Background Information

DANCES OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

The music of Lehár and Kálmán is best known for their use of the 'national' dances of their two countries, the waltz of Austria and the csárdás of Hungary. Both have peasant roots and made their way into the ballrooms of the upper classes during the nineteenth century.

The Waltz
About 1700 a dance in 3/4 time which had evolved from peasant dances was given the name Ländler (literally country [dance]). Another dance, the Walzer (from walzen to turn) also became popular with the peasants. Both of these were dances for single couples in contrast to the stately formation dances such as the minuet (also in 3/4 time) popular with the upper classes. The Ländler and the Walzer were considered rather immoral because the dancers were so close to each other. Both dances reached Vienna about the same time. With the smoother floors and better shoes of the city, they could be danced faster, if less exuberantly, than in the country. The upper classes became acquainted with them from the balls of their servants, and soon the waltz was born. It was claimed to promote good health because of its vigor. Franz Schubert (1797-1828) began to write original waltzes, although for orchestral performance rather than for dancing. Johann Strauss I (1804-1849) wrote for the ballroom. The 'Viennese Waltz' reached its culmination with Johann Strauss II, 'The Waltz King' (1825-1899) whose most famous is The Blue Danube (An der schönen blauen Donau).

While many composers have written waltzes and the dance became popular all over the world, the Viennese waltz is special. It is a trifle slower than most and there is a very slight hesitation between the first and second beat of each measure. The Viennese claim that only those born in their city can play it properly. Richard Wagner wrote: "A single waltz by Johann Strauss surpasses in grace, elegance and genuine musical content most of the painfully imported foreign factory products (meaning the works of Offenbach)". This was waltz of the 'Golden Age' of operetta. Later, the writing of waltzes revived with composers such as Lehár and Kálmán in what has become known as the 'Silver Age' in which the dances became more and more erotic as exemplified in The Merry Widow especially the one in the last act.

The Csárdás (or Czárdás)
The name Csárdás has deep roots in Hungarian soil, but it did not become identifiable as a separate dance until about 200 years ago. Even today the term 'csárdás' is a term mostly used by foreigners. Hungarian villagers do not use the name, and it is still hard to pin down, being made up of steps from many different dances. The traditional Hungarian dance is one for couples, but there are many different steps and changes of rhythm. In 4/8 or 2/4 time, there is a slow and a fast part. During the fast part the couples often part and dance separately with flirtatious and romantic by-play. At times it is fast and furious, at others exotic and romantic. It also varies from place to place being quite different in different parts of the former Austro-Hungarian empire even, in remote areas, from village to village. At first, it was denounced by preachers and was not popular with the upper classes who were mostly German-speaking and preferred the Western dances. Its association with Gypsy music was a further stigma.

Then in 1839, a Count Széchényi gave a ball at which Hungarian dress and Hungarian dances were encouraged. However, few of the guests knew how to do the dances, and the attempt was a failure. This did motivate some to learn the dance, and an 1840 Hungarian ball was successful. The great Hungarian composer, Franz Liszt, was present and applauded the music and dances which he used in his Hungarian Rhapsodies. When it was presented at the opening of the National Theatre of Budapest, one critic wrote: "But what dances! Knees are knocked together, the dancers slither on their heels, induge in magpie jumps, ... here a figure had been taken from the Cossack dance, there a trick has been stolen from the ballet, and Heaven knows what other goat-like capers are cut, likely to cause the dancers to sprain their ankles". A new Hungarian society dance was born and christened the Csárdás by Count Béla Wenckheim because it was modeled on the dance performed in the csárda or Hungarian village inns on Sundays. The upper classes embraced it with the feeling it was their duty to be Hungarian, not German. They thought it should only be danced in Hungarian costume, and this became the practice. Soon dancing masters got hole of it and developed a "regular" dance out of what had been a spontaneous "irregular" collection of steps.

One of the versions best known to Western audiences is the csárdás sung by the disguised Rosalinda in Strauss's Die Fledermaus to prove she is "Hungarian". It had a slow part followed by a fast section in the traditional 2/4 time.

The Kolo
At the beginning of Act II of The Merry Widow, the dancers perform a kolo or circle dance a folk dance popular throughout the region of the former Yugoslavia. A large group of couples with their arms around each others waist dance in a circle, holding the upper parts of their bodies as still as possible. In some regions there are also leaps and long steps.

NOTE: Two traditional Hungarian instruments are often used in Hungarian and Gypsy music. The tárogató started as a keyless double reed instrument like the shawn which developed into the oboe. At the end of the nineteenth century it was changed to a single reed instrument like the clarinet or soprano saxophone. The cimbalom evolved from the dulcimer. It consists of 125 strings on a wooden sound box and is played with mallets wrapped in cotton wool.

Both were used by Kálmán in his orchestrations and are occasionally used in orchestras today.

Revised September 2006
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