"Death in a cadence"...

The Evansville Philharmonic will present a Halloween concert this weekend, which unfortunately I will have to miss, but I found a nice video of Saint-Saens’ Danse Macabre, which is one of the pieces they’ll perform. It’s based on a poem by Henri Cazalis, and I really like the imagery of “Death in a cadence/ Striking with his heel a tomb/ Death at midnight plays a dance-tune”. According to David Bowden, “the solo violin represents the devil who is playing his fiddle for the dance. In an inside musical joke, the violin top string is purposely mistuned down a half step to a tritone, also known as the “devil’s interval,” as a part of the soloist’s challenge.”

I also heard Dvorak’s Waldesruhe (“Silent Woods”) for the first time this week while I was catching up on some studying (my study buddy is WQXR streaming online, highly recommend it), and I went searching for a video I could share of Sol Gabetta as the cellist. The performance I found did not disappoint- I just love watching her play! I also love that this recording captures her smile at the end of the piece. I think most musicians who’ve poured their heart into playing can relate to that moment when the last sounds have drifted away, and all that’s left is a quiet contented sigh.

And finally, in other musical news, Clemency Burton-Hill has published what looks to be a lovely book called “Year of Wonder”, with a note-a-day background about well-known musical pieces. It will be out on October 30, 2018, and I’m definitely putting it on my Christmas list, to have for next year.