# waltz



## henrikhank

Hi!
I understand that 3/4 is called waltz time (although not all pieces in 3/4 are waltzes). I've been told that in waltzes you do not not accent beat 1 but beat 2 and 3. This makes dancing easier. 
So if the accent is on beat 1 then it's not a waltz in the formal definition, right? 
And in 4/4 we often say that the strong beats are 1 and 3 which are accented/emphasised in classical music whereas beats 2 and 4 are accented in jazz/pop music. In 3/4 is the strong beats 2 and 3 or 1? Maybe we cannot really talk about strong beats in 3/4 as that only applies to 4/4 or 2/2? 

In An der schönen blauen Donau I do not really hear the straight beat popular in classical music. The beat is not simply based on three crotchets but it's more swingy even if it's classical music. What do you make of this?
I played a country music progression on piano) with the straight crotchets (bass note then chord chord) and it sounded a bit simplified and boring. Even classical music sounded more swingy and dancy. I wonder if anyone can dance waltz to that...


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## Heck148

the Viennese waltz beat is somewhat different in style...the first beat is certainly accented - but - beat two is played slightly early, and beat three is played directly on the third beat...this gives the special lilt, or lift to the music....that's for a Viennese waltz...


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## Chiroptera

If you want great recordings of Viennese waltzes, look no further than Carlos Kleiber conducting Strauss (I&II)

If you like the Blue Danube Waltz I highly recommend Kleiber's recording of it in 1992 with the Vienna Philharmonic at the New Year's Concert. You feel that the soul of the waltz is already imbued in the orchestra and its conductor even before they start playing!

I also do love his Die Fledermaus operetta (especially the overture) with the Bavarian State Orchestra.

As an added bonus, here's a video of Kleiber himself rehearsing that particular overture with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra:


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## hpowders

Another good Strauss Waltz collection is with Fritz Reiner conducting the Chicago Symphony.


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## Pugg

> If you want great recordings of Viennese waltzes, look no further than Carlos Kleiber conducting Strauss


I challenge this by naming Willy Boskowsky. King of the waltzes.


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## Heck148

hpowders said:


> Another good Strauss Waltz collection is with Fritz Reiner conducting the Chicago Symphony.


yes. wonderful disc - His recordings of Dvorak Slavonic Dances, and Brahms Hungarian Dances, with VPO, are outstanding as well.


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## hpowders

Heck148 said:


> yes. wonderful disc - His recordings of Dvorak Slavonic Dances, and Brahms Hungarian Dances, with VPO, are outstanding as well.


Dr. Reiner had that orchestra playing incredibly well!


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## Chiroptera

Pugg said:


> I challenge this by naming Willy Boskowsky. King of the waltzes.


Touché, Boskovsky is quite expressive and gripping. He does a very good job layering the winds with the strings.


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## Heck148

hpowders said:


> Dr. Reiner had that orchestra playing incredibly well!


Yes, he did - He recorded Till Eulenspiegel and Tod & Verklarung during that same time...the VPO sounds great, he must have really pissed them off!! lol!!
The "Till' was done on one take - straight-thru!!


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## millionrainbows

"A waltz is just a 4/4 with one of its rear legs missing."


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## Pugg

Chiroptera said:


> Touché, Boskovsky is quite expressive and gripping. He does a very good job layering the winds with the strings.


In short: unbeatable


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## hpowders

Heck148 said:


> Yes, he did - He recorded Till Eulenspiegel and Tod & Verklarung during that same time...the VPO sounds great, he must have really pissed them off!! lol!!
> The "Till' was done on one take - straight-thru!!


Like a few other great conductors, he was feared, but Reiner's results speak for themselves.

None of the sloppiness one sometimes heard from "be your friend" Bernstein performances.


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## Heck148

hpowders said:


> Like a few other great conductors, he was feared, but Reiner's results speak for themselves./QUOTE]
> 
> Yup, amazingly consistent high quality....Reiner loved single take performances...allows the flow of the music to develop and sustain. I believe his non pareil 2nd CSO Don Juan [1960] was done on one take...and the propulsion and energy are superb throughout. same with the final movements of Scheherazade, and Pines of Rome.
> 
> An interesting, quirky waltz is Tchaik Sym #6/II - a long waltz in 5/4 meter - 2+3 throughout. Tchaikovsky wrote great waltzes - the Swan Lake Waltz is one of the all-time best ever..


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