The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-04-15
THE ORIGIN OF THE WALTZ.


London Musical Courier.
The opinion most generally conceded Is
that France received the waltz from Ger
many toward the close of the eighteenth
century, and among many beliefs this con-
tains the most truth, but the justice of at
tributing to Germanic influence the renais-
sance of the waltz in France does not of
necessity verify the statement that it had
its origin in Germany. Like everything else
that touches humanity, where nothing is
born spontaneously, but everything is the
product of a series of successive evolutions,
the waltz did not emanate in its present
form from the brain of a dancing master.
Long before 1880. the time when we find 1t
first mentioned under this NAME, its grace
full curves and cadences were displayed on
the village greens as we'll as in the golden
salons of palaces: IL had its alternations<of
vogue and neglect, its supporters and de-
tractors. The waltz, like many other Sec
ular things, we find first in the church,
where, in the midst of barbaric disorder, II
serves to trace the union between ancient
civilization and that of the middle ages.
The sacred dance of the pagans is preserved
TO a certain point in Christian rites; il is
transformed to a series of evolutions made
to the sound of the tambourine. St. Isidore,
archbishop of Seville, born about A. D. $50,
was intrusted by the Council of Toledo with
the revision of the liturgy as il was then
practiced in the Roman Church, In which
there was a tambourine dance. The Coun-
Gil decided TO adopt the Isidorian liturgy
in all Spain, and il differed but little from
that used in other countries at that time.
This rite, celebrated before the eighth CEN
fury, when the Moors first invaded Spain.
was still celebrated by the Christians in
the seven churches of Toledo, which the
MOors abandoned after their capture of
the city. and was after that time called the
This was known and employed i'm Prov
ence and Italy. The tambourine i'm use in
this religious dance was called by st. Isl
dore "moite de symphonic" and evidently
corresponded to the instrument which. In
the ancient sacred dances, accompanied the
flute. a sort of bagpipe invented two GEN.
turtles b. c. And thus, as the religious
dance of the middle ages is allied to the
ancient sacred dance, so the waltz is an
evolution of this religious dance. having
passed through many changes before arriv-
ing at its present form. In the eleventh
century. when the Gregorian rite supplant-
ed the Moorish rite. the dance disappeared
from the church. 1t appeared very quickly
In society under the name of carole. q word
derived from the Latin ''caroler:" after
ward under that of basse-dance, in which
the grand prelates, kings and dignitaries
did not disdain to join. composed of three
parts-two very slow and one more lively.
The people-and at this time all who were
not of the clergy or royalty were the peo-
ple-used the lighter part, called the tour
dion. which, lighter and more lively. APP
pealed to them. and little by little IL be-
came changed. In Italy IL was first separ-
ated from the rest under the name of
romanesca, and from there IL passed to
Provence and southern Germany. In Prov
ence IL was developed into the gaillard and
vote, while the Germans, more dreamy and
slow, changed the romanesca into the allie
mand and waltz. The volte succumbed
while young to oblivion In the sixteenth
century by very reason of its excess. but
the German lived long and produced the
waltz which rules to-day.
Thus from the tourdion of the aristocratic
dance. transformed by the people, was born
the romanesca, which became in France
the gaillard and wolfe. and in m
through various stages. emerged at last