# Favorite waltzes



## Rondo (Jul 11, 2007)

After reading and posting in some other threads about favorite scherzo's, I thought that I would make one for waltzes. I haven't waltzed in years, and cant really remember how either (an Austrian girl taught me several yrs ago), but if I had a choice of waltz there would be a tie between the waltz from Khachaturian's Masquerade Suite and the Waltz 2 from Shostakovich's Jazz suite No. 2 (BIG hit). 

Anyone...?


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## 4/4player (Nov 17, 2006)

My favorite waltz would be Johann Strauss II ' " Kaiser- Waltzer op. 437( Emperor Waltz)" Has anyone heard of it?


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## opus67 (Jan 30, 2007)

4/4player said:


> My favorite waltz would be Johann Strauss II ' " Kaiser- Waltzer op. 437( Emperor Waltz)" Has anyone heard of it?


I have. In fact, I have heard it. 

One of the best composers of waltz in my book is Tchaikovsky.


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## Guest (Jul 16, 2007)

I opened the ball of my Wedding reception with the Shostakovich's one… a great moment…


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## Rondo (Jul 11, 2007)

Alnitak said:


> I opened the ball of my Wedding reception with the Shostakovich's one… a great moment…


YES...that one would be a must at mine!


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## MungoPark (Feb 15, 2007)

*Here's a good one*

The Last Waltz from the film Oldboy:





Quite pretty.


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## Kurkikohtaus (Oct 22, 2006)

My orchestra resides in a spa-town, and while we try to maintain a steady flow of "serious" orchestral music, we play 30-40 outdoor promenade concerts in the summer, full of waltzes by Strauss and others.

So after having done them many, many times, my hands down favourite is *Fruhlingstimmen* (Voices of Spring) by Johann Strauss Jr. The melodies therein are no better or no worse in my opinion than _Blue Danube_, _Emperor Waltz_ and the rest of them... but what sets it apart in my mind is first of all, how the numbers flow so naturally from one to the other, without the jarring introductions that are present in his other waltzes. Secondly, the "road map" in _Fruhlingstimmen_ is easy to navigate... the repeats, _Dal Segni_, 2nd endings and Codas are without problems, whereas in some of the other waltzes they can lead to in-concert disasters when playing them with no rehearsal.


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## Lisztfreak (Jan 4, 2007)

Kurkikohtaus said:


> My orchestra resides in a spa-town,


Karlovy Vary, perhaps?


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## tutto (Apr 11, 2007)

de falla has wrote some nice stuff..
I hate the "we are so fancy"accompaniment rhythm style


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## Guest (Jul 18, 2007)

Well, since we're talkin' spas, we might as well give a nod to the waltz music in Janáček's _Osud._ The opera opens with a waltz, and it's a stunner. (Just a quick slam of Mackerra English version. Avoid. I don't like operas in any language but their own, but who am I? So I'll add that the music and singing aren't as zippy as the other two versions of this that are readily available, Gerd Albrecht's and František Jílek's.)

And there's always the ball scene in Prokofiev's _War and Peace,_ not to mention his....

But my favorite is and doubtless always will be the waltz in the last movement of Nielsen's sixth symphony. Talk about stunners! Yow!


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## Rondo (Jul 11, 2007)

hmm....I never really got into his Sixth...I always thought it was a bit quaint compared to the others


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## Guest (Jul 19, 2007)

Quaint.

Never saw THAT one comin'! 

The listing the online Webster's starts with, "expert, skilled," is obsolete, and wouldn't go with "bit." (Merriam-Webster's--which is the only authentic Webster's--is an etymological dictionary, so it starts with the oldest meaning and then works its way up to the most recent.) The next one, "marked by skillful design" (a) or "marked by beauty or elegance" could possibly apply, but I wouldn't think of the sixth as a bit elegant compared to the others. Indeed, "elegant" is not something that applies to any of them. Maybe the first... The third and last of the online entries might be close. 3a is "unusual or different in character or appearance : ODD", except that mostly nowadays quaint means (3b) "pleasingly or strikingly old-fashioned or unfamiliar." Could you have meant that the sixth is pleasingly old-fashioned compared to the others?

OK. Webster is no help I fear, as a faint aura of disapproval ("never really got into") hovers over your use of "quaint," and there's nothing in those three "official" definitions that would suggest disapproval. 

So back over to you, Eric683.


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## Edward Elgar (Mar 22, 2006)

I like:

Tchaikovsky's 5th - 3rd mvt.
Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Flowers
Shostakovich - Waltz from Jazz Suite No.2


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## Lisztfreak (Jan 4, 2007)

I enjoy the 3rd movement of Tchaikovsky's 5th (E.E. mentioned already), 3rd movement of Symphonie Fantastique (rather plain, but catchy), Valse mélancolique for piano by Liszt, waltzes of Chopin, and the 2nd movement of Ravel's Piano Concerto in G.


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## Edward Elgar (Mar 22, 2006)

What would you call the 2nd movement of Tchaikovsky's 6th?

I like to think of it as a "False Waltz" - Ha! Ha!


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## opus67 (Jan 30, 2007)

Edward Elgar said:


> What would you call the 2nd movement of Tchaikovsky's 6th?
> 
> I like to think of it as a "False Waltz" - Ha! Ha!


Pseudovalzer.


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## Rondo (Jul 11, 2007)

some guy said:


> So back over to you, Eric683.


The definition I was riding on was closer to "unusual or different in character". Compared to the other 5, I would say it's different....but then again perhaps "unfamiliar"....Ill have to listen to it some more.

This is the first time Ive had a semantics debate in a forum.


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## Guest (Jul 19, 2007)

> This is the first time Ive had a semantics debate in a forum.


Well, that's what happens when old English teachers join in. The neighborhood goes downhill fast...


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## Kurkikohtaus (Oct 22, 2006)

Lisztfreak said:


> Karlovy Vary, perhaps?


Very close, Mariánské Lázně, or "Marienbad", the oldest orchestra in the Czech Republic, founded in 1821.


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## rojo (May 26, 2006)

Ravel - La Valse. By far my favourite waltz.


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

Thanks, Big Red, for mentioning Ravel. Between *La Valse* and *Valses Nobles et Sentimentales*, can we make the inciting statement "most memorable waltzes of the 20th century?!"

No mention of Sibelius' _Valse Triste_ yet... curious-

My favorite Strauss waltz is _Tales from the Vienna Woods_. When I did secondary school cross-country running, I "played through" this piece in my head on occasion, to take my mind off the suffering It was good for about two miles


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## Rondo (Jul 11, 2007)

Chi_town/Philly said:


> No mention of Sibelius' _Valse Triste_ yet... curious-


Yes! Indeed.

I was about to mention the same... . I had forgotten about it, and was looking through my library the other day and came across it. Great piece.

Also, on the darker side, there is Saint-Saens' Danse Macabre....something you would probably hear in Dracula's ball room


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## david johnson (Jun 25, 2007)

'winter storms', julius fučík !!

dj


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## Kurkikohtaus (Oct 22, 2006)

Chi_town/Philly said:


> No mention of Sibelius' _Valse Triste_ yet... curious-


Hmmm... that sounds like an interesting piece, I've never heard it. Who wrote it?


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## opus67 (Jan 30, 2007)

Kurkikohtaus said:


> Hmmm... that sounds like an interesting piece, I've never heard it. Who wrote it?


Andrea Luchesi


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## opus67 (Jan 30, 2007)

Eric683 said:


> Also, on the darker side, there is Saint-Saens' Danse Macabre....something you would probably hear in Dracula's ball room


It's a nice piece, but is it a waltz?


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## Guest (Jul 25, 2007)

opus67 said:


> It's a nice piece, but is it a waltz?


It is nearly a waltz : 
1° it is a dance (macabre, BTW)
2° with a tempo 3/4


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## opus67 (Jan 30, 2007)

Alnitak said:


> It is nearly a waltz :
> 1° it is a dance (macabre, BTW)
> 2° with a tempo 3/4


Definitely a dance, but the waltz-part of it is not quite apparent (to me).


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## Rondo (Jul 11, 2007)

opus67 said:


> Andrea Luchesi


Okay....I was thinking of a piece written by Sibelius....


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## Handel (Apr 18, 2007)

I went to a little concert where only valses were played (instrumental and vocal). Was great. I liked especially the italian valses. Unfortunately, there was no composers named for those valses. So I can't get them.


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## Manuel (Feb 1, 2007)

Alnitak said:


> I opened the ball of my Wedding reception with the Shostakovich's one… a great moment…


I truly hope it was the *sinister *waltz from his string quartet/chamber symphony.

My choice?

Weber's Invitation to the Waltz. The orchestral version is both a waltz, and a symphonic poem... 

BTW, I hate the waltz from Masquerade.


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## tutto (Apr 11, 2007)

yes, it is a cheap trick, a overblown propaganda.


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## beethoven_fan92 (Nov 15, 2007)

Chopin has the most _beautiful_ waltzes in the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-O


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## oisfetz (Dec 11, 2006)

Tchaikovsky has the most beautiful waltzes ever written!


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## Celloman (Sep 30, 2006)

The second movement of Symphonie Fantastique is one of my favorite waltzes. La Valse by Ravel and Valse Triste by Sibelius are also very cool. However, my favorite waltz of all is probably the second movement of Symphonic Dances by Rachmaninov. It has a morbid, haunting quality that gets me every time.


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## sirder (Dec 27, 2007)

Rondo said:


> After reading and posting in some other threads about favorite scherzo's, I thought that I would make one for waltzes. I haven't waltzed in years, and cant really remember how either (an Austrian girl taught me several yrs ago), but if I had a choice of waltz there would be a tie between the waltz from Khachaturian's Masquerade Suite and the Waltz 2 from Shostakovich's Jazz suite No. 2 (BIG hit).
> 
> Anyone...?


Snap.............When I saw the Question .......I immediately thought of the SAME two as yourself .......other than those two ........the others would seem to be Viennese....or am I right ? ;-))))))))))))


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## sirder (Dec 27, 2007)

sirder said:


> Snap.............When I saw the Question .......I immediately thought of the SAME two as yourself .......other than those two ........the others would seem to be Viennese....or am I right ? ;-))))))))))))


Dead wrong Sirder....sorry .I read the rest of the links ;-(((((


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## sirder (Dec 27, 2007)

Speaking of Waltzes and the Dance pieces...........anyone remember a lovely 'Piece' by Geoffrey Toye ."The Haunted Ballroom" ................berruti-full


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## Gustav (Aug 29, 2005)

I take it that you meant real Waltzes, because if not, Mahler had some "Waltze" moments, so did alot of romantic composers who have some affinity for Viennese music. 

I have many favorites, alot of the more famous Strauss waltzes already got a mention, so I'll only list the ones people haven't mentioned:

Klug Gretelein Walzer Op.462
Nachtfalter Walzer Op.157
Wiener Chronik Walzer Op.268
Concurrenzen Walzer Op.259


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## BuddhaBandit (Dec 31, 2007)

This may have been mentioned... I usually don't read threads before commenting ... but my faves are:

*Valse Triste* by Sibelius and "Tempo di Valse" from Dvorak's *Serenade for Strings*


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## Maxie (Feb 8, 2008)

Gustav said:


> I take it that you meant real Waltzes, because if not, Mahler had some "Waltze" moments, so did alot of romantic composers who have some affinity for Viennese music.


Interesting you mention this. When I read the title of this thread I immediately thought about the 'Waltze moment' in the Scherzo of Mahler's second symphony/the Fischpredigt in Des Knaben Wunderhorn. If this moment can be seen as a Waltz, it's definitely one of my favourites. I think the melody is very melancholic, as if the spirit of the 'happy' waltz still lingers after a ball when everybody is gone.

I also adore Ravel's La Valse, I love it's contrast. One moment it really feels like a grand Viennese Waltz, but at other moments it just as if I'm listening to a piece of music that breaks the Waltz down at the same time.

An other favourite of mine is the Waltz from Tshaikovsky's opera Eugen Onegin. It's a very powerful piece. I once sung it with the choir I was in some years ago, I really enjoyed performing it. And partly because the wonderful harp solo at the beginning of the piece his Flower Waltz is also one of my favourites. 

Frühlingsstimmen, Rosen aus den Süden and Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald I count amongst my favourite Waltzes by Strauss.


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