From Midnight to Dawn Instagram post for Tanglin's Nov 2025 Concert
Color Palette: Blue-grey (#8B9D9B) for Danse macabre, Purple
(#5D3FD3) for transitions, Warm brown (#8B7355) for Mother Goose, Golden
(#C9A86A) for Franck
Slide 1: Cover From midnight to dawn
A French orchestral journey
Saint-Saëns • Ravel • Franck
The Houses of Parliament, 1903–1904, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Slide 2: Danse macabre - Introduction At the stroke of midnight, Death tunes his fiddle Saint-Saëns' Danse macabre depicts skeletons dancing until the rooster's crow sends them fleeing.
Slide 3: Dance of Death The dance of death. Detail from an unidentified 18th-century oil painting
18th century German painting, Public Domain
Slide 4: Mother Goose - Introduction Moving from medieval death dance to childhood fairy tales Ravel's Mother Goose Suite brings fairy tales to life with delicate orchestral magic.
Slide 5: Mother Goose - "I am an assassin!" At the premiere, a difficult glissando tore young Jeanne Leleu's finger. She showed Ravel her bleeding finger, hoping he'd allow her to play it normally. His response: "I am an assassin!" He did not change the glissando.
Slide 6: Jeanne Leleu Jeanne Leleu Premiere pianist
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Slide 7: Franck - Introduction From darkness to triumphant dawn Franck's Symphony in D minor climbs from D minor struggle to D major triumph.
Slide 8: César Franck César Franck at the console of the organ at St. Clotilde Basilica, Paris
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Slide 9: Franck - Challenge Can you spot the English horn? A Paris professor once scoffed: "Who ever heard of writing for English horn in a symphony?" Listen for its plaintive melody in the second movement!
Slide 10: Call to Action Join us for this journey from midnight to dawn 30 November 2025, 6:00 PM Lee Foundation Theatre Featuring Rob Hall and soloist Zhao Tian
Slide 11: Alternative last slide