The Ländler () is a folk dance in time which was popular in

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, German Switzerland, and

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at the end of the 18th century. It is a partner dance which strongly features hopping and stamping. It might be purely instrumental or have a vocal part, sometimes featuring yodeling. When

dance hall Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for dancing. From the earliest years of the twentieth century until the early 1960s, the dance hall was the popular forerunner of the discothèque or nightclub. The majority of towns and cities i ...

s became popular in Europe in the 19th century, the Ländler was made quicker and more elegant, and the men shed the hobnail boots which they wore to dance it. Along with a number of other folk dances from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

and Bohemia, it is thought to have influenced the development of the

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the w ...

. A number of classical composers wrote or included Ländler in their music, including

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

and Anton Bruckner. In several of his symphonies, Gustav Mahler replaced the

menuet A minuet (; also spelled menuet) is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in time. The English word was adapted from the Italian ''minuetto'' and the French ''menuet''. The term also describes the musical form that accompa ...

with a Ländler. The Carinthian folk tune quoted in

Alban Berg Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( , ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sm ...

's ''

Violin Concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque music, Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first dev ...

'' is a Ländler, and another features in Act II of his

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

'' Wozzeck''. The "German Dances" of

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

and

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have le ...

also resemble Ländler. Josef Lanner (1801–1843) wrote several Ländlers. It was he—along with Johann Strauss I and Johann Strauss II—that helped popularize the waltz in Vienna and elsewhere. The Johann Strauss II waltz '' Tales from the Vienna Woods'' features a

zither Zithers (; , from the Greek word ''cithara'') are a class of stringed instruments. Historically, the name has been applied to any instrument of the psaltery family, or to an instrument consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat ...

playing in the style of a Ländler. Britten's Peter Grimes features a Ländler in the scene where a dance night is occurring in the Hall. ''The Sound of Music'' Broadway musical, the film, as well as the American and British live TV broadcasts ('' The Sound of Music Live!'' (2013) and ''

The Sound of Music Live ''The Sound of Music Live!'' is an American television special that was originally broadcast by NBC on December 5, 2013. Produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the special was an adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1959 Broadway musical ''T ...

'' (2015)) all feature a scene where the protagonists Maria and Captain von Trapp dance a Ländler. The instrumental tune used in that sequence is a time re-arrangement of the more polka-like " The Lonely Goatherd" when Bil Baird's puppets are no longer needed and therefore aren't seen for the rest of the film. Compare this one to the "Dornbacher" Ländler by Lanner, and one will hear many similarities. The choreographers for the motion picture researched the traditional Austrian folk dance and integrated it into the choreography of the Ländler danced in the film.Hirsch, Julia (1993). ''The Sound of Music: The Making of America's Favorite Movie''. p. 93. The same (The Sound of Music) Ländler is played by 2 or 3 zithers, during the rehearsal for the Salzburg Music Festival as well.

References

External links

Analysis of Schubert's Seventeen Ländler
by pianist

Bart Berman Bart Berman ( he, ברט ברמן; born 29 December 1938) is a Dutch-Israeli pianist and composer, best known as an interpreter of Franz Schubert and 20th-century music. Career Bart Berman studied piano with Jaap Spaanderman at a predecessor ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Landler European dances German folk dances Swiss folk dances Austrian folk dances Dance forms in classical music

See also

References

External links