Waltz (music)
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A waltz, or valse from the French term, is a piece of music in triple meter, most often 3/4 but sometimes 3/8 or 6/8. A waltz has a 1.2.3. - 1.2.3. count and (generally) a slow tempo. Waltzes typically have one chord per measure, with the root of the chord as the first note.
Classical composers traditionally supplied music for dancing when required, and Schubert's waltzes were written for household dancing, without any pretense at being art music. However, Chopin's 18 waltzes, along with his mazurkas and polonaises, were clearly not intended to be danced. They marked the adoption of the waltz and other dance forms as serious composition genres.
Other notable contributions to the waltz genre in classical music include 16 by Brahms (originally for piano duet), and Ravel's Valses nobles et sentimentales for piano and La Valse for orchestra.
The waltz style is found in nearly every kind of European and Euro-American folk music and also in classical music. Although waltzes are often associated with the dance of the same name, not all waltzes were composed as dances—some were written for concert performance.
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. Johann Strauss Junior, the most famous “Waltz King”, received the title frequently.
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[edit] Examples
[edit] Classical Waltz
Many classical composers have written waltzes, including:
- The Strauss family—notably Johann Strauss Senior and Junior, the latter being composer of the famous “The Blue Danube”—were perhaps the most famous of waltz composers.
- Joseph Haydn contributed classical waltzes.
- 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, among them the “Minute Waltz”.
- Jean Sibelius’s orchestral Valse triste is an unusually slow, even morbid example of a waltz for full orchestra.
- Maurice Ravel’s Valses Nobles et Sentimentales (originally for piano, but arranged by Ravel for orchestra) and orchestral La Valse are well known.
- Ion Ivanovici's waltz The waves of Danube(Romanian:Valurile Dunarii)
- Impressionistic composer Claude Debussy’s Valse Romantique is an example of a post-Romantic waltz though, as characterised by this period of music, the work contains so many rhythmic changes and rubato that it is barely considered a waltz.
- Many other 20th century composers have composed waltzes, including Shostakovich, Khachaturian, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Stravinsky.
Waltes can also be found as part of larger works:
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony shows an example of a waltz standing in for the more usual minuet or scherzo.
- A number of ballets and operas, notably Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier and Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, contain waltzes.
[edit] Popular song waltzes
The waltz was a familiar format in popular songs until the 1970s. Some waltzes which are well-known popular hits include:
From the first decades of the 20th century, Kiss Me Again, Beautiful Ohio, I'm Falling in Love with Someone, When I Lost You.
From the 1920s: The Anniversary Waltz, Are You Lonesome Tonight, Always, Remember, What'll I Do, All Alone, The Song Is Ended, Russian Lullaby, Marie, Together, Lover, Charmaine.
From the 1930s: Reaching for the Moon, The Touch of Your Hand, When I Grow Too Old to Dream, Someday My Prince Will Come. Falling in Love with Love, The Most Beautiful Girl in the World, Wait Till You See Her.
From the 1940s: Goodnight, Irene, You Always Hurt the One You Love, Oh What a Beautiful Morning, Out of My Dreams, Californ-i-ay, Hello, Young Lovers, The Carousel Waltz, The Girl That I Marry, The Girl Next Door, Cruising Down the River, Tenderly, Let's Take an Old-Fashioned Walk, It's a Big, Wide, Wonderful World, You're Breaking My Heart. This Nearly Was Mine, A Wonderful Guy.
From the 1950s: The Tennessee Waltz, If, I Went To Your Wedding, (How Much Is) The Doggie in the Window, Song from Moulin Rouge (Where Is Your Heart), True Love, Allegheny Moon, Rock and Roll Waltz, Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom), Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be), Tammy, Around the World, The Chipmunk Song, El Paso, Edelweiss, My Favorite Things.
From the 1960s: Moon River, Charade, Dear Heart, Somewhere, My Love (Lara's Theme from Dr. Zhivago), The Sweetheart Tree, What the World Needs Now Is Love, (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, The Last Waltz, Jean.
From the 1970s: Time in a Bottle, Annie's Song, When I Need You, You Light Up My Life, If You Don't Know Me By Now, Three Times a Lady, Take It to the Limit, The Godfather Waltz.
From the 1980s: Friends and Lovers (Both to Each Other), At This Moment.
Among popular composers, it seems they either wrote a lot of waltzes or almost none. Irving Berlin was known for his many waltzes, including When I Lost You, Always, Remember, What'll I Do, All Alone, The Song Is Ended, Russian Lullaby, Marie, Reaching for the Moon, The Girl That I Marry, Let's Take an Old-Fashioned Walk, (Just One Way To Say) I Love You, and Let's Go Back to the Waltz. Similarly, Richard Rodgers wrote many waltzes, including Lover, Oh What a Beautiful Morning, Out of My Dreams, Edelweiss, My Favorite Things, Falling in Love with Love, The Most Beautiful Girl in the World, Wait Till You See Her This Nearly Was Mine, A Wonderful Guy, Hello, Young Lovers, and The Carousel Waltz. Henry Mancini included many waltzes among his popular songs: Moon River, Charade, Dear Heart, The Sweetheart Tree, and Whistling Away the Dark. In contrast, Jerome Kern, George Gershwin and Cole Porter wrote only a small number of waltzes each. Stephen Sondheim often uses the waltz in his music, particularly in A Little Night Music
[edit] Contemporary Waltz
Contemporary composers have also made use of the waltz form. Notable examples include:
- Danny Elfman, who heavily utilizes the waltz rhythm in his many motion picture scores including Batman and Spider-Man
- Hans Zimmer used waltz in his score for the movie Gladiator to depict the rhythm of the battle scenes.
- Brian Wilson, whose waltzes, composed in the late 1960s, are found on the Beach Boys albums Friends and 20/20
- Suzanne Vega, whose song Bad Wisdom is another notable modern waltz
- Bill Evans: "Waltz For Debby" beign one of his most popular contributions.
- Elliott Smith, a pop musician who also wrote several pieces in waltz time
- Patrick Doyle, composer of the soundtrack to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, wrote a waltz for the Yule Ball in this film.
- Ben Folds: Lullabye and Smoke
- Aimee Mann: High on Sunday 51
- Pure (band): Wagner's Show
- Mark Knopfler: Several tracks from Kill To Get Crimson
- The Eels: "Beautiful Freak"
- Beirut (band): "A Sunday Smile" & "Forks and Knives(La Fete)"
- Number One Fan: "Waltz in F#"
