- Composed: 1874.
- Length: c. 8 minutes.
- Orchestration: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (bass drum, cymbals, triangle, xylophone), harp, and strings.
- First Los Angeles Philharmonic performance: August 25, 1922, Alfred Hertz conducting.
What does each instrument represent in Danse Macabre?
Different instruments represent different characters — the violin is the Devil, the oboe is a crow, the xylophone is rattling bones. Danse Macabre is based on an old medieval allegory about the “dance of death” which was essentially a “dance” that everyone knew because everyone was going to die one day.
Who plays the violin in Danse Macabre?
Moans are heard in the linden-trees. Through the gloom, white skeletons pass, Running and leaping in their shrouds. According to legend, Death appears at midnight on Halloween and calls to the dead to dance for him whilst he plays the fiddle – which is represented by Saint-Saëns' detuned solo violin.
