It can be a movement labelled as a waltz or it can be a section from a scherzo, say, which is a waltz in all but name (even if you're the only person who thinks so ;)). It can represent the joys of life or it can be a dance of hopeless defiance. Orchestral, chamber, orchestral, solo piano, or even orchestral works *hint-hint* -- anything goes. Whatever catches your fancy, please post it here. For example, Sarge recently pointed out a melodic waltz-like section from a for Suk piece called Fantastic Scherzo. While during initial listening I found the piece to be a bit too repetitive in general, I liked the "memorable waltz tune" a lot. (Thanks, Sarge.)
I already found a thread with waltz suggestions from works written in the 20th century (http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,2657.msg68105) and later; however, in this thread, I would like to push the Point A slider back a bit, to the mid-Romantic era. (No minuets, please. Oh, and let's also leave the Strauss family out of this.) If a thread covering the same topic already exists and if you know where I can find it, please post a link. :)
Now, if you are ready, 1-2-3...
The scherzo of Mahler 1 popped into my head when I clicked on this, but really the answer has to be the third movement from Dvorak's Eighth, which is gorgeous and also totally perfect. Ahhh, bliss. 0:)
Quote from: Brian on July 23, 2010, 06:37:48 AM
but really the answer has to be the third movement from Dvorak's Eighth, which is gorgeous and also totally perfect. Ahhh, bliss. 0:)
One of my favourites. And I'm especially looking out for parts like that: colourful orchestration, folk influences and, of course, the triple meter. ;D (But don't let that stop you from posting solo piano- and chamber pieces.) I'm going to listen to the Harnoncourt, now.
I love the waltz that breaks out at the climax of the development in the first movement of Nielsen's Third. Nielsen teases us with fragments, false starts and really builds the tension until it's finally released in one of the most glorious waltzes I've ever heard. It only lasts a minute, but it's my favorite single minute in classical music. The perfect recorded realization of that is Bernstein's.
Sarge
Quote from: Sergeant Rock on July 23, 2010, 06:48:01 AM
I love the waltz that breaks out at the climax of the development in Nielsen's Third. Nielsen teases us with fragments, false starts and really builds the tension until it's finally released in one of the most glorious waltzs I've ever heard. It only lasts a minute, but it's my favorite single minute in classical music. The perfect recorded realization of that is Bernstein's.
Sarge
I heard the symphony for the first time only two days ago, although I didn't pay much attention it then, I must add. :( I'll revisit it during the weekend. Thanks. :)
This one's easy for me: La valse.
Quote from: Sergeant Rock on July 23, 2010, 06:48:01 AM
I love the waltz that breaks out at the climax of the development in the first movement of Nielsen's Third. Nielsen teases us with fragments, false starts and really builds the tension until it's finally released in one of the most glorious waltzes I've ever heard. It only lasts a minute, but it's my favorite single minute in classical music. The perfect recorded realization of that is Bernstein's.
Very nice example, Sarge!
The 'menuet' movement of the Prokofiev Seventh is a charmingly nostalgic waltz.
And (you knew I was going to mention this one) in the middle of the third movement of the Shostakovich Fourth, the mad-cap galop yields to a beguilingly relaxed waltz.
Quote from: edward on July 23, 2010, 06:52:54 AM
This one's easy for me: La valse.
That's a stand-alone work, which I think doesn't fit the OP's request . . . ? (Great piece, though!)
Quote from: Opus106 on July 23, 2010, 06:50:19 AM
I heard the symphony for the first time only two days ago, although I didn't pay much attention it then, I must add. :( I'll revisit it during the weekend. Thanks. :)
Oh yes, do listen again. It's a great symphony. The waltz tune is big and gaudy, with whooping brass, not elegant...a tune that would be perfect for a carousel.
Sarg
Quote from: edward on July 23, 2010, 06:52:54 AM
This one's easy for me: La valse.
Don't stop with just one. No one's asking about the Greatest here. :D ;)
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on July 23, 2010, 06:54:29 AM
That's a stand-alone work, which I think doesn't fit the OP's request . . . ?
Not a problem; being a stand-alone piece only makes it easier to locate compared to parts embedded within larger works, that's all.
Thanks for the contribs.
Quote from: Opus106 on July 23, 2010, 06:50:19 AM
I heard the symphony for the first time only two days ago, although I didn't pay much attention it then, I must add. :( I'll revisit it during the weekend. Thanks. :)
Nav, you'll enjoy this one gradually getting under your skin. It plays so shrewdly against form ("The final grand utterance of a composer known for a series of symphonies!!!") that it is apt to puzzle just about anyone on an initial hearing. But I find it one of Nielsen's most brilliant scores.
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on July 23, 2010, 06:59:02 AM
Nav, you'll enjoy this one gradually getting under your skin. It plays so shrewdly against form ("The final grand utterance of a composer known for a series of symphonies!!!") that it is apt to puzzle just about anyone on an initial hearing. But I find it one of Nielsen's most brilliant scores.
I didn't find it difficult, per se; it's just that I was too engrossed doing other things. ;D In fact, after "listening" to it, the positions of Complete Symphonies sets on The List were upped a bit.
Tchaikovsky Symphony 6 - 2nd movement
Classic waltz melody with a dark twist.......
listen below the surface and hear sadness and apprehension. Picture dancing with your love for the last time knowing you will never see them again
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wCEgHz8YGQ&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wCEgHz8YGQ&feature=related)
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on July 23, 2010, 06:53:24 AM
And (you knew I was going to mention this one) in the middle of the third movement of the Shostakovich Fourth, the mad-cap galop yields to a beguilingly relaxed waltz.[/font]
Oh yes :) ..I think I'll put that on right now.
Sarge
Quote from: DarkAngel on July 23, 2010, 07:07:21 AM
Tchaikovsky Symphony 6 - 2nd movement
Classic waltz melody with a dark twist.......
listen below the surface and hear melancholy and apprehension. Picture dancing with your love for the last time knowing you will never see them again
He has many of them. The second movement from the
Serenade for Strings an all-time favourite of mine, but which is far removed from the mood of the 6th. It is however interesting to note that this is not a waltz in the traditional sense due to its use of a then-unconventional rhythm pattern. :)
Quote from: DarkAngel on July 23, 2010, 07:07:21 AM
Tchaikovsky Symphony 6 - 2nd movement
Classic waltz melody with a dark twist.......
listen below the surface and hear sadness and apprehension. Picture dancing with your love for the last time knowing you will never see them again
You have a most appropriate username :D
Sarge
I was listening to arrangements by Alban Berg of Strauss waltzes and am strongly considering ordering this disc:
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/417wy6%2BJl3L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
Last movement of Atterberg's 5th Symphony which, coincidentally, I happen to be listening to at the moment.
Quote from: Franco on July 23, 2010, 07:21:06 AM
I was listening to arrangements by Alban Berg of Strauss waltzes and am strongly considering ordering this disc:
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/417wy6%2BJl3L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
i don't know why anyone in their right mind would try to re-arrange Strauss' Waltzes. They are perfect creations, you just don't touch them.
on a related note, the other day i heard a horrible arrangement of "Luxury train" polka by Strauss II, why? oh, btw, here it is, for your listening pleasure/torment:
http://tnli.naxosmusiclibrary.com/mediaplayer/flash/http-fplayer.asp?br=64&tl=206876
Quote from: oabmarcus on July 23, 2010, 07:36:12 AM
i don't know why anyone in their right mind would try to re-arrange Strauss' Waltzes.
So that you can play them with a smaller and differently constituted ensemble. The act is actually one of affection, not of 'correction'.
Quote from: Franco on July 23, 2010, 07:21:06 AM
I was listening to arrangements by Alban Berg of Strauss waltzes and am strongly considering ordering this disc:
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/417wy6%2BJl3L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
I have this one and quite enjoy it. If I had the score, I'd love to arrange some in-house performances with a student quartet.
Quote from: springrite on July 23, 2010, 07:52:32 AM
I have this one and quite enjoy it. If I had the score, I'd love to arrange some in-house performances with a student quartet.
I went for it, at less than $5 it was a no-brainer. They are very charming for string quartet and I am interested to hear the other selections beyond the few I already had in the big Berg box.
Well, my favorite is the wonderfully polytonal waltz from Der Rosenkavalier by the other Strauss, Richard.
More truly obligatory waltzes are:
From Prokofiev's Cinderella, Opus 87:
№ 30 Grand Waltz
№ 37 Waltz-Coda
№ 49 Waltz
From Prokofiev's Romeo & Juliet, Opus 64:
№ 20 Romeo's Variation
And his Pushkin Waltzes, Opus 120
. . . all of these are affectionate homages to the obvious and obligatory waltzes from the Tchaikovsky ballets.
Quote from: Opus106 on July 23, 2010, 07:19:45 AM
He has many of them. The second movement from the Serenade for Strings an all-time favourite of mine, but which is far removed from the mood of the 6th. It is however interesting to note that this is not a waltz in the traditional sense due to its use of a then-unconventional rhythm pattern.
Indeed......we start with a traditional playful waltz rythm but then melody limps and staggers along as doubts and apprehension creep in (begins 2:35 mark in clip below) and we must resolve these conflicting feelings, a very unique waltz movement with dark undertone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wCEgHz8YGQ&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wCEgHz8YGQ&feature=related)
Since we are mentioning waltzes by Prokofiev, let's not forget two from his operas...
... the famous waltz at the Imperial Ball in PEACE, during which pure coincidence and artfully-arranged choreography bring Prince Andrei together with the Natasha Rostova once again. (And here's the most perfect Russian I've ever heard from a foreign singer - Nathan Gunn - and some damn nimble footwork with Guryakova too)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqeCn7AzGN4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqeCn7AzGN4)
There's another more bittersweet waltz in STORY OF A REAL MAN, in the flashback scene, when Andrei Morozov (now in the field hospital with his legs amputated) is remembering his time with his sweetheart before WW2.
(http://www.helikon.ru/img/wysiwyg/DSC_001-6160.jpg)
Quote from: False_Dmitry on July 23, 2010, 11:29:50 AM
Since we are mentioning waltzes by Prokofiev, let's not forget two from his operas...
... the famous waltz at the Imperial Ball in PEACE, during which pure coincidence and artfully-arranged choreography bring Prince Andrei together with the Natasha Rostova once again. (And here's the most perfect Russian I've ever heard from a foreign singer - Nathan Gunn - and some damn nimble footwork with Guryakova too)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqeCn7AzGN4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqeCn7AzGN4)
Lovely. Prokofiev is a composer whom I ought to explore in the second half of '10. (Not that I generally explore composers in a half-yearly or even a quarterly basis.)
While there, I revisited another old favourite -- which I hadn't listened to in two or three years, by the way: Khachaturian's waltz from
Masquerade.
FRANZ LISZT: Mephisto Waltz No.1 for Orchestra "Dance in the Village Inn", S.514 (1862)
http://www.youtube.com/v/LCnmFBVEFWo
I'll go with the 2nd mvt. of Schnittke's Piano Quintet. A slow waltz that starts out sad and depressed, and finishes fast and scary before dissolving into the mist. Typical fun Schnittke :D
Quote from: Sergeant Rock on July 23, 2010, 06:48:01 AM
I love the waltz that breaks out at the climax of the development in the first movement of Nielsen's Third. Nielsen teases us with fragments, false starts and really builds the tension until it's finally released in one of the most glorious waltzes I've ever heard. It only lasts a minute, but it's my favorite single minute in classical music.
I'm going to have to go with my second choice, because Sarge has already described--perfectly--the piece I was going to nominate. So instead I'll suggest the second movement of Jan van Gilse's 2nd symphony, a lush waltz in a Mahlerian language, with a trio that shifts in style to something Reger might have written.
Quote from: jimmosk on July 24, 2010, 04:14:07 AM
I'm going to have to go with my second choice, because Sarge has already described--perfectly--the piece I was going to nominate. So instead I'll suggest the second movement of Jan van Gilse's 2nd symphony, a lush waltz in a Mahlerian language, with a trio that shifts in style to something Reger might have written.
Gilse is a composer I know nothing about. The symphony sounds interesting. Thanks. I've ordered it (available cheaply at JPC).
Sarge
Quote from: Sergeant Rock on July 23, 2010, 06:48:01 AM
I love the waltz that breaks out at the climax of the development in the first movement of Nielsen's Third. Nielsen teases us with fragments, false starts and really builds the tension until it's finally released in one of the most glorious waltzes I've ever heard. It only lasts a minute, but it's my favorite single minute in classical music. The perfect recorded realization of that is Bernstein's.
Sarge
Waltzing along. It's pretty much what I'm after -- interwoven into larger orchestral fabric. :)
There's the Waltz second movement in Britten's piano concerto. Sort of half-serious, half-parody.
The first movement of Schoenberg's Suite for piano, string trio and three clarinets, Op. 29, is marked Overture. But in the middle there is a loopy atonal Waltz of sorts. Not a Waltz that will have you imaging Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers swinging around the ballroom, though.
Quote from: Scarpia on July 24, 2010, 09:22:41 AM
The first movement of Schoenberg's Suite for piano, string trio and three clarinets, Op. 29, is marked Overture. But in the middle there is a loopy atonal Waltz of sorts. Not a Waltz that will have you imaging Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers swinging around the ballroom, though.
I was wondering if waltzes could exists in the Atonal Universe. ;D
Quote from: Opus106 on July 24, 2010, 09:38:13 AM
I was wondering if waltzes could exists in the Atonal Universe. ;D
Yes. Imagine a Waltz danced by Christopher Walken and Cindi Lauper.
Quote from: Scarpia on July 24, 2010, 09:22:41 AMThe first movement of Schoenberg's Suite for piano, string trio and three clarinets, Op. 29, is marked Overture. But in the middle there is a loopy atonal Waltz of sorts. Not a Waltz that will have you imaging Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers swinging around the ballroom, though.
What I forgot to mention is that this movement is full of wonderful, catchy tunes (it takes some concentration to notice them, since they sort of come out of the woodwork).
The Waltz was something of a favorite genre for Schoenberg . . . one of the Giraud poems he selected to set in Pierrot Lunaire is "Valse de Chopin," e.g., and there is the waltze in the Opus 23 piano pieces . . . .
Scriabin has weird waltz-like sections in few of his larger scale works;
-in the 1rst movement of the Concerto op.20, actually more of a mazurka there
-very similar section in practically the only chamber work he composed, the Fantasy in a-minor for two pianos
Quote from: abidoful on July 29, 2010, 07:04:18 AM
Scriabin has weird waltz-like sections in few of his larger scale works;
-in the 1rst movement of the Concerto op.20, actually more of a mazurka there
-very similar section in practically the only chamber work he composed, the Fantasy in a-minor for two pianos
I haven't heard non-solo-piano Scriabin -- yet. So, I'll look forward for those.
Ever since I started this thread, a small waltz-like section -- lasting barely half a minute -- keeps playing again and again in my head. I know it's very likely to be something featured in the CDs I own or something I downloaded, but I just can't figure it out. Typically late-Romantic (not Wagnerian) orchestral piece... possibly Dvořák. :-\
I feel like digging up some old threads today:
Atterberg: Symphony no. 5, 3rd movement (v. haunting)
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique, 2nd movement
Tchaikovsky: Symphony no. 5, 3rd movement
the waltzes from Shostakovich's Jazz Suites
Rorem: Flute Concerto, 5th movement (entitled False Waltz)
(off the top of my head)
I decided to make this today's listening theme and took some suggestions from the thread!
Melanie Bonis: Suite en forme de valses. Bucharest SO; Benoit Fromanger
Rontgen: Symphony No 10. Rheinland-Pfalz State PO; David Porcelijn
van Gilse: Symphony No 2. Netherlands SO; David Porcelijn
Atterberg: Symphony No 5. Stockholm SO; Stig Westerberg
All off NML. The Bonis is a pretty lush late-romantic suite, very brief. The Rontgen is a wonderful parody work: the first half is all Sturm, Drang, and Brahmsian sobriety, but then it flips into a cheery waltz. Love it.
First listens ever to Bonis and van Gilse.
The death waltz in the finale of Atterberg's Fifth is, indeed, brilliant and one of the few Atterberg bits that actually sticks with me.
I've always heard the middle section of the first movement of Alkan's Grande Sonate Les quatre âges as a sort of waltz, likewise the main theme of the slow movement of Franck's Symphony in D minor, but I'm not sure everyone would agree with me.
(Also pretty much every Chaikovsky piece in 3/4 and a few that aren't ;) )
I suppose there's also the ball scene from Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique if that isn't too mainstream for today's GMG :P
Quote from: amw on October 24, 2013, 01:06:43 PM
I suppose there's also the ball scene from Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique if that isn't too mainstream for today's GMG :P
Hey, I listed it, so it couldn't be
too mainstream! :laugh:
;D
Great idea, once the rotting corpse smell wears off.
Anyway, agreed about the waltz in Nielsen's third. The echt Beethoven sense of humor there. (Tease, tease, tease, punchline.)
But I'm surprised that no one mentioned the waltz in the last movement of the sixth. I'll never forget the first time I heard that. Wow.
There's also a similarly surprising waltz in Strauss's Also Sprach, where triplets in a duple meter turn into an actual waltz, in triple meter. Similarly surprising, though not nearly so funny. :)