Waltz

“ The French waltz king never equalled Strauss’ remarkable melodic invention, original approaches in harmony and orchestration, and overall inspiration. Most of Waldteufel’s waltzes are functional pieces, and make far better dance music than concert music. But a handful of his waltzes are classics, and deservedly so. They are buoyant and inviting in their spirit, aristocratic in style, spontaneous in expression. Waldteufel’s most famous waltzes include the following: España, op. 236, which utilizes for its waltz melodies the basic themes from Chabrier’s rhapsody of the same name ”

“ As soon as we entered I plunged into the giddy whirl of the waltz. That delightful exercise has always been dear to me; I know of nothing more beautiful, more worthy of a beautiful woman and a young man; all dances compared with the waltz are but insipid conventions or pretexts for insignificant converse. It is truly to possess a woman, in a certain sense, to hold her for a half hour in your arms, and to draw her on in the dance, palpitating in spite of herself, in such a way that it can not be positively asserted whether she is being protected or seduced. ”

“ To the many millions who have spent some of their most unforgettable and delightful hours dancing the dreamy Waltz, under the influence of its seductive music, this animosity toward their now accepted Queen of the Ball-room must appear ridiculous. And yet not a very few of these same passionate waltzers raise their voices in protest to-day and look horrified at the mere mention of the modern Tango. ”

“ Coming now to modern times, we find a perfect mania for giving names to pieces—showing the bias of popular taste. Every concert overture must have a title, whether it be programme-music or not. Every 'drawing-room' piece, every waltz or galop, must have its distinctive name, till we cease to look for much descriptiveness in any music. It cannot be said that all Mendelssohn's overtures are programme-music. ”

“ Now we have the slower and more artistic music of the moment in the merry One Step, the Hesitation Waltz, and the stirring Tango. What will come next no one can prophesy, but we all, I imagine, must admit the fact that the music of to-day is far prettier than the music of yesterday—if it is not played too fast. That is a mistake that is often made, particularly by amateur musicians and dancers; too swift a tempo is set for the music and the dance steps. ”

“ I took very little time for consideration, but, drawing my fiddle from my pocket, I played a merry waltz as I came out from the forest. The girls were surprised, and the old folks laughed so that the woods reechoed with their merriment. But when I reached the linden, and, leaning my back against it, went on playing gay waltzes, a whisper went round among the groups of young people to the right and left; the lads laid aside their pipes, each put his arm around his lass's waist, and in the twinkling of an eye the young folk were all waltzing around me ”

“ He published his first waltzes at his own expense in 1860, Joies et peines and Manola. The latter so enchanted the Prince of Wales that he willingly accepted the dedication of Waldteufel’s next 339 waltz, Bien aimé, a fact that played no small part in establishing Waldteufel’s reputation in England. ”

“ The position having been gained, the step is the next question. In Germany the rapidity of the waltz is very great, but it is rendered elegant by slackening the pace every now and then, and thus giving a crescendo and decrescendo time to the movement. ”

“ It spells for us in its subtle rhythms the joys and the fashions of the season, when it attains the zenith of its popularity. Looking back across the years, one cannot fail to be struck by the changes which new dances have brought out in the music of every nation. Back in the days of powdered hair and gallantry were the stately Minuet and the Gavotte, to be superseded in later generations by the Waltz, the dance once considered so shocking and so beautiful. ”

“ All of our modern Tangos and Waltzes to-day should be slow and graceful and full of pretty measures that are stepped in a fashion almost as stately as the old-time Minuet. And for such dances one requires a slow tempo. ”

“ I do not like to paint men's faces with blood, or to see it done. All that you can do for me is to bring me to speak to a noble gentleman named Lord Walton, if such a thing is ever to take place; for I have hunted him to Beverley, to York, to Nottingham, and then, finding the Roundheads in the way, in an unlucky day took Worcester on my road hither. So I do think I shall never see him."
"Nothing can be more easy, my good friend," answered the earl: "Lord Walton is here, and this lady is his sister. ”

“ Sir Walter, restless as a veering wind,
Calls to the few tired dogs that yet remain;
Blanche, Swift, and Music, noblest of their kind,
Follow, and up the weary mountain strain.
The Knight halloed, he cheered and chid them on
With suppliant gestures and upbraidings stern;
But breath and eyesight fail; and, one by one,
The dogs are stretched among the mountain fern.
Where is the throng, the tumult of the race?
The bugles that so joyfully were blown?
This chase, it looks not like an earthly chase:
Sir Walter and the Hart are left alone.
The poor Hart toils along the mountain-side ”

“ What wilt thou do with her? said Walter; for now he had heard that the Maid was not slain he had waxed wary again, and stood watching his chance.
The Dwarf yelled so at his last word, that no word came from the noise a while, and then he said: What will I with her? Let me at her, and stand by and look on, and then shalt thou have a strange tale to carry off with thee. For I will let thee go this while.
Said Walter: But what need to wreak thee? What hath she done to thee?
What need! what need! roared the Dwarf; have I not told thee that she is the Enemy? ”

“ The foxes had a corner to themselves; their dancing was evidently much admired. Especially our friend and his sweetheart Miss Bushy Tail distinguished themselves by the elegance of their steps.
Mother Holle seemed to keep a certain amount of order, but the revels became wilder and wilder and Walter grew strangely sleepy and tired; he felt himself a part of some mad dream. As he dreamed, great clouds came rolling up, and all was lost in mist. When the mist cleared, Walter stood once more before the throne of the Old King. ”

“ As for the Maid, she stood for a while without moving, and looking after the King’s Son and the creature that followed him. Then she turned about to where Walter lay and lightly put aside the boughs, and Walter leapt up, and they stood face to face. She said softly but eagerly: Friend, touch me not yet!
He spake not, but looked on her sternly. She said: Thou art angry with me?
Still he spake not; but she said: Friend, this at least I will pray thee; not to play with life and death; with happiness and misery. Dost thou not remember the oath which we swore each to each but a little while ago? ”

“ Now moreover Walter looked, and deemed that he beheld something through the grass and bracken on the other side of those two, an ugly brown and yellow body, which, if it were not some beast of the foumart kind, must needs be the monstrous dwarf, or one of his kin; and the flesh crept upon Walter’s bones with the horror of him. But the King’s Son spoke unto the Maid: Sweetling, I shall take the gift thou givest me, neither shall I threaten thee any more, howbeit thou givest it not very gladly or graciously. She smiled on him with her lips alone, for her eyes were wandering and haggard. ”

“ Then flew Walter’s shaft, and true was it aimed, so that it smote the monster full on the breast, but fell down from him as if he were made of stone. Then the creature set up his horrible cry again, and loosed withal, and Walter deemed that he had smitten the Maid, for she fell down in a heap behind him. Then waxed Walter wood-wroth, and cast down his bow and drew his sword, and strode forward towards the bent against the Dwarf. But he roared out again, and there were words in his roar, and he said: Fool! thou shalt go free if thou wilt give up the Enemy. ”

“ At the best, you cannot travel for a week or more."
"Good faith! but I must," replied the earl. "I have tidings of the utmost importance for the king."
"Then you must trust them to me," replied Lord Walton; "for the journey to York would cost you your life. If it be absolutely necessary for you to see the king yourself; I will send a litter for you and an escort from York; but, if the tidings be immediate, you had better trust them to me."
"It is but weakness--it is but weakness," said the earl. "To-morrow I shall be better. ”

“ But, as I read again, for the twentieth time, Sir Walter’s poem, floating on the lonely breast of the lake, in the heart of the hills where Yarrow flows, among the little green mounds that cover the ruins of chapel and castle and lady’s bower, I asked myself whether Sir Walter was indeed a great and delightful poet, or whether he pleases me so much because I was born in his own country, and have one drop of the blood of his Border robbers in my own veins?
It is not always pleasant to go back to places, or to meet people, whom we have loved well, long ago. ”

“ Auceps, I doubt we shall hear a watery discourse of
it, but I hope it will not be a long one.
Auceps. And I hope so too, though I fear it will.
Piscator. Gentlemen, let not prejudice prepossess you. I confess my
discourse is like to prove suitable to my recreation, calm and quiet; we
seldom take the name of God into our mouths, but it is either to praise
him, or pray to him: if others use it vainly in the midst of their
recreations, so vainly as if they meant to conjure, I must tell you, it is
neither our fault nor our custom; we protest against it. ”

“ But as he looked on her, the smile died from her face, and she became deadly pale to the very lips; she looked askance to her left side, whereas ran the stream; and Walter followed her eyes, and deemed for one instant that he saw the misshapen yellow visage of the dwarf peering round from a grey rock, but the next there was nothing. Then the Maid, though she were as pale as death, went on in a clear, steady, hard voice, wherein was no joy or kindness, keeping her face to Walter and her back to the stream: This hath befallen, friend, that there is no longer any need to refrain thy love nor mine ”

“ But now she was not alone; for by her side sat a young man, goodly enough, so far as Walter might see him, and most richly clad, with a jewelled sword by his side, and a chaplet of gems on his head. They held each other by the hand, and seemed to be in dear converse together; but they spake softly, so that Walter might not hear what they said, till at last the man spake aloud to the Lady: “Seest thou not that there is a man in the hall?”
“Yea,” she said, “I see him yonder, kneeling on his knees; let him come nigher and give some account of himself.” ”

“ Never did Nature show herself better pleased on any festival than on Walter’s wedding-day. The sun shone out as if his very rays were as much made up of gladness as of light. The dew-drops twinkled as if instinct with pleasure. The birds lilted—the waters and the windows sparkled; cocks crowed as if they were themselves bridegrooms, and the sounds of laughing girls, and cackling hens, made the riant banks of the Clyde joyful for many a mile. ”

“ Ah, I forgot; thou art dainty, and wilt not eat flesh as I do, blood and all together, but must needs half burn it in the fire, or mar it with hot water; as they say my Lady does: or as the Wretch, the Thing does; I know that, for I have seen It eating.
Nay, said Walter, this sufficeth; and he fell to eating the bread, which was sweet between his teeth. Then when he had eaten a while, for hunger compelled him, he said to the dwarf: But what meanest thou by the Wretch and the Thing? And what Lady is thy Lady? ”

“ She bent tenderly over him with a face expressive of the deepest commiseration.
"'Tis a vision!" was Walter's first thought; "'tis an Ursuline nun," was his second.
"Poor youth—unhappy youth!" said the stranger tenderly, and burst into tears.
"Heaven's blessing on you, gentle lady," said Walter, as he endeavoured to rise; "no tears can be more precious in the sight of Heaven than those shed by compassion. God save great Luxembourg! ”

“ Walter sat up and said: I am a man; I hight Golden Walter; I come from Langton; I want victual.
Said the dwarf, writhing his face grievously, and laughing forsooth: I know it all: I asked thee to see what wise thou wouldst lie. I was sent forth to look for thee; and I have brought thee loathsome bread with me, such as ye aliens must needs eat: take it!
Therewith he drew a loaf from a satchel which he bore, and thrust it towards Walter, who took it somewhat doubtfully for all his hunger.
The dwarf yelled at him: Art thou dainty, alien? Wouldst thou have flesh? ”

“ Pleased with all the passages of the night, Walter retired, and preserved in his gauntlet the little blonde glove which his braced corslet of steel prevented him from consigning to his bosom—the romancer's grand emporium for all tokens of love and friendship, save,—cash.
Happy Walter walked briskly forward between fields and hedges, shaded by trees that were now clothed in the heaviest foliage of summer, and skirted the western rhinns of the lake, where the scared coots squattered among the sedges at his approach. The vast expanse of water lay still as death ”