Seneca Street Recorder Ensemble

While reading about John Playford's Dancing Master's book (see audio file at right), I came across a reference to the Dance of Death. Of course, Playford's book doesn't have any such music. However, here are a few of Hans Holbein the Younger's woodcuts on the subject (1520s). Click on an image to enlarge it.

From the wikipedia article on Danse Macabre:
The deathly horrors of the 14th century—such as recurring famines; the Hundred Years' War in France; and, most of all, the Black Death—were culturally assimilated throughout Europe. The omnipresent possibility of sudden and painful death increased the religious desire for penitence, but it also evoked a hysterical desire for amusement while still possible;
a last dance as cold comfort. The danse macabre combines both desires: in many ways
similar to the mediaeval mystery plays, the dance-with-death allegory was originally a didactic dialogue poem to remind people of the inevitability of death.