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'''Totentanz''' (Dance of Death), (Paraphrase on "Dies irae" for Pianoforte and Orchestra, S.126) is the name of a symphonic piece for solo piano and orchestra by Franz Liszt, which is notable for being based on the Gregorian plainchant melody ''Dies Irae'' as well as for daring stylistic innovations. The piece was originally planned in 1838 and completed in 1849; it was then revised twice however, in 1853 and 1859.

Contents

Obsession with Death

Sources of Inspiration

Stylistic Innovations

Extant Versions

Notable Performers

Media

Notes

External links

Obsession with Death

Some of the titles of Liszt’s pieces, such as ''Totentanz'', ''Funérailles'', ''La Lugubre gondola'', ''Pensée des morts'', etc., show the composer's fascination with death. In the young Liszt we can already observe manifestations of his obsession with death, with religion, and with heaven and hell: Liszt was an enthusiastic Catholic, and he devoured Dante's ''Divine Comedy''. According to Alan Walker,^[1] Liszt frequented Parisian "hospitals, gambling casinos and asylums" in the early 1830s, and he even went down into prison dungeons in order to see those condemned to die.
In no way though is this obsession with death an isolated phenomenon in European culture.