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Composer of the Month
October 2019
Camille Saint-Saëns
a.k.a "The Story-teller"
(1835 - 1921)
Camille Saint-Saëns lived in France in Europe. He was famous for being a composer, conductor, organist, and pianist of the Romantic era. His last name is pronounced "San-Sun". He reached levels of international fame for his music. You could see he was a "pop star" of his time!
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Saint-Saëns was known for telling stories through his music. A large portion of his life was during a time when movies didn't even exist, so he used musical expression to tell stories!
Story #1 -
Danse Macabre
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In this piece, Saint-Saëns told a story from his culture. French folklore has it that on Halloween night, the Skeleton King appears at midnight every hear on Halloween. He calls on all who have died to come up from their graves and dance while he plays his violin. They dance together until the rooster crows at dawn, when they must go back in the ground until next Halloween.
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Take a listen with this guided animation video! The skeleton theme is represented by staccato music. The separated notes sound like the many bones of a skeleton. while the ghost theme is represented by legato music. The long, connected notes sound like a flowing ghost. Can you hear the different themes?
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