Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 – 1921) – Danse macabre

The Dance of Death is an old European motif that was especially widespread in the Middle Ages. In it, Death appears as a great, inescapable power before which all people are equal – kings and beggars, young and old, rich and poor.

Camille Saint-Saëns also takes up this motif in his famous "Danse macabre." On the stroke of midnight, the dance of the dead begins. The music is eerie and virtuosic, yet at the same time full of wit and movement. In this arrangement, the flute takes on a central role, bringing the macabre revelry to life with lightness, edge, and a touch of the uncanny.

Behind all the musical mischief, however, the old message of the Dance of Death endures: life is fleeting – and precisely for that reason, precious.

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