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2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2F8BFT2rlaMIo%2Fhqdefault.jpg&key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07&type=text%2Fhtml&schema=youtube" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" width="640"> </div> </div> </figure></iframe></div></div></figure><p id="3af8"><i>Franz Liszt is a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Franz’s father, Adam Liszt, served as his son’s agent during Franz’s years as a touring child prodigy. Adam’s unexpected death from typhoid fever in 1827 devastated the 15-year-old Franz, resulting in a lifetime preoccupation with death, exemplified in his symphonic dance, Totentanz (Dance of Death).</i></p><p id="63a2"><i>Among others, Listz was inspired by Hans Holbein’s woodcut print depicted above. Death, personified by skeletons, comes for all, from the greatest of the great to the lowliest of the low. Totentanz is a set of variations on the Gregorian chant Dies Irae, or day of wrath, depicted in the New Testament Book of Revelation as the day of final judgment. Memento mori means “Remember, you have to die.” In choro means dance. In Christian thought, the phrase symbolized earthly death and the prospect of the afterlife for the virtuous.</i></p><p id="97c5"><i>More from Michael:</i></p><div id="5427" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/displaced-d78820686e7b"> <div> <div> <h2>Displaced</h2> <div><h3>Poetry</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*CjkBX5QEHPbp7SyiAUvt1w.png)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="2459"

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Totenanz — Dance of Death

Poetry — inspired by Composer — Franz Liszt

Hans Holbein — All Men’s Bones — Woodcut Print circa 1522

Screaming fever and spat blood, Footsteps tethered to twilight, Your larghissimo totentanz, A finale of despair? A victory in eternal triumph?

Dies irae! Memento mori in choro!

Dissonant wraiths of ebon, March to the burning stake, Bone and metal drop from the gallows, Gales snap the silence of the dead, Furies crash upon a river of souls.

In my madness, I curse you, With every blow of my baton!

Crushed by disease, Diatonic catgut bleats in pizzicato, Scarlet tusks hemorrhage into anarchy, The plaintive Bàtá weeps a faint echo, Decaying marrow devours my light.

You seized my free will! You sold me to the Parcae! I am of fifteen years, Facing a lifetime to die, To turn to ash, Surrender my spirit, Dance into resurrection,

And see you again, At my requiem.

Franz Liszt is a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Franz’s father, Adam Liszt, served as his son’s agent during Franz’s years as a touring child prodigy. Adam’s unexpected death from typhoid fever in 1827 devastated the 15-year-old Franz, resulting in a lifetime preoccupation with death, exemplified in his symphonic dance, Totentanz (Dance of Death).

Among others, Listz was inspired by Hans Holbein’s woodcut print depicted above. Death, personified by skeletons, comes for all, from the greatest of the great to the lowliest of the low. Totentanz is a set of variations on the Gregorian chant Dies Irae, or day of wrath, depicted in the New Testament Book of Revelation as the day of final judgment. Memento mori means “Remember, you have to die.” In choro means dance. In Christian thought, the phrase symbolized earthly death and the prospect of the afterlife for the virtuous.

More from Michael:

Poetry
Classical Music
Dance
Loss
The Lark
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