Waltz music may not have been invented in Vienna, but it was there
that the Vienna Waltz as a dance and as a musical form started its
worldwide success. Today three-quarter time, transformed into 'the
perfect movement' of a rapid circular motion, is still a symbol of
Viennese life
The origins of Viennese Waltz are dated back to 12th/13th centuries
and found in the dance called "Nachtanz". The Viennese
waltz originally comes from Bavaria and used to be called the
"German". However, other people question this origin of the
Viennese waltz. An article which appeared in the Paris magazine
"La Patrie"(THe Fatherland) on 17 January 1882, claimed
that the waltz was first danced in Paris in 1178, not under the name
waltz but as the Volta from the Provence. Presumably this is a dance
in three-quarter rythem, which the French regard as the forerunner of
the Viennese waltz.
.Probably the first waltz melody was "Das Lied vom lieben
Augustin" written in 1679 in three-quarter time. It was
introduced in Pairs in 1775, but it took some time before it became popular.
In the eighteen hundreds the waltz was considered to risqué
for maidens and only married ladies were allowed to perform this dance.
