Invitation to the Dance (Weber)
Encyclopedia
Invitation to the Dance (Aufforderung zum Tanz), Op. 65, J. 260, is a piano piece in rondo
form written by Carl Maria von Weber
in 1819. It is also well known in the 1841 orchestration by Hector Berlioz
. It is sometimes called Invitation to the Waltz, but this is a mistranslation of the original.
.
It was the first concert waltz
to be written: that is, the first work in waltz form meant for listening rather than for dancing. John Warrack calls it "the first and still perhaps the most brilliant and poetic example of the Romantic concert waltz, creating within its little programmatic framework a tone poem that is also an apotheosis of the waltz in a manner that was to remain fruitful at least until Ravel
's choreographic poem, La valse
…".
It was also the first piece that, rather than being a tune for the dancers to dance to or a piece of abstract music, was a programmatic description of the dancers themselves.
Invitation to the Dance was part of the repertoire of Franz Liszt
and many other pianists. It has been recorded by great artists of the past such as Artur Schnabel
, Alfred Cortot
, Ignaz Friedman
and Yvonne Lefébure
, through to those of the present day such as Stephen Hough
, Jean-François Heisser, Michael Endres
, Hamish Milne
, and Balázs Szokolay
. The Carl Tausig
transcription has been recorded by Benno Moiseiwitsch
and Philip Fowke
.
Weber gave his wife and dedicatee the following program:
was asked to contribute to a production of Weber's opera Der Freischütz
at the Paris Opera
. It was the practice in France at that time that operas contain a ballet
in Act II, which were not always by the same composer but often interpolations by other hands. Berlioz was a great admirer of Weber's, having been disappointed more than once in his quest to meet him, and referring repeatedly in his Treatise on Instrumentation to Weber's works. He agreed to participate, on condition that the opera be performed complete and unadapted (it had been cut and retitled "Robin des bois" for an Odéon production in the 1820s), and that it contain music only by Weber. For the ballet, he orchestrated the piano score of Invitation to the Dance, transposing it from D flat major to D major
, being a more orchestrally manageable key and also producing a brighter sound. He called the ballet L'Invitation à la valse; as a result, the original piano work is sometimes referred to in English as "Invitation to the Waltz", but that is not its correct title.
This production of the opera was first heard on 7 June 1841, but Berlioz's orchestration immediately took on a life of its own, separate from the opera for which it was intended. Berlioz himself frequently conducted his orchestration of Invitation to the Dance in concert. The instrumentation was similar to that which he employed in the "Un bal" movement of his Symphonie fantastique
. It was first heard in the USA in 1856, in Boston. By contrast, Weber's original piano rondo was not performed at Carnegie Hall
until 1898, by Moriz Rosenthal
.
Despite the popularity of the Berlioz arrangement, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
described its use in Der Freischütz as "utterly incongruous", "tasteless" and "silly".
used Berlioz's orchestration of Weber's Invitation to the Dance for a ballet for Sergei Diaghilev
's Ballets Russes
, which he titled Le Spectre de la Rose
. The scenario was based on a poem by Théophile Gautier
, which was also the basis of a song that Berlioz had set as part of his cycle Les nuits d'été
. The principal roles were created by Tamara Karsavina
and Vaslav Nijinsky
, and the designs were by Léon Bakst
. It premiered at Monte Carlo
on 19 April 1911.
The 1946 film Specter of the Rose
, directed by Ben Hecht
, is unrelated to the ballet in its plot, but excerpts from the ballet and the Weber/Berlioz music are featured. The film score proper was written by George Antheil
.
Invitation to the Dance in his waltz Aufforderung zum Tänze, Op. 7.
In 1849, August Bournonville
produced for the Royal Danish Ballet
a vaudeville
ballet called Le Conservatoire
, which uses Holger Simon Paulli
's orchestrations of various pieces, including Invitation to the Dance, and works by Chopin
and Pierre Rode
.
Felix Weingartner
also orchestrated the piece.
produced an arrangement more suited for a virtuoso pianist.
Carl Tausig
also wrote his own transcription.
Leopold Godowsky
wrote a "Contrapuntal Paraphrase on C.M. Weber's Invitation to the Dance", for two pianos, with an optional part for a third piano.
based his theme song for the radio program Let's Dance
on Invitation to the Dance.
a degree of respectability it hitherto lacked, and it was a precursor for the waltzes
of Frédéric Chopin
and others. It also created precedents emulated by Richard Strauss
.
Film biographies of Carl Maria von Weber
have appeared under the titles Aufforderung zum Tanz (1934), and Invitation to the Waltz (1935).
Rondo
Rondo, and its French equivalent rondeau, is a word that has been used in music in a number of ways, most often in reference to a musical form, but also to a character-type that is distinct from the form...
form written by Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....
in 1819. It is also well known in the 1841 orchestration by Hector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a...
. It is sometimes called Invitation to the Waltz, but this is a mistranslation of the original.
Background
Weber dedicated Invitation to the Dance to his wife Caroline (they had been married only a few months). He labelled the work "rondeau brillante", and he wrote it while also writing his opera Der FreischützDer Freischütz
Der Freischütz is an opera in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind. It premiered on 18 June 1821 at the Schauspielhaus Berlin...
.
It was the first concert waltz
Waltz
The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
to be written: that is, the first work in waltz form meant for listening rather than for dancing. John Warrack calls it "the first and still perhaps the most brilliant and poetic example of the Romantic concert waltz, creating within its little programmatic framework a tone poem that is also an apotheosis of the waltz in a manner that was to remain fruitful at least until Ravel
Maurice Ravel
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
's choreographic poem, La valse
La Valse
La valse, un poème choréographique pour orchestre , is a work written by Maurice Ravel from February 1919 until 1920 ; it was conceived as a ballet but is now more often heard as a concert work...
…".
It was also the first piece that, rather than being a tune for the dancers to dance to or a piece of abstract music, was a programmatic description of the dancers themselves.
Invitation to the Dance was part of the repertoire of Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
and many other pianists. It has been recorded by great artists of the past such as Artur Schnabel
Artur Schnabel
Artur Schnabel was an Austrian classical pianist, who also composed and taught. Schnabel was known for his intellectual seriousness as a musician, avoiding pure technical bravura...
, Alfred Cortot
Alfred Cortot
Alfred Denis Cortot was a Franco-Swiss pianist and conductor. He is one of the most renowned 20th-century classical musicians, especially valued for his poetic insight in Romantic period piano works, particularly those of Chopin and Schumann.-Early life and education:Born in Nyon, Vaud, in the...
, Ignaz Friedman
Ignaz Friedman
Ignaz Friedman Ignaz Friedman Ignaz Friedman (also spelled by languages Ignace or Ignacy; exactly Solomon (Salomon) Isaac Freudman(n), (February 13, 1882January 26, 1948) was a Polish pianist and composer. Critics (e.g. Harold C. Schonberg) and colleagues (e.g...
and Yvonne Lefébure
Yvonne Lefébure
Yvonne Lefébure was a French pianist.Born in Ermont, she studied with Alfred Cortot at the Paris Conservatoire, taking a premier prix in piano and numerous other subjects. She soon appeared with the Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux and the Orchestre des Concerts Colonne and in recital. She...
, through to those of the present day such as Stephen Hough
Stephen Hough
Stephen Andrew Gill Hough is a British-born classical pianist, composer and writer. He became an Australian citizen in 2005 and thus has dual nationality .-Biography:...
, Jean-François Heisser, Michael Endres
Michael Endres
Michael Endres is a German pianist.He was professor for piano from 1993 to 2004 at the Hochschule fuer Musik in Cologne, until 2009 at the Hochschule Hanns Eisler in Berlin—and since autumn 2009 has been professor for piano at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand.-Early...
, Hamish Milne
Hamish Milne
Hamish Milne is a British pianist known for his advocacy of Nikolai Medtner.Milne studied at Bishop Wordsworth's School in Salisbury and then at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he now teaches, and later in Italy under Guido Agosti...
, and Balázs Szokolay
Balázs Szokolay
Balázs Szokolay is a Hungarian pianist.His international concert career started in 1983, replacing Nikita Magaloff at a concert in Belgrade. Four years later he was appointed a professorship at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music...
. The Carl Tausig
Carl Tausig
Carl Tausig was a Polish virtuoso pianist, arranger and composer.-Life:Tausig was born in Warsaw to Jewish parents and received his first piano lessons from his father, pianist and composer Aloys Tausig, a student of Sigismond Thalberg. His father introduced him to Franz Liszt in Weimar at the...
transcription has been recorded by Benno Moiseiwitsch
Benno Moiseiwitsch
Benno Moiseiwitsch CBE was a Ukrainian-born British pianist.-Biography:Born in Odessa, Ukraine, Moiseiwitsch began his studies at age seven at the Odessa Music Academy. He won the Anton Rubinstein Prize when he was just nine years old. He later took lessons from Theodor Leschetizky in Vienna...
and Philip Fowke
Philip Fowke
-Biography:Philip Francis Fowke studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Gordon Green, a pupil of Egon Petri. In 1974 he made his London debut with a recital at the Wigmore Hall . That year he won joint second place at the BBC Piano Competition...
.
Structure
The piece was written in D-flat major. It has a slow introduction (Moderato) leading to a fast section (Allegro vivace), then a lilting waltz theme. Other waltz tunes appear, and the fast section, exuberant scale passages (Vivace) and the main waltz theme are all repeated. It comes to a rousing conclusion – or what sounds very much like one – then finishes with a quiet coda once more. Live audiences are prone to applaud at the false conclusion, believing the work is over.Program
The piece tells the story of a couple at a ball, starting with a young man politely asking a girl for a dance; they take several turns around the room; and they part politely.Weber gave his wife and dedicatee the following program:
- Bars 1-5: first appearance of the dances
- Bars 5-9: the lady’s evasive reply
- Bars 9-13: his pressing invitation
- Bars 13-16: her consent
- Bars 17-19: he begins conversation
- Bars 19-21: her reply
- Bars 21-23: speaks with greater warmth
- Bars 23-25: the sympathetic agreement
- Bars 25-27: addresses her with regard to the dance
- Bars 27-29: her answer
- Bars 29-31: they take their places
- Bars 31-35: waiting for the commencement of the dance.
- The dance
- The conclusion of the dance, his thanks, her reply, and their retirement.
Orchestration
In 1841, Hector BerliozHector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a...
was asked to contribute to a production of Weber's opera Der Freischütz
Der Freischütz
Der Freischütz is an opera in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind. It premiered on 18 June 1821 at the Schauspielhaus Berlin...
at the Paris Opera
Paris Opera
The Paris Opera is the primary opera company of Paris, France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the Académie d'Opéra and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and renamed the Académie Royale de Musique...
. It was the practice in France at that time that operas contain a ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
in Act II, which were not always by the same composer but often interpolations by other hands. Berlioz was a great admirer of Weber's, having been disappointed more than once in his quest to meet him, and referring repeatedly in his Treatise on Instrumentation to Weber's works. He agreed to participate, on condition that the opera be performed complete and unadapted (it had been cut and retitled "Robin des bois" for an Odéon production in the 1820s), and that it contain music only by Weber. For the ballet, he orchestrated the piano score of Invitation to the Dance, transposing it from D flat major to D major
D major
D major is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature consists of two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor....
, being a more orchestrally manageable key and also producing a brighter sound. He called the ballet L'Invitation à la valse; as a result, the original piano work is sometimes referred to in English as "Invitation to the Waltz", but that is not its correct title.
This production of the opera was first heard on 7 June 1841, but Berlioz's orchestration immediately took on a life of its own, separate from the opera for which it was intended. Berlioz himself frequently conducted his orchestration of Invitation to the Dance in concert. The instrumentation was similar to that which he employed in the "Un bal" movement of his Symphonie fantastique
Symphonie Fantastique
Symphonie Fantastique: Épisode de la vie d'un Artiste...en cinq parties , Op. 14, is a program symphony written by the French composer Hector Berlioz in 1830. It is one of the most important and representative pieces of the early Romantic period, and is still very popular with concert audiences...
. It was first heard in the USA in 1856, in Boston. By contrast, Weber's original piano rondo was not performed at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
until 1898, by Moriz Rosenthal
Moriz Rosenthal
Moriz Rosenthal was a great Polish pianist. He was an outstanding pupil of Franz Liszt and a friend and colleague of some of the greatest musicians of his age, including Johannes Brahms, Johann Strauss, Anton Rubinstein, Hans von Bülow, Camille Saint-Saëns, Jules Massenet and Isaac...
.
Despite the popularity of the Berlioz arrangement, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
described its use in Der Freischütz as "utterly incongruous", "tasteless" and "silly".
Ballet version
In 1911, Michel FokineMichel Fokine
Michel Fokine was a groundbreaking Russian choreographer and dancer.-Biography:...
used Berlioz's orchestration of Weber's Invitation to the Dance for a ballet for Sergei Diaghilev
Sergei Diaghilev
Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev , usually referred to outside of Russia as Serge, was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario and founder of the Ballets Russes, from which many famous dancers and choreographers would arise.-Early life and career:...
's Ballets Russes
Ballets Russes
The Ballets Russes was an itinerant ballet company from Russia which performed between 1909 and 1929 in many countries. Directed by Sergei Diaghilev, it is regarded as the greatest ballet company of the 20th century. Many of its dancers originated from the Imperial Ballet of Saint Petersburg...
, which he titled Le Spectre de la Rose
Le Spectre de la Rose
Le Spectre de la Rose is a ballet of the Ballets Russes based on a poem by Théophile Gautier. The music, by Carl Maria von Weber, was his 1819 piano piece Invitation to the Dance, in the 1841 orchestration by Hector Berlioz. Choreography was by Michel Fokine and set and costume design by Léon Bakst...
. The scenario was based on a poem by Théophile Gautier
Théophile Gautier
Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, art critic and literary critic....
, which was also the basis of a song that Berlioz had set as part of his cycle Les nuits d'été
Les nuits d'été
Les nuits d'été , Op. 7, is a song cycle by the French composer Hector Berlioz. It is a setting of six poems by Théophile Gautier. The collection was completed in 1841, and initially composed for either baritone, contralto, or mezzo-soprano, and piano...
. The principal roles were created by Tamara Karsavina
Tamara Karsavina
Tamara Platonovna Karsavina was a famous Russian ballerina, renowned for her beauty, who was most noted as a Principal Artist of the Imperial Russian Ballet and later the Ballets Russes of Serge Diaghilev...
and Vaslav Nijinsky
Vaslav Nijinsky
Vaslav Nijinsky was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer of Polish descent, cited as the greatest male dancer of the 20th century. He grew to be celebrated for his virtuosity and for the depth and intensity of his characterizations...
, and the designs were by Léon Bakst
Léon Bakst
Léon Samoilovitch Bakst was a Russian painter and scene- and costume designer. He was a member of the Sergei Diaghilev circle and the Ballets Russes, for which he designed exotic, richly coloured sets and costumes...
. It premiered at Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....
on 19 April 1911.
The 1946 film Specter of the Rose
Specter of the Rose
Specter of the Rose is a film written and directed by Ben Hecht, starring Judith Anderson, Ivan Kirov, Viola Essen, Michael Chekhov, and Lionel Stander and with choreography by Tamara Geva, and music by George Antheil....
, directed by Ben Hecht
Ben Hecht
Ben Hecht was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, and novelist. Called "the Shakespeare of Hollywood", he received screen credits, alone or in collaboration, for the stories or screenplays of some 70 films and as a prolific storyteller, authored 35 books and created some of...
, is unrelated to the ballet in its plot, but excerpts from the ballet and the Weber/Berlioz music are featured. The film score proper was written by George Antheil
George Antheil
George Antheil was an American avant-garde composer, pianist, author and inventor. A self-described "Bad Boy of Music", his modernist compositions amazed and appalled listeners in Europe and the US during the 1920s with their cacophonous celebration of mechanical devices.Returning permanently to...
.
Orchestral
Joseph Lanner quotedMusical quotation
Musical quotation is the practice of directly quoting another work in a new composition. The quotation may be from the same composer's work , or from a different composer's work ....
Invitation to the Dance in his waltz Aufforderung zum Tänze, Op. 7.
In 1849, August Bournonville
August Bournonville
August Bournonville was a Danish ballet master and choreographer. August was the son of Antoine Bournonville, a dancer and choreographer trained under the French choreographer, Jean Georges Noverre, and the nephew of Julie Alix de la Fay, née Bournonville, of the Royal Swedish Ballet.August was...
produced for the Royal Danish Ballet
Royal Danish Ballet
The Royal Danish Ballet is one of the oldest ballet companies in the world. Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, it originates from 1748, when the Royal Danish Theatre was founded, and was finally organized in 1771 in response to the great popularity of French and Italian styles of dance...
a vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
ballet called Le Conservatoire
Le Conservatoire
Le Conservatoire, or A Marriage by Advertisement is a two-act vaudeville ballet created by the Danish choreographer and ballet master August Bournonville in 1849 for the Royal Danish Ballet. The ballet's setting is a dance studio at the Conservatoire de Paris...
, which uses Holger Simon Paulli
Holger Simon Paulli
Holger Simon Paulli was a Danish conductor and composer.Paulli was a violin student of Claus Schall. He joined the Royal Danish Orchestra, and became its conductor in 1864. At the same time, he also conducted the Orchestra of the Cecilia Foreningen, and assumed the directorship of the Copenhagen...
's orchestrations of various pieces, including Invitation to the Dance, and works by Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
and Pierre Rode
Pierre Rode
Jacques Pierre Joseph Rode was a French violinist and composer.-Biography:Born in Bordeaux, Aquitaine, France, Pierre Rode traveled to Parisat the age of 13 and soon became a favourite pupil of the great Giovanni Battista Viotti who found the boy so talented that he charged him no fee for the...
.
Felix Weingartner
Felix Weingartner
Paul Felix von Weingartner, Edler von Münzberg was an Austrian conductor, composer and pianist.-Biography:...
also orchestrated the piece.
Piano
Adolf von HenseltAdolf von Henselt
Adolf von Henselt was a German composer and pianist.-Life:Henselt was born at Schwabach, in Bavaria. At the age of three he began to learn the violin, and at five the piano under Frau von Fladt...
produced an arrangement more suited for a virtuoso pianist.
Carl Tausig
Carl Tausig
Carl Tausig was a Polish virtuoso pianist, arranger and composer.-Life:Tausig was born in Warsaw to Jewish parents and received his first piano lessons from his father, pianist and composer Aloys Tausig, a student of Sigismond Thalberg. His father introduced him to Franz Liszt in Weimar at the...
also wrote his own transcription.
Leopold Godowsky
Leopold Godowsky
Leopold Godowsky was a famed Polish American pianist, composer, and teacher. One of the most highly regarded performers of his time, he became known for his theories concerning the application of relaxed weight and economy of motion in piano playing, principles later propagated by Godowsky's...
wrote a "Contrapuntal Paraphrase on C.M. Weber's Invitation to the Dance", for two pianos, with an optional part for a third piano.
Other
Benny GoodmanBenny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
based his theme song for the radio program Let's Dance
Let's Dance (radio)
Let's Dance was a Saturday night radio music program broadcast by NBC in the mid-1930s.Sponsored by the National Biscuit Company , it aired for three full hours, starting at 10:30pm on the East Coast. This late-night timeslot gave the program a much larger audience on the West Coast when heard...
on Invitation to the Dance.
Legacy
Invitation to the Dance lent the waltzWaltz
The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
a degree of respectability it hitherto lacked, and it was a precursor for the waltzes
Waltzes (Chopin)
Frédéric Chopin’s Waltzes are pieces of moderate length adhering to the traditional 3/4 waltz time, but are remarkably different from the earlier Viennese waltzes in that they were not designed for dancing but for concert performance. Some of them are accessible by pianists of moderate...
of Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
and others. It also created precedents emulated by Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
.
Film biographies of Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....
have appeared under the titles Aufforderung zum Tanz (1934), and Invitation to the Waltz (1935).