AMANDA--"DANSE MACABRE" by CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS

Hello all! Tomorrow's Halloween and as such I feel obligated to share this song with you. It's the well-known "Danse Macabre" (I love that word...MACABRE) by French composer Camille Saint-Saens. The piece has been used extensively in film and television and I can see why.Typical of the Romantic period, the song is highly emotional, innovative, and beautiful yet haunting. The music is actually based on a creepy/cool French poem about superstition that reads as follows:

Zig, zig, zig, Death in cadence,

Striking a tomb with his heel,

Death at midnight plays a dance-tune,

Zig, zig, zag, on his violin.

The winter wind blows, and the night is dark;

Moans are heard in the linden trees.

White skeletons pass through the gloom,

Running and leaping in their shrouds.

Zig, zig, zig, each one is frisking,

You can hear the cracking of the bones of the dancers.

A lustful couple sits on the moss

So as to taste long lost delights.

Zig zig, zig, Death continues

The unending scraping on his instrument.

A veil has fallen! The dancer is naked.

Her partner grasps her amorously.

The lady, it's said, is a marchioness or baroness

And her green gallant, a poor cartwright.

Horror! Look how she gives herself to him,

Like the rustic was a baron.

Zig, zig, zig. What a saraband!

They all hold hands and dance in circles.

Zig, zig, zag. You can see in the crowd

The king dancing among the peasants.

But hist! All of a sudden, they leave the dance,

They push forward, they fly; the cock has crowed.

Oh what a beautiful night for the poor world!

Long live death and equality!

Personally, I love the sweeping flute and violin parts and how the song shifts in tone, sounding dark and ominous one moment and romantic the next. Here  I've embedded  a cartoon made by PBS, which I think is a great visual representation of the text and an excellent alternative to other random Youtube videos of the song. Enjoy and have a safe Halloween!