Grossvatertanz

The Grossvatertanz (Grandfather Dance) is a German dance tune from the 17th century. It is generally considered a traditional folk tune.

It is a tripartite tune:

  • 8 bars in 3
    8     time, Andante
  • 4 bars of a different theme in 2
    4     time, Allegro (repeated)
  • 4 bars of a further theme, in 2
    4     time, Allegro (repeated).
Musical scores are temporarily disabled.

The first part was sung to the words:

Und als der Großvater die Großmutter nahm,
Da war der Großvater ein Bräutigam

New lyrics to the first part of the tune were written by Klamer Eberhard Karl Schmidt in 1794[1] and August Friedrich Ernst Langbein in 1812,[2] both "lengthy and dull pieces of ornate poetry" (Franz Magnus Böhme, 1886).[3] Carl Gottlieb Hering (1766–1853) in 1823 composed a new tune to Langbein's lyrics,[4] for which he has erroneously been claimed to be the real author.[5]

For many years, it was regularly played and danced at the end of wedding celebrations, and became known as the Kehraus (sweep-out).[6] It became so associated with marriage that when Louis Spohr wrote a Festival March for the wedding of Princess Marie of Hesse to the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen in 1825, he was required to quote the Grossvater Tanz in it.

Robert Schumann quoted the Grossvatertanz in a number of works, among them:

  • the final section of Papillons, Op. 2 (1831)
  • the final section ("Marche des Davidsbündler contre les Philistins") of Carnaval, Op. 9 (1834–35), where he labels the theme Thème du XVIIème siècle (Theme from the 17th century).

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky also quotes the tune in act 1 of his ballet The Nutcracker (1892). It appears at the end of the Christmas party. Tchaikovsky was a great admirer of Schumann's music, but it is not clear whether this was meant as some sort of tribute to Schumann or simply as an appropriate tune to use in music depicting the winding up of a happy family event.[7]

More recently, the German composer Jörg Widmann has used the Grossvatertanz in his Third String Quartet, "Jagdquartett" (2003), to evoke a hunt.[8][9]

References
  • Prout, Ebenezer (1900). "Grossvater-Tanz" . In George Grove (ed.). A Dictionary of Music and Musicians . 1. p. 634 – via Wikisource.
  1. Wilhelm Werner Johann Schmidt, Friedrich Lautsch (eds., 1826): Klamer Eberhard Karl Schmidt’s Leben und auserlesene Werke. Vol. I. Cotta, Stuttgart and Tübingen, p. 389 (online).
  2. August Friedrich Ernst Langbein (ed., 1820): Deutscher Liederkranz. Berlin, p. 152 f. (online, p. 152, at Google Books).
  3. Franz Magnus Böhme (1886): Geschichte des Tanzes in Deutschland. Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig. Vol. I: Darstellender Teil. p. 184 f. (online at the Internet Archive); Vol. II: Musikbeilagen. p. 214 f. (online at the Internet Archive); quotation: "lange und langweilige Kunstdichtungen".
  4. August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, Karl Hermann Prahl (1900): Unsere volkstümlichen Lieder. 4. edition. Engelmann, Leipzig, p. 12 (online at the Internet Archive).
  5. Cooper, John Michael (2013). "Kehraus". Historical Dictionary of Romantic Music. Scarecrow Press. p. 307. ISBN 9780810874848. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  6. Jensen, Eric Frederick (2001). Schumann. Oxford University Press. p. 93. ISBN 9780195346060.
  7. "Decca, Notes to Tchaikovsky recording" (PDF).
  8. https://en.schott-music.com/shop/jagdquartett-no175760.html Schott Music
  9. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/tempo/article/jorg-widmanns-jagdquartett/29EF3AE5A6792077B2B2AFE5E149A763 Jörg Widmann's Jagdquartett

Sources
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.