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Track(s) taken from CDA66346

Danse macabre – Poème symphonique de Camille Saint-Saëns, S555

composer
1874; Op 40
arranger
1876

Leslie Howard (piano)
Recording details: January 1989
St Peter's Church, Petersham, United Kingdom
Produced by Martin Compton
Engineered by Tryggvi Tryggvason
Release date: February 1990
Total duration: 9 minutes 53 seconds

Cover artwork: King Lear weeping over the dead body of Cordelia (1788). James Barry (1741-1806)
 

Reviews

‘I can wholly recommend this release to lovers of Liszt since it presents much music that is otherwise unavailable’ (Gramophone)
Saint-Saëns was a fervent disciple of Liszt, and the older man showed his customary generosity to the younger by championing his music—Liszt arranged for Samson et Dalila to be staged at Weimar, for example—and Saint-Saëns introduced much of Liszt’s orchestral music to French audiences for the first time. Liszt dedicated his Second Mephisto Waltz to Saint-Saëns, who wrote his Third Symphony for Liszt, eventually inscribing it to his memory. Saint-Saëns was among the earliest followers of Liszt to compose a symphonic poem, and the Danse macabre is perhaps the best-known of his four works in the genre. Liszt’s transcription extends the original at many points, usually to accentuate the macabre elements and, memorably, to extend the lyrical central section which is rather short in the original. The loss of orchestral colour is more than compensated for by the breadth of variety in the palette of Liszt’s piano writing.

from notes by Leslie Howard © 1989

Other albums featuring this work

Liszt: Complete Piano Music
CDS44501/9899CDs Boxed set + book (at a special price) — Download only
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