The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1905-08-22
BIRTH OF THE WALTZ
THE DANCE HAD ITS ORIGIN EITHER
IN FRANCE OR GERMANY.


society In an uDroaF.
No exact date can be ascribed to the
introduction Of the waltz into England
from France. In 1900 Gilray published
= caricature OF a couple waltzing.
with the note that this was intended
for a quiz upon the then foreign dance,
waItzIng." Again In 1SaO the same art
list published another sketch. entitled
..I.a Wnlse, lie Bon Genre. with the
| note. The waIse was ut this time new
In England and just coming into fash
IoD."
new dance had. however, reached
England some years previously. DE-.
Burney had seen 1t danced in Paris in
1880 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
obIiging manner In which the free
dom is returned by the females"
RaIkes in his journal declares that
mo event ever produced SO great a
sensation in English society as the IN
PRODUCTION of the German waltz
which he attributes to Baron Neu-
mann and others about the year 1871
He relates how the mornings, which
had hitherto Bcen dedicated to lounE-
fnr, in the park, were now absorbed al
nome IN n..1cticing the figures of
French quadrflle or whirling n CHAIR
round the room to learn the step Unf
measure of the German waltz.
It wnS danced at Almack'S by rev
very bold spirits, notably Lord Palmer
ston, Mime. de Lieven, Princess Ester
hazy and Baron Neumann, and thus
became matter of exhibition, tie
whole company standing on benches to
view the performance.
However, the antlwaltzing party took
the alarm and cried it down. Mothers
forbade it, and every ballroom became
n scene of feud and contention. How
profound was it's unpopularity in Ger
tain quarters is proved by the pasGal'
uades leveled against it. The famous
seven lines commencing
what! The girl adore by another en-
braced!''
are commonly attributed to Byron.
though they were published anony-
Enously in 1912, and some authorities
Give Thomas Moore as the author. An
Iupromptu purporting to be addressed
by an indignant lover to his betrothe6
and her partner echoes Byron's feel
ings:
you've brushed the bloom from the
peach,
What you've touched you may take.
Pretty waltzer. adieu
Another poet delivered himself of the
following diatribe:
How arts Improve in this inspiring age!
Peers mount the box, and horses tread tt1e
while s'& MaitzIne females. with unblushins
pssdain to dance but in a mans em-
brace.
'"The waltz, however" continues
Raikes. struggled successfully through
all its difficulties. Flaurhault, who was
ia fleur du pois' in Paris, came over
and with a host of others drove the
prudes into their intrenchments. And
when the Emperor Alexander was seen
waltzing around the roof ut Almack's.
with his tight uniform and numerous
decorations, they surrendered at discre-
ton
II is a 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 IL trols temps. Provence was IT'S
birthplace, and it was first introduced
at the court of Henry II. Mt Fontaine.
bleau in 1858 by the Comte de Saulte'
who is said to have Invented 1t, for
many called it La Volta de Saulte, and
the name is suitable both because of
the etyrnology of the word and the
character of the dance.
1t enjoyed n great run throughout
France and even penetrated to scot
land. where 1t met with fuaiods oppost
ton. one writer averring that Its i'm
nOrtatfon into France nd been erect
ed by the power of witches. Mary Stu
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 1t.
The case for Germany is that the
first waltz tune appeared in 1870 in
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
it found its way to France, whence It
came to England-''the insldiOus waltz,
this imp of Germany, brought up in
France"
The waltz when first danced in Lon
don was slow movement trois
temps, and the early English waltz
compositions were very poor. Strauss
came to London in 1897 to play at AL
mack's, and his waltz music created
perfect furore. 1t killed the old trois
temps waltz, and the deux temps
usurped it's place Now that the fascl-
nation of the waltz is all powerful, 1t Is
dimcult to renllze the commotion its In