THE WALTZ CENTENARY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 158, 28 March 1908, Page 10

THE WALTZ CENTENARY.

' RHYTHM WHICH CAPTIVATED- THE' ' ' GREATEST COMPOSERS. Hail; mmblo to- whom, the younj : hussar, Thevwhisker'd votary, of; waltz.':and war, .r His / liight- ■devotes,; , ! despitd' . boots j • '• ;• A'- 'sight Tmmatch'd sinco Orpheus -and.- hi* ■ . brutes.\.- : - -. - fi-'-Vv-'"- I '--""'.- i - —Bjrdn's /'The Waltz " | ;• Tho Wi(ltz is celebratuig ■" its -, .cdntenary this J-ear; and 0110 or two enthusiasts suggest that tho j ever-popular -danco ishould nocelebrated - in some. form;,. A oortaiu M-- do: Trenisvisicred|tci:>jvith . having - introduced: tho -waltz 1111 its present *• -■' form into Parja in l lSOB, but: it was somo, . time before society took to waltzing as it it) ■.understood • to-day. ■ Under, tho Second' Em. .- piro it was an undignified scramble. ; ;■ - M:' do■■■. Trenis. finished-his, days ■ in • a, >. padded cell ■ Tho musical adviser to. Messrs.*- Ascluor-" borg,ißopwood, and Crew,-Limited,:told ,an • -''Express -,: representative-, thatthe . 5 was iroaljy evolved from tho:,"Landler,"/! a .••> Soutn German country dance, a very: : measure; :which is still dauced in those; p.-arts. : . "Waltztimo has attracted all the greatest v-icomposorsj" ho .said..-. "Beetlyovon, Schubert,, and Mozart- all wrote waltzes,;ana , eloven - of Beethoven's: dances were recently <• discovered 'at: Leipzig.' ■ Chopin, Grieg./ Liszt, and Brahns'wroto .waltzes for tho piano .or : ballets- Then/among the :, masters of dancemusic tliero: aro tho great Strnnss ! family, ..-1, Gnngl, Lnnner, Fahrbach, and-Walc-ltoufel. "When Brahms was asked, sto , write - hii autograph in the. book of johaiiu Strauss, ■ jtin.i ho inscribed tlio first few bars of tlx 'Bluo Danube,' and added tho -words: "1. Wish I had composed this .myself.' - "Yes," the waltz-':will go- 011 for ever,,no - matter what., country- turns out> tho, best x dance* .''music'.'- Tho 'Merry WidAw'- . is a . fino example of tho fascination-;of A good | valso melody." - ■;