Frostburg mining journal., 1905-08-12

and For Time Had Fashionable
Society In an TproRr.
No exact date can be ascribed to the
introduction OF the waltz into England
from France. In 1900 Gilray published
caricature of couple waltzing,
with the note that this was intended
for a quiz upon the then foreign dance,
waltzing' Again in 1910 the same art
iSt published another sketch, entitled
LA Walse, lie Bon Genre" with the
note. The walse was at this time new
in England and just coming into fash
ion"
The fame, or, rather, notoriety, of the
new dance had, however, reached
England some years previously. Dr.
Burney had seen It danced in Paris in
17SO and was moved to write, How
uneasy an English mother would feel
to see her daughter so unfamiliarly
treated and still more to note the
obligIng manner in which the free
dom is returned by the females"
Raikes in his journal declares that
no event ever produced so great a
sensation in English society as the in
PRODUCTION of the German waltz"
which he attributes to Baron Ncu-
mann and others about the year 1911.
He relates how the mornings, which
had hitherto been dedicated to lOung
ing in the park, We're now absorbed at
home III practiCing the figures of a
French Quadrille or whirling a chair
round the room to learn the step and
measure of the German waltz.
1t was danced at AlmackS by a few
very bold spirits, notably Lord Palmer
ston, Nine. de Iieven, Princess Ester
hazy and Baron Neumann, and thus
became matter of exhibition, the
whole company standing on benches to
view the performance.
However, the antiwaltzing party took
the alarm and cried it down. Mothers
forbade it, aud every ballroom became
n scene of feud and contention. How
profound wis Its unpOpularity in GER
tain quarters is proved by the pasqui-
nadcs lcvclcd against it. The famous
seven lines commencing
/
braccd!'
are commonly attributed to Byron,
though they We're published anony-
mously In 1872. and some authorities
give Thomas Moore as the author. An
impromptu purporting to be addressed
by an indignant lover to his bctrothed
and her partner echoes ByrOnS feel
ingS:
You've brushed the bloom from the
peach,
From the rose it's soft hue;
What you've touched you may take.
Pretty waltZer, adeu.
Another poet delivered himself of the
following diAtribe:
How arts improve in this inspiring age!
Peers mount the box, and horses tread the
stage,
While waltzing females, with unblushing
face,
Disdain to dance but in mans en-
brace.
The waltz, however" continues
Raikcs, struggled successfully through
all its difficulties. Flaurhault, who was
IA hcur du poiS' in Paris, came over
and with a host of others drove the
prudcS into their intrcnchmentS. And
when the Emperor Alexander was seen
waltZiug around the roof at Almack'S,
with his tight uniform and numerous
decorations, they surrendered at diScre-
ton"
1t is moot point whether the waltz
originated in France or Germany,
whether it came from the French La
Volta" or the German national dance,
the "Landler." According to French
authorities, La Volta was simply the
waltz trois temps. Provence was its
birthplace and it was first introduced
at the court of Henry ii. at FOntaine-
blcau in l,.l.I by the COmte de Saulte,
who is said to have invented it, for
many called it La Volta de Saulte, and
the name is suitable both because of
the stymology of the word and the
character of the dance
1t enjoyed Il great run throughout
France and even penetrated to Scot
land, where it met with furious oppoSi-
ton, one writer averring that its i'm
portation into France had been effect
art once exhibited her agility in this
dance, but she was careful not to re
peat the experiment, and this was
about the last heard OF it,
The case for Germany is that the
first waltz tune appeared in 1910 in a
popular song called 20 du lieber Au-
gustin." From Germany the dance
made its way to Vienna and was intro
duced into the opera, while by and by
1t found its way to France, whence it
came to England-"the inSidiouS waltz,
this imp of Germany, brought up in
France"
The waltz when first danced in Lon
lon was ii slow movement a troiS
temps, and the early English waltz
compositions We're very poor. Strauss
came to London in 1887 to play at AL
mack's, and his waltz music created Il
perfect furore. 1t killed the Old tros
temps waltz, and the deuX temps
uSurped its place. Now that the fasCi
nation of the waltz is all powerful it is
difficult to realize the cOmmOtiOn its In
PRODUCTION cauScd.-LOndon Globe.