178
See also: Le bourgeois gentilhomme 70–71 ■ Water Music 84–89 ■ Symphonie
fantastique 162–163 ■ The Nutcracker 190 –191O
ne of the most instantly
recognizable waltzes ever
written, An der schönen,
blauen Donau (By the Beautiful
Blue Danube) was first performed in
Vienna in February 1867 as a choral
piece, conducted by its Austrian
composer, Johann Strauss II.
Comprising five interlinked waltz
themes, it was designed to lift the
spirit of the Austrian nation after
its defeat by Prussia in the Seven
Weeks’ War. It was, however, the
purely orchestral version, premiered
in Paris later that year, that took
off. The lilting beauty of Strauss’s
melodies made the piece beloved
the world over.
Waltzes have their roots in
the country dances of southern
Germany, Bohemia, and Austria.
From the mid-1700s, more refined
versions, with a distinctive triple
beat, started to become popular inEurope’s ballrooms. Couples held
one another face to face as they
twirled around the floor, in contrast
to the stately minuets and other
French-style court dances that
the waltz was starting to replace.
By the early 1800s, the waltz had
spread throughout Europe, with
Vienna as its capital. Invigorated
first by Johann Strauss I, then his
son, it became the signature
dance of the 19th century. ■IN CONTEXT
FOCUS
19th-century waltz musicBEFORE
1819 Carl Maria von Weber’s
Invitation to the Dance is
the first waltz written for
concert performance rather
than dancing.1823 Schubert writes Valses
sentimentales, a collection of
34 waltzes for solo piano.1834 Chopin’s Grande valse
brillante is the first of his solo
piano waltzes to be published.AFTER
1877 Tchaikovsky’s Swan
Lake is one of many late
19th-century ballets and
operas that feature waltzes.1911 Maurice Ravel publishes
a suite of waltzes, Valses
nobles et sentimentales.1919–1920 Ravel composes La
valse, about the rise and fall of
the waltz as a musical genre.A statue of “The Waltz King”
playing the violin stands in Stadtpark,
Vienna. As a child, Strauss practiced
the violin secretly, as his musician
father wanted him to become a banker.AND THE DANCERS
WHIRL AROUND GAILY
IN THE WALTZ’S
GIDDY MAZES
THE BLUE DANUBE ( 1867 ), JOHANN STRAUSS II
US_178-179_J_Strauss_Jr_Saint_Saens.indd 178 26/03/18 1:01 PM