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The xylophone part from Camille Saint-Saëns’s orchestral work Danse Macabre is one of the most famous excerpts for the instrument. (It also enjoys a broader familiar thanks to its similarity to the xylophone theme in the Fossils movement of Carnival of the Animals.) The violin and clarinet parts, among others, also feature memorable themes, many of which have been arranged here for percussion ensemble. In this brilliant arrangement by Brian Slawson, the xylophone takes the prominent melodic voice while the rest of the ensemble adds color around it, creating a mysterious mood befitting a dance of skeletons on Halloween night.
This piece comes as a professionally printed and bound score and includes individual parts in PDF format for printing or for tablet viewing.
Brian Slawson’s arrangement of Saint-Saens’ original masterpiece is well conceived and thoughtfully accessible as it presents the mysterious stylistic ambience through six keyboard percussionists and two non-keyboard percussionists. Starting with solo chimes, the famous xylophone solo excerpt is definitively the most difficult part, while the remaining performers must tastefully support the xylophone’s soloistic role. Although two 5.0-octave marimbas might be the best solution for performance (for three players), printed parts are included for a 4.3-octave marimba and one 5.0-octave, with some of the voicings in the marimba 3 part taken up an octave.
A CD is included with an mp3 recording of the 3:15 piece and individual parts for printing. Slawson’s arrangement of “Danse Macabre” will certainly enhance the programming of a mature high school percussion octet, or it could be a superb selection for the undergraduate university percussion ensemble concert.
—Jim Lambert
Percussive Notes
Vol. 52, No. 2. March 2014
The xylophone part from Camille Saint-Saëns’s orchestral work Danse Macabre is one of the most famous excerpts for the instrument. (It also enjoys a broader familiar thanks to its similarity to the xylophone theme in the Fossils movement of Carnival of the Animals.) The violin and clarinet parts, among others, also feature memorable themes, many of which have been arranged here for percussion ensemble. In this brilliant arrangement by Brian Slawson, the xylophone takes the prominent melodic voice while the rest of the ensemble adds color around it, creating a mysterious mood befitting a dance of skeletons on Halloween night.
This piece comes as a professionally printed and bound score and includes individual parts in PDF format for printing or for tablet viewing.
Brian Slawson’s arrangement of Saint-Saens’ original masterpiece is well conceived and thoughtfully accessible as it presents the mysterious stylistic ambience through six keyboard percussionists and two non-keyboard percussionists. Starting with solo chimes, the famous xylophone solo excerpt is definitively the most difficult part, while the remaining performers must tastefully support the xylophone’s soloistic role. Although two 5.0-octave marimbas might be the best solution for performance (for three players), printed parts are included for a 4.3-octave marimba and one 5.0-octave, with some of the voicings in the marimba 3 part taken up an octave.
A CD is included with an mp3 recording of the 3:15 piece and individual parts for printing. Slawson’s arrangement of “Danse Macabre” will certainly enhance the programming of a mature high school percussion octet, or it could be a superb selection for the undergraduate university percussion ensemble concert.
—Jim Lambert
Percussive Notes
Vol. 52, No. 2. March 2014
