"Totentanz" is set to an anonymously authored text that appeared under a 15th-century frieze in St. Mary's Church, Lübeck, that was destroyed by a British air raid in World War II. In the score program notes, Adès wrote, "the frieze depicted members of every category of human society in strictly descending order of status, from the Pope to a baby. In-between each human figure is an image of Death, dancing and inviting the humans to join him. In this setting, each of the humans in turn is represented by a low soprano, and Death by a baritone."