Saint-Saens: Danse Macabre, Op. 40/Masters

Category: Violin and Piano ** Composer: Saint-Saens, Camille ** Title: Danse Macabre, Op. 40 ** Publisher: Masters Music Publications, Inc. ** Difficulty: A5.

Based on a bit of medieval folklore, Saint-Saens' Danse Macabre was originally an art song for voice and piano, which the composer later expanded into a tone poem for solo violin and orchestra. The violin represents Death personified, as he pulls the living into his terrible dance. In order to achieve the ghostly, grating dissonance of the opening violin chord, the violinist must employ scordatura (alternate tuning), lowering the E string to an E-Flat. This edition is for violin with a piano reduction by the composer.