Music #404 - Saint-Saens

Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns 

[ʃaʁl kamij sɛ̃sɑ̃s]  (1835 – 1921)

A French composer, he is known especially for 
* The Carnival of the Animals, 
* Danse macabre, 
* Samson and Delilah (Opera), 
* Piano Concerto No. 2, 
* Cello Concerto, 
* Havanaise, 
* Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, 
* Symphony No.3 (Organ Symphony).

Danse macabre / dance of death

A tone poem for orchestra, it is based on an old French superstition, that "Death" appears at midnight every year on Halloween.

Death calls forth the dead from their graves to dance their dance of death for him while he plays his fiddle (represented by a violin).

His skeletons dance for him until the rooster crows at dawn, when they must return to their graves until the next year.

The piece opens with a harp playing a single note, D, twelve times (the twelve strokes of midnight) which is accompanied by soft chords from the string section.....

Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso

Carnival of the Animals / Le carnaval des animaux

* 14 movements

Extra: Short ballet choreographed for movement 13
* The Dying Swan

* La mort du cygne - dying funny


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Bonus:

* Samson and Delilah 

 (movie)