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Do I hear a waltz?

© Kelly Ferjutz

Blame it all on Napoleon Bonaparte. If he hadn't wanted all of Europe for himself, we might never have known the waltz. The Congress of Vienna, held in 1814, had as its purported major function the divvying up of the small princedoms of Europe following Napoleon's disastrous invasions of here, there, and nearly everywhere. Because of the many glitterati in attendance, however, it has come down to us as the "Waltzing Congress."

Although descended from the Ländler, a somewhat bumptious country dance from Austria, the first waltz more nearly resembled the polka as we know it today than the waltz of the Second Empire, as epitomized so lavishly by the Strauss family. And others, of course. It was most likely imported to London by the Princess Lieven, one of the patronesses of Almack's, and one not overly given to worrying about her reputation. It is entirely possible that we owe her a debt of gratitude.

One type of art will also influence the others. In the early part of this century, stark realism invaded the visual art of Dali and Picasso (to name just two); the writing of Hemingway; and the music of Shostakovich. In just such a way the romantic novels of Scott and the romantic poetry of Lord Byron in the early 1800s led to a more general "romantic" style of painting (Turner and Constable) and music. The most immediate beneficiary of this was the waltz.

There were no sensuous, lilting, swirling waltzes during the Regency - the period of time when the waltz became famous. The very first "romantic" waltz music was "Invitation to the Dance" in 1819 by Carl Maria von Weber, an Austrian composer who achieved early fame as an opera composer. It tells the story of a young gallant who approaches a young miss and asks her for the next dance. Several waltz melodies portray the young couple dancing, and in an epilogue, he thanks her for the dance. It was, of course, composed for the piano, and the first orchestration of the piece was not until 1841. Hector Berlioz, a passionate Frenchman, who later composed Symphonie Fantastique, turned the simple little waltz into a near orgy.

It was not the music of the waltz which caused a sensation during the Regency. (Imagine hopping around the floor doing a polka - hardly sensuous!) No, it was because of the position of the dancers! Remember in the various filmed versions of the novels of Jane Austen A&E/BBC version of Pride & Prejudice, Emma, or Sense and Sensibility, the lines of dancers facing each other, and only occasionally even touching hands? This was the traditional way of dancing, primarily because of the easy adjustment for any number of participants, depending on the size of the party and the location. This new dance, the waltz, was considered scandalous and "fast" because for the very first time ever - in public - a man and a woman danced by themselves, independently of other couples.

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