Danse Macabre - Visual Listening Guide

Listening guide with accompanying visuals for Saint-Seans 'Danse Macabre'.
Twitter: @camillamaymusic

[@threeraccoonsinalongcoat75]

OMG, Thank you so much for this! Clearly us modern people lost the art of interpreting classical music. I now enjoy this piece even more!

[@DinosaurKing]

It's not a lost secret art, it's just a muscle. It's not hard to do but you have to maintain it.

[@amandabateman221]

I was today years old when I realized the harp only plays 12 notes at the beginning like the strike of midnight...

[@gasparddauxerre2984]

bigup a monsieur gaulin qui est en train de me faire souffrir

[@Sigmamale1498]

They actually play pretty frequently throughout the background it's just they only get a solo at those times

[@biondatiziana]

I've always loved Danse Macabre, and this listening guide by camillamc1 is extraordinarily well done. Thanks so much! I'll be sharing this guide with everyone I know who has school-age kids as well as with adult friends who are just getting into classical music. Camillamc1, please consider doing more visual guides.

[@biondatiziana]

After watching this listening guide, I found a couple of other ones for this piece, but they don't even come close to the quality and cleverness of this one. Kudos!

[@avn1514]

ikr thats true

[@MrMickshan]

How many times have I listened to this and not realized the composer begins by telling you it's midnight?!

[@pjnguyen90]

This is one of the best things on KZbin lol. Thank you for the upload!

[@silvestrissalix264]

My mental image was slightly different when I first heard this piece. Instead of ghosts i envisioned only skeletons, the so called ghost theme was the signal for starting the waltz. A little old fashoned but grande ball with skeleton gentlemen and their ladies. It's crazy that Saint Saens was able to put a mental image so explicitly into people's mind by the only means of music. This piece was born before movie was invented.

[@jsprite123]

It's even crazier that the same Saint Saens also wrote one of the most beautiful of all classical pieces: The Swan

[@thevonroots6145]

Mom: comes in me and the boys: "The skeletons and ghost go back to their graves"

[@michelematten1585]

This is one of the best listening maps for this song that I have ever seen! Thank you for sharing!!

[@lydsnow]

Fantastic job with the instruments and themes. So helpful and fun at the same time!

[@aestheticlove8357]

I can't be the only one who always sees random people playing the instruments in my head

[@pamelaowens6634]

thank you for making a very friendly kid version!!! sharing with my students.

[@cvnt34t3r]

For years I had a vague mental image going on for this piece, but this finally put everything together perfectly

[@Muzzled_Mut]

I love this it's so fun and happy, I really liked the ghost theme👻

[@Br0ken_dr3amz]

Are you kitting me this is creepy

[@Muzzled_Mut]

@@Br0ken_dr3amz not in my opinion 😊

[@jaydenallison786]

Are that dark this song is about dead ppl who come out once every year to worship death 💀

[@theblairfinchproject-offic7835]

This is fabulous! Thanks for sharing. Very well made.

[@gryffinkat]

That was wonderful! Thank you for sharing this. I would love to see more videos of this kind. Well done!

[@ana-marijajelinic6460]

This is a fantastic visual to support our listening map! Thank you!.

[@martagrothman6327]

I wish that 1:24 actually showed an orchestra. It's clearly a military band.

[@nikkinakki9697]

WOW! I mean... Reading and visualizing the actual symphony felt like I was floating above sneaking a peak!! Moved me as if hearing it for the first time... My soul thanks you!

[@ceemaiden8908]

Whoa! This took me on a trip and back. Thank you for explaining this masterpiece

[@mrs.meaney1748]

Thank you for this!!! Great for my students!!! :-)

[@jillbaker733]

This is so awesome, please make more!

[@suegiesige8320]

Thank you is not enough! Perfect!👏

[@SitaBrightwind]

Thank you very much for this video! I am going to try it with my second grade students

[@anniebrad21]

Excellent! Looking forward to using this for Halloween!

[@johnglennie4282]

Suggestion: I refer to the Death theme as the Skeleton-Fiddler's Theme. I used this as music appreciation for grades 6 - 8 students and found the "Death" term too morbid for the grade. At the end, one last skeleton rushes back to his coffin and grave, and TWO coffin lids close. You see, The Fiddler, waited to make sure all of the other skeletons made it safely back to their coffins until another Hallowe'en.

[@jaydenallison786]

It’s called death cause that’s what they called the grim reaper back then. if your a teacher that’s just sad You didn’t know that

[@anaw9668]

@@jaydenallison786 i’m pretty sure they know but it still sounds too scary for little kids

[@jaydenallison786]

@@anaw9668 i dont think 6-8th graders are scared of the word death which isnt even said in the video

[@millaandamo]

So this is what happenes every night

[@ericksemino8614]

not every night, just in halloween

[@itsjustevlyn]

Yes he is right

[@prestonnorthrop2730]

No just on Halloween

[@KRTC23]

lol

[@cherylwoodford]

Bravo! Thank you for this amazing listening guide!

[@DeviljhusMaximus99]

The song of the witches at 2:38 reminds me a little bit of "Dies Irae"

[@lukea.6298]

It is, just in a major key!

[@biondatiziana]

Astute observation. And it makes sense, doesn't it?

[@Sigma.Infinity]

Yes, that's exactly what the composer intended it to be, but in the major key.

[@tblacks364]

These sounds are the best I’ve ever heard in my whole life you do way much more better than I, I and not good at instruments.

[@tblacks364]

Am*

[@gamalozada2997]

My son loves this songs it is one of his favorite

[@citty6775]

._. What just happend? ._. My ears just heard paradise

[@sampeacaml9307]

Mine as well. ^^

[@biondatiziana]

This piece is truly haunting.

[@meeramoran7196]

The music teacher who introduced this to me and my class was named Miss. Paradise. She was a sick lady.

[@trezeroband]

Me ha encantado y me parece que has elegido mi bien los instrumentos ,sólo que cuando todo vuelve a la normalidad de vería ser más alegre opinó yo.😁😁

[@mdenizot2]

I love the "Dance macabre" and I find your take on it excellent. My only regret is at 30 seconds in... "Death tunes the violin" you don't mention the evil chord or "Diabolo in musica"... Do Fa Dièse... or C F#

[@claredoyle6661]

ive been looking for this video for ever i have a test and wee need to know like the names of the things like the clock strikes 12 and all that stuff so yeah thank you

[@ktgire]

Thank you so much for this!!

[@grayam5815]

2:38

[@la_notita_azul]

I LIKE IT!

[@maxweston3104]

we watched and listened to this exact video today in school

[@toddphillips4910]

Merci! Sharing with my French class for Halloween. (You have a little typo though: "Saint-Seans" >> "Saint-Saëns")

[@FromtheHerts81]

"Jonathan, you won't believe what I'm seeing right now..." ;-)

[@thestoffelytoff]

Aha! Another Johnathan Creek fan!

[@ahmadkhalidwalizada232]

1:19

[@elacayo9665]

Beautiful

[@user-og2nq4iz4c]

wow that was good

[@Chalr85]

perfection

[@davidvallejo6663]

This is amazing

[@Satura_gojo234]

love this song

[@Hhuhater]

Unfortunately what the map says is not completely the truth what’s actually happening is not some little ball it’s about the devil/death stealing the souls of those who come to dance with him

[@horaciocapanelli-soto4710]

Not correct. The composition is based on a poem about “Death”. “Zig zig zig zig death in cadence walks and with it’s heel trips over a tomb…. She plays her vioin for the dead to dance for her”…. Nothing to do with the devil here Stop associating devil with the natural transition of passing away. Death is as natural as fart 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@Hhuhater]

@@horaciocapanelli-soto4710 but HALLOWEENNNNNN

[@Hhuhater]

​@@horaciocapanelli-soto4710 all jokes aside I don't usually reply to comments that attempt to correct my input, but given that this is one of my favorite songs i'll elaborate on what I said. I'll start with the poem you referenced. the poem was written by Henri Cazalis, and the poem is formally known as "the dance of death". Throughout the first stanza we can note that "death" is referred to like it was a person, ("Death in cadence, striking with his heel a tomb" and "Death at midnight plays a dance tune") this leads us to believe that "death" is a character in the poem. throughout history humans have associated death with figures like the grim reaper and the devil. The devil is believed to collect the souls of those who make a deal with him. Moving onto the piece, Danse Macabre was written in 1874 by Camille Saint-saëns as the third of the four symphonic poems that he wrote in his mid 30's and 40's. David Bowden, director and conductor of the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra, has given an explanation of the song and the parts the instruments play in the composition. Bowden writes "In Saint-Saëns’ evocative setting, the solo violin represents the devil who is playing his fiddle for the dance.". This statement is backed by "hints" in the piece, and example of this is when the solo violin is being tuned in the beginning. During this part of the piece the violin is tuned a half step down to a tritone, this is commonly known as the "devil's interval". Heading back to the personification of death, Saint-Saëns also gives us another hint that death is the devil. If you listen closely you can hear the “dies irae” chant. which is an excerpt from the "Day of Wrath", a requiem about death, that has been used in many compositions to personify death. Onto what I said about the devil stealing the souls of those who dance with him, towards the end it's as if a frenzy breaks out, I personally have interpreted this as the devil dragging the souls that dance with him down to hell. You may say that it's unfair to include my interpretation of the piece as an example as to why Death in this piece is the devil, but I would say that without new interpretations this piece would be impossible to understand and the map we watched wouldn't exist. Hopefully my explanation made my thoughts clearer, and didn't take away from this beautiful piece. if not, I would love to hear what else you have to say.

[@martagrothman6327]

@@Hhuhater When I watched this map, I thought it did such a good job showing the instrumentation in a fun way- but, in the end, if I am teaching about "tone poems", the graphics do not come close to the poem... The old version (the filmstrip version turned into a video) is closer to the spirit of the poem- and is still children friendly.

[@yourmotherssneakylink8823]

It sounds happy tbh.

[@PunicGamer]

Viva México

[@ellierose15]

always find this piece so creepy! reminds me of primary school, my teacher used to tell me all about the background of the ghosts and skeletons

[@glimmah6370]

My chorus teacher made us listen to this for today's assignment habhcbad

[@gasparddauxerre2984]

cette musique me fait souffrir en ce moment car je suis en eval dessus et je pense avoir une mauvaise note #eclaté

[@gasparddauxerre2984]

stp quelqu un peu m aider

[@jeanneallegre359]

quel manque de respect c'est n'importe quoi, pauvre chanson. Gaspard vous êtes d'une cruauté sans nom, dsl de mettre emporté, Bisous.

[@jeanneallegre359]

@@gasparddauxerre2984 nn !!!!!!!!!!!!

[@gasparddauxerre2984]

@@jeanneallegre359 Mais Madame jeanne allègre vous n'avez pas les yeux en-face des trous vous ne pouvez pas dire que cette musique vous procure du plaisir en l'écoutant

[@jeanneallegre359]

@@gasparddauxerre2984 si chère Gaspard doxair cette chanson me procure du plaisir je l'écoute sans cesse toute la journée

[@AndrickDecastro]

Its brook!

[@jixinyi9735]

it is pretty。。。

[@colinmaxworthy4610]

shhhhhhhesh

[@akabrxxke3088]

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff

[@PM-xd6nv]

Watching this at 3AM was not a good idea😢😭, I was simply looking for the meaning of the term and was waiting for a voice to start explaining, but alas, all I heard was ghoulish music and all I saw were morbid animations. 😭😭

[@mycelium8129]

please tell me you're being sarcastic

[@PM-xd6nv]

@@mycelium8129 I wish I was being sarcastic buddy. But it's been 2 months since, so I've kinda recovered. 🤗😂

[@jamesthesigmabrr]

homework

[@Justaguy7285]

Now we know what happens every night

[@jujubecaniche]

See plate

[@nebraskaonewheel]

E

[@Br0ken_dr3amz]

Creep creep creepy

[@kyle_boygamer4633]

E

[@jibschohan4911]

rreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[@Gorb8746]

crapy slide show

[@camillamc1]

Thanks!

[@margin606]

You could do better you unappreciative dolt? I doubt it!

[@chengmay9457]

不好聽！