Waltz (music)

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Waltz is a piece of music in triple meter, most often 3/4 but sometimes 3/8 or 6/8. Often associated with the dance of the same name, a waltz has a 1.2.3. - 1.2.3. count.

There are waltzes in nearly every kind of European and Euro-American folk music as well as in classical music.

Many songs, are "in waltz time." The music is written out in 3/4 time and typically played at a rather slow tempo (but see above). Some composers, even those that are not French-speakers, give it its French name, valse.

Waltzes typically have one chord per measure, with the root of the chord as the first note. As with other dances, waltzes were sometimes composed which were not intended to be danced to, but which were intended purely for concert use.

The most famous composers of waltz music for dancing were the Strauss family of Vienna, particularly Johann Strauss Senior and Junior. Johann Strauss Jr. surpassed the fame of his father with "The Blue Danube", which is easily the most famous of waltz melodies. Most European composers between 1780 and 1900 composed at least some examples of this popular dance, from Joseph Haydn forward. Ludwig van Beethoven's Diabelli Variations are based on a simple waltz by Anton Diabelli, Frédéric Chopin's waltzes for the piano are well known (especially the "Minute Waltz"), Jean Sibelius' orchestral Valse triste is an unusually slow, even morbid, example, and Maurice Ravel's Valses Nobles et Sentimentales (originally for piano, but arranged by him for orchestra) and orchestral La valse are also often heard. An example of the waltz standing in for the more usual minuet or scherzo in a symphony is the fifth symphony of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The waltz also features in a number of ballets and operas (notably Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier). An example of a post-Romantic Waltz is the Valse Romantique by Impressionistic composer Claude Debussy - as characterised by this period of music, the work contains so many rhythmic changes and rubato that it is only barely considered a waltz. Shostakovich, Khachaturian, Rimsky-Korsakov, Stravinsky and other 20th Century composers have all composed waltzes.

Among contemporary composers, Danny Elfman heavily utilizes the waltz rhythm in his many motion picture scores, particularly 1989's Batman and 2002's Spider-Man. Brian Wilson also composed several waltzes in the late 1960's, which are found on the Beach Boys albums Friends and 20/20. Suzanne Vega's song "Bad Wisdom" is another notable modern waltz. Pop musician Elliott Smith also wrote several pieces in waltz time.

Waltz had once held so much importance in European music circles that great waltz composers received the honorary title of "Waltz King". The title came with an accompanying "royal staff", a decorated silver baton which was passed from musician to musician. Strauss Jr. was the most famous "Waltz King", and has the title associated with his name frequently.