Famous Waltzes

This album has a selection of 6 different waltzes from 6 different composers. This is a digital recording, and it was released on Philips in 1983, and originally released in 1981.

## Details

Famous Waltzes

1. Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826) - **"Aufforderung zum Tanz" Op. 65** (Orch. Berlioz) - 11:07
2. Josef Lanner (1801-1843) - **"Die Schönbrunner" Op. 200** - 7:45
3. Iosif Ivanovici (1845?-1902) - **"Donauwellen"** (Valurile Dunării) -7:42
4. Karel Komzák (1850-1905) - **"Bad'ner Mad'In" Op. 257** - 8:56
5. Josef Strauss (1827-1870) - **"Dynamiden" Op. 173** (Geheime Anziehungskräfte) - 8:47
6. Carl Michael Ziehrer (1843-1922) - **"Herrreinspaziert!" Op. 518** (Arr. Max Schönherr) - 7:58

Total length: 52 minutes

* Orchestra: Orchestra of the Vienna Volksoper
* Conductor: Franz Bauer-Theussl

Recorded: Vienna, 4/1981

Photo: Helmut Koller, Vienna

Catalogue Numbers:

* CD: 400 013-2
* LP: 6514 067
* Cassette: 7337 067

## Liner Notes

The romantic three-four rhythm of the Viennese waltz continues to cast a spell over dancers and listeners in a way achieved by no other dance. Its heyday was the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when the courts of Europe and the world revolved to its rhythm, and dance musicians turned out waltz compositions in their thousands.

The usual waltz composition was a sequence of contrasted melodies preceded by an introduction and rounded off by a coda recapitulating the main themes. The formula was foreshadowed in 1819 by the German composer Carl Maria von Weber in his brilliant piano composition "Aufforderung zum Tanz" (Invitation to the Dance). In its introduction we hear the gentleman inviting a lady to dance and in the coda gallantly escorting her back to her seat. Hector Berlioz gave the piece wider currency when he orchestrated it for use as a ballet in the Paris production of Weber's "Der Freischütz" in 1841.

The centre of the waltz's progress was always Vienna. Among the dance composers who contributed to its popularity, the two Johann Strausses, father and son, were undoubtedly the most celebrated. There were, however, many others who created memorable examples. Joseph Lanner, for instance, was a colleague of the elder Johann Strauss and his friendly rival in Vienna. "Die Schönbrunner", named after Vienna's Schönbrunn Palace, remains his most famous set of waltzes. Composed in 1842, just six months before his death, its distinctive "tapping" main theme was quoted by Stravinsky in his ballet "Petrushka".

As for the younger Johann Strauss, his most talented rival was for a time his own brother Josef. "Geheime Anziehungskräfte" (Secret Powers of Attraction), more commonly known as "Dynamiden", was composed in 1865 for a ball of Vienna's industrialists. Of particular note is the rising main theme, which was later adapted by Richard Strauss (no relation) for the principal waltz in his opera "Der Rosenkavalier".

After Josef's early death, the main Viennese challenger to the Strausses was C. M. Ziehrer, who produced many well-loved sets of waltzes marked by their forthright melodic thrust. Like Johann Strauss, he eventually turned to operetta, and his "Herrreinspaziert!" (Step Inside) takes its title from the invitation to a pawnbroker's valuer who is the title character in Ziehrer's 1904 operetta "Der Schätzmeister" (The Valuer) from which the waltz themes are taken.

Not all the masters of the waltz came from Vienna, of course. The Bohemian Karel Komzák was the second of three generations of composers of that name and for several years conductor of the Spa Orchestra at Baden, south of Vienna. His "Bad'ner Mad'In" (Lasses of Baden) of 1898 has a most imaginative introduction featuring a military band approaching from the distance; this is followed by a languorous waltz theme played after the style of the Schrammel ensembles to be heard in the inns around Vienna. The waltz proper is full of rousing themes, deftly harmonised and brilliantly orchestrated.

From further cast still came Iosif Ivanovici, a Romanian bandmaster. His "Valurile Dunării" (Danube Waves) swept the world after its publication in 1880 and showed that Austria is not the only country through which the waltz-inspiring Danube flows?

*Andrew Lamb*

## Links

For the playlist of the album, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPCRsITDnbg&list=OLAK5uy\_lmy1FKkql2tYIjTL4acsCbr01H-\_zfjOE

On Decca Classics, they don't have any more info on this album

For the official Decca Classics website, click here: https://www.deccaclassics.com/en