This piece, composed by Camille Saint Saëns, is a dance by skeletons, crawling out of their graves in a graveyard party, to escort humans to their graves in a waltzy rhythm. The message conveyed by this dance, is that Death is an equalising force which comes for everyone, regardless of status and wealth. The morbid imagery of the music associates with the spirit of Halloween, where life and death interact. But despite this interaction, there is a celebration mode as this imagery makes us more aware of death and finally our mortality and the importance of living life to the fullest. So, despite its morbid title, the music is strangely joyful and playful.
Throughout the music, you can hear the different instruments depicting sounds, such as the bones of the skeletons as they dance, or the clock chiming midnight to signal the start of the evening’s festivities. A party of dead and humans!