(Section B)
Leader, Paul Beard
Conducted by Clarence Raybould
Saint-Saens's tone poem ' Danse macabre ' is one of the most realistic pieces of tone painting in romantic music, and has become probably the most popular of all Saint-Saens's orchestral works. The story that the music illustrates is quite simple. The scene is a graveyard at night ; the clock strikes and Death appears, knocks on the graves, and starts tuning his fiddle. In answer to his summons, several skeletons appear and dance wildly to Death's fiddling. Presently the cock crows, the dance ceases, and all disappear as day breaks.
Wagner's ' Träuma
In 1857-8, when he was engaged upon the music drama Tristan and Isolde, Wagner wrote five songs, two of which were published later under the title of ' Studies for Tristan and Isolde'. The opening -melody of one of these songs, called ' Dreams ', came into his head when he was working on Tristan in Venice, and he made use of it in the great love-duet in the second act of the music drama. In a letter to
Mathilde Wesendonck , who wrote the words of the song, Wagner said: It is more beautiful than anything I have done. My innermost being quivers when I hear it.'