Waltz
Characteristics
A couple dance in triple time.
The accompaniment is characterized by an “oom-pah-pah” rhythmic pattern.
The waltz grew out of southern German and Austrian country dances known generally as Deutsche or German Dances. It was considered daring and, by some, morally objectionable because of the close embrace in which the couple danced.
Waltz became popular across Europe from the 1780s onwards, especially the rise of Viennese Waltz in the middle decades of the 19th century.
Many 19th-century waltzes comprise a series of two repeated eight-bar periods framed by an introduction and coda.
Listening
Carl Maria von Weber, Aufforderung zum Tanz (“Invitation to Dance”) (1819)
Orchestral version by Hector Berlioz