Download Weiss "Sentimental Waltz" (mp3, 4.9 MB)
"Sentimental Waltz" by Matthew Charles Weiss
"I wrote this 'Sentimental Waltz' originally as a piece for solo piano and then orchestrated it for strings in May of 1992. We read through it with the original Octava Chamber Orchestra that year; however, I didn't feel that the arrangement did the work justice so it was never performed. Since that time, it has been swimming around in my head in various forms until I finally put it to the modern equivalent of pen and paper this January 2009."
"The overall structure is A-B-A. The first section is in A-flat major and depicts a very Tchaikovskyesque ballroom scene with rich harmonies that support a lilting melody. The bass line starts out as a bit of a tease but finally settles into the traditional "oom" that the inner voices bounce off of with their "pah-pahs" that we expect in a waltz. The key signature for the middle section suggests E-flat major; however, there is a surprising amount of chromaticism and modulations that depict the dancers getting a little woozy from a few too many spins, and maybe a few too many trips to the punch bowl. Happily though, all is well as they manage to land on their feet when we cadence in C major. After this, we return to a recap of the first section with all the melodies and harmonies intact, with a few changes in the orchestration, and a little added pause before the final cadence."
Image: Eadweard Muybridge, "A Couple Waltzing" (Phenakistoscope, 1893).
