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 Tripartite means composed of or split into three parts, or refers to three parties. Specifically, it may also refer to any of the following: * 3 (number) * Tripartite language * Tripartite motto * Tripartite System in British education * Triparti ...

tune: * 8 bars in time, Andante * 4 bars of a different theme in time, Allegro (repeated) * 4 bars of a further theme, in time, Allegro (repeated). The first part was sung to the words: New lyrics to the first part of the tune were written by Klamer Eberhard Karl Schmidt in 1794 and August Friedrich Ernst Langbein in 1812, both "lengthy and dull pieces of ornate poetry" (

Franz Magnus Böhme Franz Theodor Magnus Böhme (11 March 1827 in Willerstedt – 18 October 1898 in Dresden) was a German academic, musicologist, composer, folksong collector and writer on music history and folksong. Biography The son of a farmer, Böhme becam ...

, 1886). (1766–1853) in 1823 composed a new tune to Langbein's lyrics, for which he has erroneously been claimed to be the real author. For many years, it was regularly played and danced at the end of wedding celebrations, and became known as the ("finale", turn-out). It became so associated with marriage that when

Louis Spohr Louis Spohr (, 5 April 178422 October 1859), baptized Ludewig Spohr, later often in the modern German form of the name Ludwig, was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Highly regarded during his lifetime, Spohr composed ten symphonies, t ...

wrote a Festival March for the wedding of Princess Marie of Hesse to the

Duke of Saxe-Meiningen Saxe-Meiningen (; german: Sachsen-Meiningen ) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin dynasty, located in the southwest of the present-day German state of Thuringia. Established in 1681, by partition of the Ernest ...

in 1825, he was required to

quote Quote is a hypernym of quotation, as the repetition or copy of a prior statement or thought. Quotation marks are punctuation marks that indicate a quotation. Both ''quotation'' and ''quotation marks'' are sometimes abbreviated as "quote(s)". C ...

the in it.

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

quoted the Grossvatertanz in a number of works, among them: * the final section of ''

Papillons ''Papillons'' (French for "butterflies"), Op. 2, is a suite of piano pieces written in 1831 by Robert Schumann when he was 21 years old. The work is meant to represent a masked ball and was inspired by Jean Paul's novel ' (''The Awkward Age''). ...

'', Op. 2 (1831) * the final section ("") of ''

Carnaval Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

'', Op. 9 (1834–35), where he labels the theme (Theme from the 17th century).

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

also quotes the tune in act 1 of his ballet ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaik ...

'' (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. More recently, the German composer

Jörg Widmann Jörg Widmann (born 19 June 1973) is a German composer, conductor and clarinetist. In 2018, Widmann was the third most performed contemporary composer in the world. Formerly a clarinet and composition professor at the University of Music Freibu ...

has used the Grossvatertanz in his Third String Quartet, "Jagdquartett" (2003), to evoke a hunt.

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Further reading