The Blue Danube

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The Blue Danube

Artist: Alfred Hause Orchestra

Album: Best of Viennese Waltz Music

Song Length: 2:30

George's Thoughts: Probably the best-known Viennese Waltz tune, and this one takes you back to the very origins of the dance. The whirling romantic sensuality of this dance was taking Austria by storm in the 18th century. Austrian music scholar Max Graf wrote, "If there exists a form of music that is a direct expression of sensuality, it is the Viennese Waltz... contemporaries of the first waltzes were highly shocked at the eroticism of this dance in which a lady clung to her partner, closed her eyes as in a happy dream, and glided off as if the world had disappeared. The new waltz melodies overflowed with longing, desire and tenderness." Into this dance-mad atmosphere stepped Josef Lanner and Johann Strauss the elder, both band musicians and both at one time members of the same orchestra. Johann Jr. would write "On the Beautiful Blue Danube," one of the most popular songs of his time. The original composition is much too complex for today's shorter, simpler form of the Viennese Waltz. Also found on "The Ultimate Ballroom Album 3" (performed by the Joe Loss Orchestra) and Dancelife's "Best of Viennese Waltz, Paso, Jive Collection."

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