Prologue
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“Danse Macabre” is a symphonic poem written/composed for Orchestra by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns in 1874. It premiered the following year on January 24, 1875. It originally started out as an art song for voice and piano in 1872 with a French text by the poet Henri Cazalis.
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The term “Danse Macabre” comes from 13th century European literature. In English, we can translate “Danse Macabre” to “Dance of Death.” This means exactly what you think it means; A dance of the dead. If you want to put it in more allegorical terms however, the “Dance of Death” depicts death’s universality through a dance of the living and the dead. This idea became very popular among the common people of 13th century Europe. It served as a social equalizer that exposed human vices that taught everybody one very important lesson;
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Everybody dies.
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It's unfortunate, but true
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Death is something we must learn to accept and embrace
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In its ugliest form, death can be the gateway to eternal sadness
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But in its most beautiful form:
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Death is a way to let go and start anew.
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