A bacchanale is an orgiastic musical composition,^[1] often depicting a drunken revel or bacchanal.

Examples include the bacchanales in Camille Saint-Saëns's Samson and Delilah, the Venusberg scene in Richard Wagner's Tannhäuser,^[1] "Danse générale (Bacchanale)" from Maurice Ravel's "Daphnis et Chloé," and Tableau 4, the Bacchanale in Alexander Glazunov's The Seasons.^{[citation needed]} John Cage wrote a Bacchanale in 1940, his first work for prepared piano.^[2] The French composer Jacques Ibert was commissioned by the BBC for the tenth anniversary of the Third Programme in 1956,^[3] for which he wrote a Bacchanale.^{[citation needed]}

In 1939, Salvador Dalí designed the set and wrote the libretto for a ballet entitled Bacchanale, based on Wagner's Tannhäuser and the myth of Leda and the Swan.^[4]

Bacchanale (1954) was written by composer Toshiro Mayuzumi, for 5 saxophones (soprano, 2 alto, tenor, baritone), timpani, percussion (4), piano, celesta, harp, and strings.^{[citation needed]} The previous year, he had written a Bacchanale for orchestra.^[5]

"Bacchanale" (1975) is also a track composed by the Greek musician, Vangelis, on his Heaven and Hell (Vangelis album) album.