Danse macabre (US Premiere)
- Composed by: Jörg Widmann
- Composed: 2022
- Duration: about 15 minutes
Orchestration: 2 flutes (2nd doubling piccolo), 2 oboes (2nd doubling English horn), 2 clarinets, bassoon, contrabassoon, 3 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (bass drum, Brazilian tambourims, chimes, cymbals, flexatone, marimba, rute, snare drum, suspended tubular bell [immersed into water basin], tambourine, tam-tams, tom-toms, tubular bells, vibraslap, waterphone), harp, piano, celesta, and strings
It is a last dance, a dance that death dances with us, in ever new turns, pirouettes, masquerades — but it always remains death. He threatens and laughs and dances with us to where no one has been before and yet where we all have to go to. His pull and his power must be stronger than we know from any earthly dance — no easy task for a composer, but a fascinating one. Wild and beautiful, terrible and final it should be, this last dance. My Danse macabre has therefore become one of my most important, most intense, and most propulsive orchestral pieces to date. May this dance, even if macabre, bring joy to the orchestra and the audience.
— Jörg Widmann