- The year Schreker composed Valse lente, he completed a year as assistant conductor at the Vienna Volksoper, and then began to achieve success as a composer with his pantomime, Der Geburtstag der Infantin (The Birthday of the Princess), which was commissioned by dancer/ choreographer Grete Wiesenthal for an arts festival, the 1908 Vienna Kunstschau (other featured artists included Gustav Klimt).1
- Schreker’s Valse lente was written for Grete Wiesenthal’s sister Elsa, also a dancer, following the success of Der Geburtstag der Infantin.2
- Valse lente premiered on November 30, 1909.3
Sources
- Christopher Hailey, “Schreker, Franz,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed January 21, 2020, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000025080.
- Christopher Hailey, Franz Schreker, 1878-1934: A Cultural Biography(New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 29.
- “Franz Schreker: Valse lente for small orchestra,” Universal Edition, accessed January 22, 2020, https://www.universaledition.com/franz-schreker-659/works/valse-lente-5564.
Cut IDs
21365