Its origins are not certain as some authors date it from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, based on a dance that was known as "Nachtnaz" but other authors suggest that it may come from ancient and medieval German dances, a dance known as French "carmaglone.
 

With the start of the sixteenth century, Europe will live a true cultural revolution: The Renaissance. In 1559, a dance with a ¾ rhythm called Volta (dance that dazzles the Queen Elizabeth of England). In the royal courts of Europe were not welcomed and Louis XIII declares it immoral because the dancers are in physical contact. In the monarchy dancing the minuet is most important, a direct descendant of the dances "aristocratic."

 

One of the most widely accepted origin is that the waltz has its origins in Ländler, dances and rustic mountain in southern Germany and Austria, which were slow dancing in a bar three times, in which couples danced continuously rotating. This dance, Ländler, like other dances and folkloric peasant origin, were not accepted by aristocracy, but in the late eighteenth century, began to be danced by the nobility and the bourgeoisie in the salons and began to be considered as a ballroom dance. Any connection between this dance and the Volta remains hidden, only that Walzen means to turn on the floor in German.

 

 

Around 1750 the term "Walzen" named an imprompt dance Viennese comedy. In 1770 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote a report on their experiences with the German Dance, "and in 1782 Carl von Zwangen published the book" Etwas über das Walzen. Four people in 1787, danced the first waltz in the Italian opera "A rare thing," but questioned whether this was the origin of the Viennese Waltz. From 1794 he taught the Viennese Waltz in the Prussian royal court. The future queen Luise von Preussen banned dancing (this ban was in Berlin until 1918). But in Munich was played and danced. The Viennese Waltz triumphed after the Viennese Congress in 1815.


Walzen come dance the waltz of the main features: a rigorous pace, while a slightly accelerated and a melody that conveys elegance in every note. In 1812 it was introduced into England under the name of the German Waltz, but will be in court where the Viennese dance reaches its climax. But it was from the beginning of the nineteenth century when the waltz reached its highest popularity and spread to all the distinguished halls of Europe and among the lower classes.

 

 

In Vienna, it found the best host, who could forget the wonderful Sissi, so often reflected on our screens with its lavish costumes steam in those rooms? Despite being viewed suspiciously by some more conservative the waltz reach a huge boom, thanks in part to the brilliant compositions of Johann Strasuss, Viennese musicians, father and son. The works of these composers, halfway between dance and instrumental form of work for concert, are now known and famous worldwide, and are often interpreted in concerts. The first Viennese waltz melodies dating from 1770. But it is perhaps "The Blue Danube", created in 1867 by Strauss son, the masterpiece of the Viennese Waltz. An impressive work which, in the same year was published in more than a million copies and, in 1899, all the orchestras of Vienna's coffin played the passage of Johann Strauss.

 

Germany has been the focus of Waltz to the twenties and was later replaced by more modern dance styles and dynamic. In Britain the Viennese Waltz has never been popular. As a folk dance, the Viennese Waltz was discovered again in the thirties, and especially during the Third Reich in Germany and Austria. This merit was of a dance instructor. Paul Krebs (Nuremberg), who after the Second World War in 1951, made the connection between the traditional Austrian Waltz and the English style, it was then that the Viennese waltz was accepted as the Standard Dance . After the Second World War, when the waltz is beginning to know all their true glory, and is danced at major festivals and social events.

 

Later, other famous composers included waltzes from his compositions, such as admired Chopin. However, it was a little forgotten with the appearance of the polka and the mazurka, but never lost his place in the world of dance, because when these dances were relegated in favor of American and Latin American dances, the waltz was the only survived in the dance halls.

 

Among the most famous waltz music is undoubtedly the aforementioned Blue Danube, by Johann Strauss. We can also highlight other celebrities such as Viennese waltzes, Johann Strauss. Also, the Emperor Waltz, the Waltz of the Bat and many other pieces that we can find of a variety of authors that Joined this movement as a galaxy of composers. Johannes Brahms, Frederic Chopin, Piotr Illich Tchaikovsky and others, the latter joined in the waltz ballets as "Swan Lake", "Sleeping Beauty" and "The Nutcracker."

 

As in the case of the polka with the passage of years a major controversy arose through the time which was interpreted in the waltz. Especially after the death of Johann Strauss it began to interpret the slow waltz, which was deformed by the status of the compositions. As mentioned earlier some musicologists decided to try to impose a fee when interpreting the waltzes. Together with the help d Eduard Strauss suggested that it was the true nature of the works of the Strauss family and their way of touching them concluded that the waltz should be interpreted with a tempo of 76.