TRACK LISTING

SIDE ONE

1. Falling In Love With Love

2. Ramona

3. Anniversary Song

4. Always

5. Beautiful Dreams

6. I'll See You Again


SIDE TWO

1. Fascination

2. My Wonderful One

3. Charmaine

4. Love's Last Word Is Spoken

5. The Last Waltz

6. Now Is The Hour


Recording Engineer: John Iles

Produced by Norman Newell

1975 Supertunes Limited
 

As with many other dances the precise origin of the waltz is obscure, but there can be little doubt that it is an evolution from the Landler, a country dance from Austria and Southern Germany. The name derives from the verb "walzen", which denotes a rotating motion, and we first hear of a dance called the "Walzer" about the middle of the eighteenth century. The early country style involved hopping and jumping. The smoother, more gliding motion came when the dance invaded the towns and cities where level and often polished floors replaced the rough boards of country inns and the even rougher ground outside.

The new dance became an absolute craze in Vienna early in the 19th century and quickly spread to other countries. For a long time it was attacked as immoral and lascivious, and as early as 1805 Dr. Burney, the musical historian, wrote "The verb 'walzen', whence this word is derived, implies to roll, wallow, welter, tumble down, or roll in the dirt or mire. What analogy there may be between these acceptations and the dance, we pretend not to say; but having seen it performed by a select party of foreigners, we could not help reflecting how uneasy an English mother would be to see her daughter so familiarly treated, and still more to witness the obliging manner in which the freedom is returned by the females". One wonders what Burney would have thought of some of the dances which have become popular since!

The waltz was given its greatest fillip by the various members of the Strauss family who poured out a seemingly endless stream of delicious examples during the last three quarters of the 19th century.

With one exception the waltzes heard here date from the 20th century. The exception is Beautiful dreamer which is one of the last ballads to be written by Stephen Foster (1826-1864), who was once aptly called an untutored genius and is best known by The old folks at home.

Several of the other waltzes heard on this record were also conceived as ballads, but some come from the scores of musicals and films, such as Falling in love with love from "The Boys of Syracuse" of 1938, I'll see you again from "Bitter Sweet" of 1929, and Ramona, which was featured in the film of the same name in 1928; but they all respond equally well to Geoff Love's sensitive and expert treatment and handling.

W. A. CHISLETT
 

MFP 50192
STEREO