Condemned at one time for “the voluptuous intertwining of the limbs and close compression of the bodies,” the waltz has flourished over some 200 years as one of the wonders of 3/4 time. Defying category, it straddles class, culture, genre, and style. And this year happens to be the 200th anniversary of the birth of “The Waltz King,” Johann Strauss II.
We begin in The Sound of Music countryside as we learn about the Ländler, a couples dance and the primary folk source of the waltz. Our next stop is Vienna, where we meet Joseph Lanner, a celebrity dance band pioneer during the Congress of Vienna (1815-16) and beyond, who created an historic “book” of his own music. Additional contributions came from Mozart’s nephew Carl Maria von Weber and Schubert.
Highlights from the later 19th and early 20th centuries feature the music of Chopin, Brahms, Gounod, Liszt, the Waltz King Johann Strauss II, Tchaikovsky, Léhar, Richard Strauss, and Puccini. Waltzes in American popular music, Broadway shows, movies, and jazz make up the balance of the course. Composers, iconic performers and producers include Al Jolson, Richard Rodgers, Dimitri Shostakovich, Benny Goodman and Dave Brubeck.
- Week 1: From countryside to city, including Lanner, Schubert
- Week 2: Chopin and Brahms work their magic
- Week 3: Waltzing with the devil
- Week 4: “Waltz King” Johann Strauss II and a family dynasty
- Week 5: A mix of decadence and nobility, Ravel-style
- Week 6: “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning,” waltz treasures of Richard Rodgers
- Week 7: “Someday my prince will come,” Miles Davis and other jazzmen
- Week 8: Dave Brubeck, the Nonesuch Waltz Project