# Favorite Waltzs?



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Of course the ever so cliche Blue Danube tops my list. What others do you like? I have a CD of Strauss Waltz, all are quite nice to listen to!


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## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

Coincidentally I've been listening maniacally to Shostakovich Waltz from the jazz suite the last week.
Apparently it was featured in a movie I didn't know about. 
A wonderful and joyful waltz, but with a hint of Italian sadness. (I can't help thinking of Nino Rota) Here is the YT clip.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Jos said:


> Coincidentally I've been listening maniacally to Shostakovich Waltz from the jazz suite the last week.
> Apparently it was featured in a movie I didn't know about.
> A wonderful and joyful waltz, but with a hint of Italian sadness. (I can't help thinking of Nino Rota) Here is the YT clip.


Something about the production of this makes it sound artificial to my ears, but I certainly don't hate it.


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## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

Captainnumber36 said:


> Something about the production of this makes it sound artificial to my ears, but I certainly don't hate it.


There are many rendition available on YT. One of them is by my fellow countryman and Waltz specialist André Rieu. Nice, but personally I'm not too fond of audience participation


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Love chopin Waltzes!


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

R. Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier waltz...really sublime...
Tchaikovsky - quite a number of fine ones...Waltz from "Swan Lake" the best, imo..really rousing one...
Ravel - La Valse - the ultimate waltz


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

Swan Lake's waltz is the first that came to mind.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I love the waltzes by Johann Strauss ll including On the Beautiful Blue Danube, Artist's Life and Tales from the Vienna Woods.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

I'd go for Ravel.


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## QuietGuy (Mar 1, 2014)

Ravel's La Valse has been mentioned. I'd add to that his Valses Nobles et Sentimentales.


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## Norma Skock (Mar 18, 2017)

Obviously the waltzes par excellence are from the Strauss family.

What I consider to be a similar kind of piece, but prettier, are Polish mazurkas:


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

There is only one waltz I can stand listening to : Un Bal from Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

Chopin: Grande valse brillante, Op. 18

Schumann: Papillons, 1-4, 6-10 

Weber: Invitation to the Dance

Saint-Saëns: Etude en forme de valse, Op. 52 No. 6

Debussy: La plus que lente (I think this counts as a waltz...)


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Scriabin Op. 38


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Phil loves classical said:


> There is only one waltz I can stand listening to : Un Bal from Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique


With or without cornets?


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## TwoFlutesOneTrumpet (Aug 31, 2011)

Sibelius - Valse Triste. Incidentally, I can't stand Strauss' music. Blue Danube is passable, though.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

TwoFlutesOneTrumpet said:


> Sibelius - Valse Triste. Incidentally, I can't stand Strauss' music. Blue Danube is passable, though.


Tend to agree, a little Johann S. goes a long way with me. Valse Triste is beautiful.


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## Richard8655 (Feb 19, 2016)

Shostakovich - Waltz 2 (in C minor) (from Suite for Variety Orchestra)


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## Norma Skock (Mar 18, 2017)

Richard8655 said:


> Shostakovich - Waltz 2 (in C minor) (from Suite for Variety Orchestra)


Don't forget the waltzes from his Jazz Suites:


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## Richard8655 (Feb 19, 2016)

^^^
Yes thanks! It's the same work (later renamed to Suite for Variety Orchestra). Nice video.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Johann Strauss II. - Geschichten aus dem Wiener Wald (Walzer, op.325) 
So romantic.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Chopin waltz in A minor for me, a better definition of the word "wistful" than any dictionary ever managed.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Pugg said:


> Johann Strauss II. - Geschichten aus dem Wiener Wald (Walzer, op.325)
> So romantic.


Did people actually dance to Chopin's Waltzes? The tempo changes throughout seem to make that difficult. Also, Strauss is very proud and full of Joy in his Waltzes and they seem to be danceable.


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## lluissineu (Dec 27, 2016)

Norma Skock said:


> Don't forget the waltzes from his Jazz Suites:


I bought the album as soon as it was released. Love the RCO and Chailly. It's one of the records I keep on listening to again and again.

When I visited Saint Petersburg I bought a CD whose booklet I could hardly read (it was in Cyrillic script) with music of Shostakovich. There are some waltzes from film music (Maxim's comeback, Golden Hill, Michelin, Pirogov, Gadfly...). I think my favourite Waltz of all times is Maxim's comeback.

I love as well the waltz from the Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings, Dvorak's 3rd movement of his 8th symphony 8which is a quasi-waltz), La valse, valse triste...


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## lluissineu (Dec 27, 2016)

I couldn't find it in you tube


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## lluissineu (Dec 27, 2016)

Got another recording, I don't like as much as the other, but...





Maxim's comeback or maxim's return is the first one.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Captainnumber36 said:


> Did people actually dance to Chopin's Waltzes? The tempo changes throughout seem to make that difficult. Also, Strauss is very proud and full of Joy in his Waltzes and they seem to be danceable.


I never did, that's a fact, but I did waltz on Strauss though.


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## TwoFlutesOneTrumpet (Aug 31, 2011)

Another beautiful waltz is Rachmaninov's 2nd symphonic dance.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

My complete collection of Chopin Waltzes just arrived, performed by Arthur Rubinstein!

It's awesome!


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## Portamento (Dec 8, 2016)

Captainnumber36 said:


> My complete collection of Chopin Waltzes just arrived, performed by Arthur Rubinstein!
> 
> It's awesome!


What do you think of Rubinstein's interpretations? I seem to prefer Lipatti or Ott's traversals, but hey, every man for themselves.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Portamento said:


> What do you think of Rubinstein's interpretations? I seem to prefer Lipatti or Ott's traversals, but hey, every man for themselves.


I'm enjoying it quite a bit. They are not overly dramatic, they are very strong, soulful performances. They feel more like Waltzes compared to other versions I've listened to on youtube which really romanticize them.


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

Chopin's _Valse brillante_ in Ab, Op. 34 No 1. I'll also chip in another vote for Shostakovich's _Waltz No 2_.

Wild-card: Milton Babbitt's _Minute Waltz (or ¾ ± ⅛)_, which is great fun.


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## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

Played this today:


image hosting sites

Bruno Walter, Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Philips 10", mono
1956, Dutch pressing


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## Razumovskymas (Sep 20, 2016)

I know you don't particularly like Liszt but here's my favorite.

Liszt takes his Mephisto-waltz no1 into a vicious spiral of anxiety, beautiful madness and hypnotic passion.


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## quietfire (Mar 13, 2017)

Chopin's waltzes of course.

op 64, no. 1






Not a lot of people like Lang Lang, but he is warming up to me.


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## cimirro (Sep 6, 2016)

When I want to change the things, I change the things...
http://www.arturcimirro.com.br/Cimirro-op07n2.wma

my *Paraphrase on "Tales from the Vienna Woods" (Strauss) - Homage to G.Cziffra Op.7 No.2* 
recorded in 2012, I need make a better version...


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Razumovskymas said:


> I know you don't particularly like Liszt but here's my favorite.
> 
> Liszt takes his Mephisto-waltz no1 into a vicious spiral of anxiety, beautiful madness and hypnotic passion.


I'll take a listen a bit later. Right now I'm listening to Rufus Wainwright's opera, "Prima Donna".


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

TwoFlutesOneTrumpet said:


> Another beautiful waltz is *Rachmaninov's 2nd symphonic dance.*


I was going to mention that one, but you got there first. A really remarkable, haunting thing, sad and spooky, with fascinating harmonic changes. Similarly unconventional and "dark" waltzes are Sibelius's _Valse Triste_ and the wild, terrifying waltz at the climax of the ballroom scene of Prokofiev's _Cinderella._

On a more joyful note, I love the romantic waltzes of Josef Strauss, considered by his brother Johann the most talented member of the family. Try _Dorfschwalben aus Osterreich_, _Delirien_ and _Spharenklange_, all among the best of the Viennese waltz genre.


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## Tchaikov6 (Mar 30, 2016)

Liszt- Mephisto Waltz No. 1. I love the tuning of the violin at the beginning- so creative! I like both the piano and orchestral version

Smetana's Waltzes are also quite nice.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

quietfire said:


> Chopin's waltzes of course.
> 
> op 64, no. 1
> 
> ...


That was awesome!


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Razumovskymas said:


> I know you don't particularly like Liszt but here's my favorite.
> 
> Liszt takes his Mephisto-waltz no1 into a vicious spiral of anxiety, beautiful madness and hypnotic passion.


Didn't care for this too much.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

cimirro said:


> When I want to change the things, I change the things...
> http://www.arturcimirro.com.br/Cimirro-op07n2.wma
> 
> my *Paraphrase on "Tales from the Vienna Woods" (Strauss) - Homage to G.Cziffra Op.7 No.2*
> recorded in 2012, I need make a better version...


Well done, great playing!


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## cimirro (Sep 6, 2016)

Captainnumber36 said:


> Well done, great playing!


Thank you
there is a very beautiful waltz you probably will enjoy a lot
I heard it long ago in MIDI (1998/1999), it was never recorded anywhere as far as I know
and it seems the composer is not a professional composer at all.

Juan Pablo Fernandez - Waltz in G# minor
(it sounds like a "Spanish Chopin's Waltz")

I asked him the score and I never had a reply, so I made the score myself based in the MIDI file
not sure if it is still available in internet, maybe I shall add a recording in a next studio session.

All the best
Artur Cimirro


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## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)




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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Richard Strauss Schlagobers Walzer [Whipped Cream Waltz] op. 70


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

The second movement from Tchaikovsky's "Pathetique" Symphony, which is a waltz in 5/4 time. (I'd love to see someone on Dancing with the Stars try to dance to it.)


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

R. Strauss, from the Rosenkavalier Suite. I like the way the chord progression jumps around. I also listen to the Johann and brothers waltzes. I have a CD of some arrangements of Vienna waltzes by Schoenberg and Webern that I also enjoy. I always tune in on New Year's to hear the Vienna show.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I love the Johann Strauss II waltzes, especially as performed by Fritz Reiner/CSO and Carlos Kleiber/Vienna Philharmonic.

Gemütlich!!!


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## R3PL4Y (Jan 21, 2016)

The third movement of Tchaikovsky 5 is great. This may be stretching the definition of this a bit, but the third movement of Mahler 7 as well.


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## Marinera (May 13, 2016)

Khachaturian's masquerade waltz for me from orchestral music. Schostakowitch jazz suite 2 and Tchaikovsky's waltzes: Flower waltz from the nutckracer, and waltzes from sleeping beauty, swan lake

Funny just noticed, Russians dominate waltz scene for me.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

I am on the whole not too fond of waltzes (they are too light to my taste), but...



TwoFlutesOneTrumpet said:


> Another beautiful waltz is Rachmaninov's 2nd symphonic dance.


This. Just love this spooky, haunted ballroom thing.






Of course, ole Sergei wouldn't be caught dead writing light music. This is as light as he goes, and the Grim Reaper is all over it.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Johannes Brahms's Sixteen Waltzes Op 39, No 15 in A Flat Major


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

R3PL4Y said:


> The third movement of Tchaikovsky 5 is great. This may be stretching the definition of this a bit, but the third movement of Mahler 7 as well.


I don't think Mahler 7/III is much of a "waltz" - mvt III of Sym #5 is definitely a waltz, tho the slower interludes provide a break


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

Nothing against a good waltz. I'm not Strauss aficionado, but I still like his Morgenblätter (morning papers) waltz because my old piano teacher and his father used to do it on the piano/violin (the father making mistakes).

I also like the waltzes from Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty (mentioned above), particularly the short piece called 'The Lilac Princess', which I think is a waltz.

Here's an unconventional one I like, played on an avant-garde instrument in the heady days of the 60s:


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