waltz rescue - Wagner Walzer

Subject: waltz rescue - Wagner Walzer
From: leeneia
Date: 14 Sep 18 - 12:08 PM

Recently we had a thread about a race between two horses - Wagoner (or Wagoner) and Grey Eagle. I think it was Gray Eagle, anyway. Tunes had been written and named for each horse, so I went to abcnotation.com to see if I liked the tunes.

I found the tune for Wagner, and I didn't like it enough to work on. But while I was looking at the results, I heard a little whimper, and there, tied to a post and neglected was a pitiful little piece called the Wagner Waltzer, from Uberosterreich. (How could somebody do such a thing?)

It seemed promising, so liberated it and played it. It started out with a bittersweet dissonance which led me to believe it was a fairly modern piece. Then it became more traditional. Unfortunately, as I tried to learn it, it became clear that there was something wrong in the middle. I tinkered and tinkered and then decided that it would never sound right and could not be fixed. I was within an hour of euthanizing it, when inspiration struck. Somebody had been trying to modulate and had modulated backwards!

The waltz moves from C to F, and instead of putting a Bb in the C part, they had put a B in the F part. (F plus B is one of the combinations known as the devil in music.) After adjusting that, and after grooming and a warm bath, the waltz turned out to be lovely little piece. I am now giving it a forever home in my big black notebook.

The Wagner Walzer now has a bittersweet opening, a traditional middle and lush F part to end. If any trusted catters want a copy of the sheet music, PM me.