Annotation:Weber's Last Waltz

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WEBER'S LAST WALTZ. English, Waltz. England, Shropshire. G Major ('A' and 'B' parts) & C Major ('C' part). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABBCC. "Weber's Last Waltz" was composed by Carl Gottlieb Reissiger [1] (1798-1859) a classical composer who studied with Antonio Salieri (Mozart's nemesis in the stage play and film "Amadeus"). He succeeded composer Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (1786-1826) as Kapellmeister of the Dresden Court in 1828, and held the position until his death. "Weber's Last Waltz" is one of his lasting contributions to musical repertory, but not the original title (it was one of his opus 26 Danses billantes, No. 5), but was found among Weber's papers after his death and misattributed to him.

American writer Edgar Allan Poe made this the favorite piece of music of his character Roderick Usher in his story "The Fall of the House of User."

Source for notated version: a c. 1837-1840 MS by Shropshire musician John Moore [Ashman].

Printed sources: Ashman (The Ironbridge Hornpipe), 1991; No. 38, p. 13.

Recorded sources: Winner Records 3440 (78 RPM), Ernest Rutterford (concertina) & Lloyd Shakespeare (cornet), 1920.

See also listing at:
Hear the 1920 recording by Rutterford & Shakespeare on youtube.com [2]

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