An Analysis Of The Style And Performance Of Horowitz 's Adapted Edition Piano Music "Skeleton Dance"

Vladimir Horowitz, a Russian American pianist, was one of the greatest pianists of 20 th century. He performed with great skill, and at the same time, stressed the need to fully understand the music when performing, to becoming the re-creator of the works. Danse Macabre originated from the same name symphonic poem of the French composer Camille Saint Saens, which was firstly adapted for piano by Franz Liszt. Based on this, Horowitz adapted it.Nowadays, more and more piano performers begin to perform Horowitz’s version of Danse Macabre. But the study about Horowitz’s version of Danse Macabre is still insufficient. Horowitz’s performance cannot be surpassed by future generations, a large part of the reason is because he was always join his own understanding into the music, and re created when performing, at the same time, didn’t deliberately imitate other’s performance. Therefore, the study of Horowitz’s version of Danse Macabre can help the performers to better understand Horowitz’s performance concept and more accurate to complete the performance of the work.Through the study in this paper, the creation of Horowitz’s transcription music for piano and various versions of Danse Macabre will be better understood. Analysing the transcription characteristics of Horowitz’s Danse Macabre, how Horowitz re created when performing will be comprehended. The analysis of Horowitz’s performance can help to find our own suitable playing method. This paper will provide help for future performance.