In his symphonic poem “Danse macabre,” Saint-Saëns takes up a poem by Henri Cazalis that he had already set as an art song. Here, the Devil brings the dead to life by playing his violin. Although the orchestral work was given a lukewarm reception in its early performances, or was even rejected, it became highly popular and internationally famous in the years that followed. Of the countless later arrangements and variations (e.g., by Franz Liszt), Saint-Saëns’ own version for violin and piano stands out as particularly successful.Céline Drèze’s advance edition for a future volume of the “Saint-Saëns Complete Edition of the Instrumental Works” is the first modern scholarly edition of this celebrated piece. This Urtext edition draws on the original print of the 1877 version, while eliminating its many misprints and anomalies on the basis of the autograph.
