Dans Macabre (5 Flutes Ensemble)

A Modern Waltz for Flute Choir

Saint-Saëns's Danse Macabre is the tone poem about Death playing the fiddle at midnight while skeletons dance. This arrangement by flutist and composer Yu-Tai Cheng brings it to five flutes and marks it Modern Waltz, a steady three-beat pulse that keeps the music light on its feet and a little dangerous.

The writing is built on crisp staccato and accents. Short repeated figures pass between the parts, chromatic lines slide under the melody, and the dynamics move from a quiet, creeping middle section to a full-force finish marked fff.

A good fit for Halloween concerts, flute choir programs and studio recitals, and for ensembles who want a well-known classical piece that sounds fresh on flutes alone.

What you get

- Full score (4 pages) and individual parts for Flute 1–5 (PDF, instant download)

- Instrumentation: five C flutes

- Tempo: Modern Waltz, dotted half note = 66 · Meter: 3/4

- Rehearsal marks A, B, C for easy ensemble rehearsal

- Difficulty level: Easy

Perfect for Halloween Concerts

Who it's for

- Flute quintets and flute choirs looking for a Halloween or seasonal showpiece

- Teachers and ensemble coaches who want a classical arrangement that trains staccato, ensemble precision and dynamic control

- Players who know Danse Macabre and want to perform it on flutes

About the arranger

Yu-Tai Cheng (鄭宇泰) is a Taiwanese flutist and composer, founder of Flute Gamer Studio (長笛玩家工作室), and author of 《Beatbox Flute》 and 《循環呼吸》. He is a pioneer of systematic beatbox flute and circular-breathing pedagogy in the Chinese-speaking world.