I had a waltz melody in mind for several years.  When I got around to developing the idea, I wanted it to be a dance waltz vs. an orchestral waltz--i.e., danceable.  And within the “dance waltz” genre, I wanted a waltz that was more intimate vs. in “grand ballroom waltz” style.  I chose the instrumentation of a string orchestra for simplicity and warmth.   It needed to be simple in structure and to the ear, both for ease of dancing and for ease of playing, so that any level of strings could access it (from high school up).  For dancing, it should be fairly short; I was able to keep it just over 6 minutes.  I chose a tonal landscape to work on in order to enhance a romanticist sound.

Waltzes traditionally have an ABA musical structure.  In this waltz, the first section (A) in primarily the key of D major, a contrasting second section (B) in mostly the key of B minor, and a third section (A*) that recapitulates and the main melody of the first section and then goes in a bit different direction.

The first section is an Allegro with an ABAB structure, with the A being the main melody and development of it, and the B being a more harmonically oriented “rest” passage inspired by the waltz step known as the “rest step” or the “hesitation” step, a step that allows the pair to rest some while dancing.

The rhythm and arc of the main melody’s opening motif—quick, quick, slow, slow /  up, up, peak, down—influence and appear in much of the piece, as do variations on that rhythm and arc.

The second section is a bit slower Allegro.  It is a rondo, even if not true to some of the traditional conventions of one.  The basic rondo idea is a main passage, the refrain, that alternates with some other disparate passages, the episodes.  This section has an ABACAA* structure, an A refrain that repeats with different flavors, and two episodes (B and C) that take the piece in some different directions with contrasting moods.  The final “A*” section is a variation on the usual “A” refrain and transitions into the third section.

The third section, a slightly faster Allegro than the first, returns to the main melody of the A section, recapitulating the opening of the first section.  Then it shifts to an interlude at the tempo of the second section, with only 3 stands of strings, providing a more intimate relief.   Finally, at a faster pace, it moves with increasing energy and excitement to a climax of chords, which relax into a brief rising passage to the end.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EBNxcXGKebTCE8Yn9wc0Gp8a2eyMey2g/view?usp=sharing


Seth Matthew Holtzman

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