I can’t be entirely sure what my preferred musical choices say about me, but I can say with fair certainty that this piece here being one of my favorite pieces of all time does not speak well of me as a sane individual.
The “Danse Macabre” is Opus 40 of Camille Saint-Saëns written for an orchestra in 1874. “Danse Macabre” or “Dance of the Dead’ is a relatively common focus of artists from a late-midieval period on. Death calling forth the dead at midnight on Halloween every year so they can dance for him to his violin/fiddle playing. They dance until the rooster crows at dawn, and they go back to their homes underground in their graves.
It’s a hauntingly beautiful piece that I can’t really help but be moved by. There’s something so joyous in something so spooky. Maybe it’s the rest that comes from the idea that there is more than death after death, even if all you believe in is Death coming to a cemetery and bring the dead out for a Halloween ball. The good news is, they don’t have to dress up as much more than skeletons or zombies. It’s just another deady dance party. It’s not like I particularly care for anything else by Saint-Saëns. It’s really just this one piece.
Maybe it’s association with But Jonathan Creek is something I’ve only known about for a few years, while I do love it, this piece has been in my head longer.
My taste in movies being a bit off as well. Clue. Psycho. Scream. Adam. Planet of the Apes. Stranger than Fiction. Reality Bites. Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium. Driving Lessons. Nothing particularly happy, except maybe Clue. But nothing particularly sad. Comedy in tragedy. Tragedy in comedy. All very. Even. What’s wrong with me?! But that’s sort of it. That’s sort of my brain.
Maybe I’m off as well but I enjoy the idea of meditating on death. I feel it causes one to be more reverent in life of the creator. I dont really enjoy the Americanized form of Halloween but more prefer día de los muertos.
By the p.s.
Mr Magorium’s may very well be my favorite children’s movie; however, I do wish the soundtrack was a full score and not just a selection of numbers from the movie.