortality. Where did this visual come from? During the Middle Ages, death was much closer than it is today.
What is the meaning behind the danse macabre?
Definition of danse macabre : macabre dance : dance of death. Note: In the medieval period, the dance macabre was a literary or pictorial representation of a procession or dance of both living and dead figures expressing the medieval allegorical concept of the all-conquering and equalizing power of death.
Where did Danse Macabre originate?
Though a few earlier examples exist in literature, the first known visual Dance of Death comes from around 1424. It was a large painting in the open arcade of the charnel house in Paris's Cemetery of the Holy Innocents.
What event inspired the danse macabre?
bubonic plagueThe original meaning of Danse Macabre was a warning to sinners, but in the 14th and 15th centuries it became a fatalistic response to the endless death caused by the epidemic of bubonic plague, commonly called the Black Death, which swept through western Europe and killed 30-60% of the population.
What does a dancing skeleton represent?
Skeletons are closely associated with death. When juxtaposed with dancing, a joyful and expressive part of life, the Dancing Skeleton represents a sublime paradox, the hint of death in life, and life in death- the dependency and interconnectedness that exists between alternate planes of reality.
Why are people fascinated with the macabre?
We choose to experience the macabre and morbid because we are exploring — we are stepping in the shoes of the victim, we become empathetic to the characters and the people we have never known before. We are experiencing their suffering.
What movie uses Danse Macabre?
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 music was heard in a 2002 Disney animated film Mickey's House of Villains and the 1999 Mickey Mouse Works episode titled Hansel and Gretel, starring Mickey Mouse & Minnie Mouse as the titular duo.
Why can't Silas dance the Macabray?
Silas has never danced it because you have to be either alive or dead to dance it, and Silas is neither alive nor dead.
Where does the dancing skeleton come from?
The origins for The Skeleton Dance can be traced to mid-1928, when Walt Disney was on his way to New York to arrange a distribution deal for his new Mickey Mouse cartoons and to record the soundtrack for his first sound cartoon, Steamboat Willie.
What genre is Danse Macabre?
AllegoryHans Holbein's woodcutsExample of a woodcut from the book.AuthorHans Holbein the YoungerOriginal titleDanse MacabreCountryEnglandGenreAllegory, satire, woodcuts and death.1 more row
What is the name of the Grateful Dead skeleton?
Uncle Sam Skeleton The 1980 Radio City Music Hall poster designed by Dennis Larkins and Peter Barsotti is one of the most famous to feature this skeleton. According to “So Many Roads: The Life and Times of the Grateful Dead” by David Browne, the poster was not well received by the venue.
What is the danse macabre graveyard book?
The Macabray (Danse Macabre) Symbol Analysis. The Macabray, a dance between the dead and the living, represents the idea that death could come at any moment. The Macabray doesn't occur on a regular schedule and instead occurs only when specific flowers in the graveyard bloom.
Where does the dancing skeleton come from?
The origins for The Skeleton Dance can be traced to mid-1928, when Walt Disney was on his way to New York to arrange a distribution deal for his new Mickey Mouse cartoons and to record the soundtrack for his first sound cartoon, Steamboat Willie.
Who wrote the poem Danse Macabre?
Saint-SaënsDanse macabre is one of four tone poems Saint-Saëns composed in the 1870s, all inspired to some degree by examples from Franz Liszt (whose own Totentanz dates from 1849) and exploring both Liszt's thematic transformation concept and novel instrumentation.
What is the Danse Macabre about?
Pumpkins might indeed be his own thing, but whether they knew it or not, the Saturday Night Live writers who came up with those dancing skeletons were tapping into an image with a very long history: the Danse Macabre, a medieval allegory about the inevitability of death.
How did the dancing skeletons mock the living?
The grinning, dancing skeletons mocked the living by poking fun at their dismay and, for those in positions of power, by making light of their high status. Enjoy it now, the skeletons implied, because it’s not going to last.
What is the skeleton dance?
Almost seven decades later, in 1929, even Walt Disney crafted his own adaptation of the allegory with “The Skeleton Dance,” an animated short in which skeletons rise from their graves and dance to a lively foxtrot. At times, the music is played on instruments made from their own bones. Though no humans are danced to their graves in this cartoon, the expressive skeletons wouldn’t look out of place in earlier Dances of Death. Other Halloween staples—black cats, owls, tombstones, and bats—add to the spooky mood.
Where is the Dance of Death located?
Charnel house of the Cemetery of the Holy Innocents, Paris. The mural of a Danse Macabre is visible at the wall. Public Domain. Though a few earlier examples exist in literature, the first known visual Dance of Death comes from around 1424. It was a large fresco painted in the open arcade of the charnel house in Paris’s Cemetery ...
When did skeletons dance to their graves?
Skeletons have been dancing people to their graves since at least 1424. A detail from an 18th-century oil painting depiction of the Dance of Death. Wellcome Images, London/ CC BY 4.0. Last year, Saturday Night Live introduced us to David S. Pumpkins, a dancing man in a jack-o-lantern suit who, along with two skeletons, ...
When did Holbein's Dance of Death become popular?
Holbein’s version of the Dance of Death proved so popular that by the time he died in 1543, dozens of pirated editions were circulating in addition to the official printings. Although the large, public murals, carvings, and frescos which originally depicted the Dance of Death went mostly out of fashion after the 1500s, Holbein’s prints have remained well-known until the present day. Artists continued to find inspiration in the Dance of Death theme over the next few centuries, changing styles and formats to suit their times.
Who painted the cadaver in the Salon?
In 1861, French artist James Tissot explored the subject in a painting exhibited at the Salon in Paris, depicting a line of human dancers with skeletons at the head and tail end of the procession. At the front, two musicians flank the cadaver, who looks directly out of the painting towards us, the viewers.
What is the meaning of Danse Macabre?
The Danse Macabre consists of the dead or a personification of death summoning representatives from all walks of life to dance along to the grave, typically with a pope, emperor, king, child, and laborer. It was produced as memento mori, to remind people of the fragility of their lives and how vain were the glories of earthly life. Its origins are postulated from illustrated sermon texts; the earliest recorded visual scheme was a now-lost mural at Holy Innocents' Cemetery in Paris dating from 1424 to 1425.
What is Danse Macabre painting?
A danse macabre painting may show a round dance headed by Death or a chain of alternating dead and live dancers.
What is the dance of death called?
The Danse Macabre ( / dɑːns məˈkɑːb ( rə )/; French pronunciation: [dɑ̃s ma.kabʁ]) (from the French language ), also called the Dance of Death, is an artistic genre of allegory of the Late Middle Ages on the universality of death: no matter one's station in life, the Danse Macabre unites all.
What is the death and the maiden motif?
The " Death and the Maiden motif ", known from paintings since the early 16th century, is related to, and may have been derived from, the Danse Macabre. It has received numerous treatments in various media—most prominently Schubert's lied " Der Tod und das Mädchen " (1817) and the String Quartet No. 14 Death and the Maiden, partly derived from its musical material. Further developments of the Danse Macabre motif include: 1 Godfather Death, a fairy tale, collected by the Brothers Grimm (first published in 1812) 2 " Death and the Compass " (original title: "La muerte y la brújula", 1942), short story by Jorge Luis Borges 3 A Danse Macabre scene is depicted near the end of Ingmar Bergman 's 1957 film The Seventh Seal 4 " Death and the Senator ", short story (1961) by Arthur C. Clarke 5 " Dance Cadaverous " is a song written and performed by Wayne Shorter (released 1966) 6 Death and the King's Horseman, play by Wole Soyinka (premiered 1975) 7 Dance with Death, a jazz album released in 1980 by Andrew Hill 8 " Death Dance " (2016), a song written and performed by American rock band, Sevendust. 9 " Dance Macabre ", a song written and performed by Swedish metal or hard rock band Ghost on their 2018 album Prequelle concentrating on the Black Death plague of the 14th century 10 " The Graveyard Book " Chapter Five, by Neil Gaiman 11 " Danse Macabre " 1981 Non fiction work by Stephen King
What is the name of the piece by Thomas Adès?
Totentanz (Adès) by Thomas Adès, 2013, a piece for voices and orchestra based on the 15th century text. Shikabane no odori, 2013, by Kikuo, Japanese VOCALOID producer. Skeleton Dance, La Danza Macabra, 2014, by Necropsycho, Brazilian Psychedelic Trance artist. Danse Macabre, 2018, by Baest, Danish death metal band.
What did Francis Rapp say about the Pietà?
Background. Francis Rapp writes that "Christians were moved by the sight of the Infant Jesus playing on his mother's knee; their hearts were touched by the Pietà; and patron saints reassured them by their presence. But, all the while, the danse macabre urged them not to forget the end of all earthly things.".
Where is the Dance of Death fresco?
Johannes de Castua: Detail of the Dance Macabre fresco (1490) in the Holy Trinity Church in Hrastovlje, Slovenia. Dance of Death (replica of 15th century fresco; National Gallery of Slovenia) The famous Danse Macabre in Hrastovlje in the Holy Trinity Church. Danse macabre in St Maria in Bienno, 16th century.
Is Dance Macabre a pure 80s rock club banger?
They didn’t disappoint, least of all Dance Macabre. Classic Rock ’s album review said it was “a pure 80s rock-club banger that’s as audacious as it is glorious”. If Europe revisited The Final Countdown, with Satan, and swapped some (but not all) of the synths for guitars, this could have been the result.
Is Dance Macabre metal?
Warmly embraced by the metal world, despite being about as un-metal as ABBA, Dance Macabre defied heavy music conventions and nailed one of the most irresistible choruses of the century. Like Iron Maiden, Marilyn Manson and Slipknot before them, Ghost have become one of those rare bands for whom a new album is so much more than a new album.
What is the theme of Danse Macabre?
Saint-Saëns used the xylophone melody of the Danse Macabre as a parody in his later work, The Carnival of the Animals, whose theme is taken up in the "Fossils" movement. The music of Danse Macabre is representative of darkness, skeletons, wind, graves, and much more, the perfect symphony for Halloween.
Why did people dance the dance of death?
In many cultures, people danced the dance of death because we will simply all die one day.
When was Danse Macabre written?
Saint-Saëns’ first version of his Danse Macabre was composed in 1872 as an art song for voice and piano. The text by poet and doctor Henri Cazalis followed the legend.
What is the theme of Danse Macabre?
Camille Saint-Saëns’ Danse Macabre, Op. 40, was composed in 1874 as an orchestral tone poem based on a French legend about Death appearing every Halloween at midnight. As he plays his fiddle, the skeletons rise from their graves and dance until dawn, returning to their graves when the rooster crows. Death’s appearance is heard as a solo violin playing tritones.
What is the dance of death called?
Camille Saint-Saëns. The idea of a Danse Macabre is more than a legend. Danse Macabre, or Dance of Death, is an allegory that has been around since the 13th century to illustrate that regardless of one’s station in life, death is universal and inevitable. It has been depicted in paintings, frescoes, plays and musical settings.
Who is the greatest French composer?
By the 1890s, Saint-Saëns was regarded throughout the United States and England as the greatest French composer alive. He had French and British honors as well as honorary doctorates from Cambridge and Oxford. In 1915, he gave a highly successful concert tour in the U.S. His last piano concert was in Paris in 1921 at the age of 86 before going to his winter home in Algeria.
Overview
Literary influence
The "Death and the Maiden motif", known from paintings since the early 16th century, is related to, and may have been derived from, the Danse Macabre. It has received numerous treatments in various media—most prominently Schubert's lied "Der Tod und das Mädchen" (1817) and the String Quartet No. 14 Death and the Maiden, partly derived from its musical material. Further developments of the Danse Macabre motif include:
Background
Francis Rapp (1926 - 2020) writes that "Christians were moved by the sight of the Infant Jesus playing on his mother's knee; their hearts were touched by the Pietà; and patron saints reassured them by their presence. But, all the while, the danse macabre urged them not to forget the end of all earthly things." This Danse Macabre was enacted at village pageants and at court masques, with people "dressing up as corpses from various strata of society", and may have been the origi…
Paintings
The earliest recorded visual example is the lost mural on the South wall of the Cemetery of the Holy Innocents in Paris. It was painted in 1424–25 during the regency of John, Duke of Bedford (1389 - 1435). It features an emphatic inclusion of a dead crowned king at a time when France did not have a crowned king. The mural may well have had a political subtext.
Mural paintings
Frescoes and murals dealing with death had a long tradition, and were widespread. For example, the legend of the Three Living and the Three Dead. On a ride or hunt, three young gentlemen meet three cadavers (sometimes described as their ancestors) who warn them, Quod fuimus, estis; quod sumus, vos eritis ("What we were, you are; what we are, you will be"). Numerous mura…
Hans Holbein's woodcuts
Renowned for his Dance of Death series, the famous designs by Hans Holbein the Younger (1497–1543) were drawn in 1526 while he was in Basel. They were cut in wood by the accomplished Formschneider (block cutter) Hans Lützelburger.
William Ivins (quoting W. J. Linton) writes of Lützelburger's work wrote:
"'Nothing indeed, by knife or by graver, is of higher quality than this man's doin…
Musical settings
Musical settings of the motif include:
• Mattasin oder Toden Tanz, 1598, by August Nörmiger
• Totentanz. Paraphrase on "Dies irae." by Franz Liszt, 1849, a set of variations based on the plainsong melody "Dies Irae".
• Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns, 1874
Textual examples of the Danse Macabre
The Danse Macabre was a frequent motif in poetry, drama and other written literature in the Middle Ages in several areas of western Europe. There is a Spanish Danza de la Muerte, a French Danse Macabre, and a German Totentanz with various Latin manuscripts written during the 14th century. Printed editions of books began appearing in the 15th century, such as the ones produced by Guy Marchant of Paris. Similarly to the musical or artistic representations, the texts …