# Russian Waltzes?



## LittleSoul

I'm a huge admirer of Russian Waltzes (Orchestral) and found these ones so far:

Glinka - Fantasia Waltz

Tchaikovsky - Waltz scherzo in C major, Op. 34
Serenade for strings in C major, Op. 48: Waltz
Orchestral Suite No. 3 in G, Op. 55 - Valse mélancolique
'The Nutcracker': Waltz of the Flowers
'Sleeping Beauty' Waltz
Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64, III. Valse

Kashaturian - 'Marcarade' Waltz

Prokofiev - Cinderella Suite N1, Op. 107: Cinderella's Waltz
Waltz Suites Nos.1,2, Op. 110
Pushkin Waltz Nos. 1,2, Op. 120

Shostakovich - Suite for Variety Orchestra: Waltz

Sviridov - 'Snowstorm' Waltz

Gavrilin - 'Anyuta' Grand Waltz

Doga - Flowers Waltz

*Please share if you know others!!!*


----------



## Strange Magic

Can't add any waltzes, but I love the way much Russian music has snatches of folk tunes, authentic or invented, scattered about. I also am fond of the Russian fondness for marches, long or short, that are also found scattered about in their compositions. Musical spice.


----------



## CnC Bartok

The Prokofiev Waltz Suite is a favourite for me.....!

You'll find a few more Shostakovich Waltzes dotted around these compilation-works:


----------



## Vasks

Gliere - Concert Waltz, Op. 90 and Waltz from the "Bronze Horseman", Op.89

Rebikov - Waltz from “Yolka” (The Christmas Tree), Op. 21


----------



## mbhaub

Vasks said:


> Rebikov - Waltz from "Yolka" (The Christmas Tree), Op. 21


Now that's not something many people know! As it happens, I'm conducting a concert next month, A Russian Christmas, and the Rebikov is on the program. The orchestra was cautious about it, but they've warmed up to this, small, atmospheric, melancholy waltz.

Don't ignore the concert waltzes by Glazunov!


----------



## Portamento

mbhaub said:


> Now that's not something many people know! As it happens, I'm conducting a concert next month, A Russian Christmas, and the Rebikov is on the program. The orchestra was cautious about it, but they've warmed up to this, small, atmospheric, melancholy waltz.


Rebikov is a severely underrated composer that, like Satie, is best known for his miniatures. Some of these are actually quite daring and notable for their blatant use of bitonality years before Stravinsky, Bartók, and Ives. See _Une fête_, op. 38.

I've always been a sucker for Schnittke's gravely sarcastic "waltzes" -- the Viola Concerto's 2nd movement is a case in point.


----------



## Larkenfield

I love waltzes of almost any kind because they suggest joy, happiness, romance and two people in-love who are not couch potatoes and who love to dance. Here is an irresistible live recording of two Shostakovich waltzes. God only knows the Russian people deserve them after the tragedies they've been through over the decades under Stalin and other ruthless despots:


----------



## LittleSoul

Larkenfield said:


> I love waltzes of almost any kind because they suggest joy, happiness


I can be wrong but russia waltzes don't seem to be joyful... I think there's some sort of longing or a 'heaviness' to them, I don't know. And I think that's why I love them... more than the Viennese ones.

Thank you all for the suggestions!! Schnittke's sound interesting!


----------



## SONNET CLV

You might enjoy Vladimir Ryabov's _Concerto of Waltzes_, Op. 36, available on a MARCO POLO disc, 8.223749:









According to the liner notes, the _Concerto of Waltzes_ "was written between 1985 and 1987, and consists of three movements, in the form of three sonatas in which some familiar tunes come and go like ghosts." The work is described by the composer as the "Music of Shadows". To continue from liner notes: "The work is neo-romantic in idiom and surrealist in conception.... The first waltz brings inevitable memories, the ghosts that haunted Ravel and others, and the whole is colorfully and sometimes grotesquely orchestrated. The second demonstrates the eclectic and inventive nature of Ryabov's instrumentation, now with more of caprice than melancholy nostalgia, leading to a rumbustious espisode … dying away to nothing. There is a place in the last waltz for woodwind and brass solo instruments, as before, with the inexorable continued waltz rhythm and its accompanying figuration (the latter varied by the occasional use of the piano and the intrusion of the percussion....)."

The _Concerto_ runs a little over 25 minutes. The movements are titled:
I. Waltz: Remembrance
II. Waltz. Capriccio
III. Waltz: Farewell


----------



## Larkenfield

LittleSoul said:


> I can be wrong but russia waltzes don't seem to be joyful... I think there's some sort of longing or a 'heaviness' to them, I don't know. And I think that's why I love them... more than the Viennese ones.
> 
> Thank you all for the suggestions!! Schnittke's sound interesting!


 Yes, sometimes there can be an underlying melancholy to their waltzes, a rather bittersweet flavor. But I do not feel that they are always performed that way, and the two I posted have to me the sound of pure celebration, dance and joy. It seems quite evident, not only because of how it sounds but because of the exuberant, radiant energy that can be felt from the people. So I think that even the Russians are not entirely without a sense of unrestrained happiness and joy on the right occasion, such as a marriage or other happy occasion. I can't imagine a better example than what's been posted; I hear no sadness, tragedy or melancholy:






With a more subdued, wistful and melancholy sound:


----------



## RICK RIEKERT

Alexander Glazunov wrote two very fine concert waltzes:


----------



## Heck148

for Tchaikovsky, you omitted his greatest one - Waltz from "Swan Lake"....one of the greatest waltzes of all, imo.....try Solti/CSO, or Muti/Phila for some rousing renditions.


----------



## Dima

LittleSoul said:


> *Please share if you know others!!!*


Shatrov - The Hills of Manchuria






The melody of this russian waltz used Kalman in his operetta Die Csardasfurstin.
In attachment there is mp3 where you can listen and compare fragments from both these compositions:


----------



## Dima

Alfred Schnittke Waltz from film Agony. One of the most frightening compositions:


----------



## Dima

Here Kabalevsky conducting his own waltz "School years":


----------



## kyjo

My university orchestra recently played Glazunov’s Concert Waltz no. 2 - an utterly delightful and joyous composition! To be quite honest, I prefer it to Tchaikovsky’s ballet waltzes. I’m not as familiar with the first one, but I’m sure it’s great as well.


----------



## jameslewitzke

As others have posted I'd also go with Shostakovich's waltz as well.



Larkenfield said:


>


This is my preferred version that I enjoy listening to regularly.


----------



## BHKraft

*Waltz from "A Hunting Accident" (1978)*

Is this the Eugen Doga waltz?


----------



## LittleSoul

BHKraft said:


> Is this the Eugen Doga waltz?


Yes it is.  ........


----------

