Arthur Honegger: La Danse des Morts / Nocturne / Pastorale d'été

Featuring

Jean Baquet
Jean Davy
Michel Piquemal
Claudine Collart
Henri Vachey
Douai Youth Symphony Orchestra

Roland de Lassus Vocal Ensemble
Arthur Honegger

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Composition History

The idea for Honegger's La Danse des Morts originated when dramatist Paul Claudel, after seeing Holbein's "Danse Macabre" in Basle, was encouraged by Paul Sacher to write a new poem on the subject.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Honegger's works range from the innovative genius of his youth, seen in Horace Victorieux (1921), to his last work, Cantate de Noel (1953), which expresses a movement towards peace and serenity.

Composer Biography

Arthur Honegger, a complete musician of his generation, composed numerous works for voice and full orchestra, as well as thirty-three film scores and seven radio scores.

Compositional Technique

La Danse des Morts is structured in seven parts, a sacred number, arranged around the central figure of God, representing a struggle between matter and mind, death and life.

Notable Performances

La Danse des Morts, dedicated to Paul Sacher, was first performed in Basle on March 2, 1940, by its dedicatee leading the Basler Kammerchor and Basler Kammerorchester, and was an immediate success.

Compositional Technique

Honegger's Nocturne follows a plan with a peaceful first section, an agitated second section, and a third section that returns to calm, echoing the first with elements of the second.

Compositional Technique

Paul Claudel's text for La Danse des Morts, which inspired Honegger, included broad adaptations from the Bible, Ezekiel's vision, bits of Job, distorted folk songs, cries, sobs, and Latin phrases.