Description
Taylor Helms’s brass quintet arrangement of Saint-Saëns’s Danse Macabre captures all the haunting drama of the original symphonic poem. Composed in 1874, the work is based on text by poet Henri Cazalis in which Death appears at midnight every year on Halloween, calling the dead from their graves to dance for him while he plays his fiddle. Skeletons dance for him until dawn, when they must return to their graves until the next year. Technically engaging for the players and immediately accessible to listeners, this arrangement offers the brass quintet an opportunity to explore one of classical music’s most beloved spooky classics, perfect for Halloween concerts or for captivating audiences in any performance.
