The Congress of Vienna Waltz

Some time in the mid-1990s, I tracked down a copy of the music for that very pretty waltz choreographed by John Hertz. It was not available on CD at the time. I sampled the music from cassette, cleaned up the worst of the noise, and encoded the result as an MP3 file. I put it on the web so dancers wanting to practice the choreography would have access to it in a format more practical than magnetic tape. If you download it, please send me a note so that I know my time was well spent.

Download congress.mp3 / Play it

Download congress.ogg / Play it

The musicians who recorded this performance are unknown.

Newer recordings of the Congress are now available: One from Brassworks and another from Bangers and Mash.

It has been suggested that the first two parts of the music are Swedish traditional pieces, but so far, I haven't found them anywhere outside of The Congress. The third and fourth parts are apparently from a tune by Ola Nilsson Lans, sometimes listed on recordings as Vals efter Ola Lans.

The dance is a modern creation, inspired by late 18th and early 19th century dances such as the Zillertaler Ländler, and has become popular in vintage dance circles throughout California. If you're interested in learning it, I suggest attending a Fezziwig dance at The Great Dickens Christmas Fair, or Friday Night Waltz on a night when they're teaching it. Alternatively, you might try the Gaskell Ball (northern California) or Friends of the English Regency (southern California) if they resurface.