Grossvatertanz Explained

The Grossvatertanz (Grandfather Dance) is a German dance tune from the 17th century. It is generally considered a traditional folk tune.

It is a tripartite tune:

• 8 bars in time, Andante
• 4 bars of a different theme in time, Allegro (repeated)
• 4 bars of a further theme, in time, Allegro (repeated).

The first part was sung to the words:

New lyrics to the first part of the tune were written by Klamer Eberhard Karl Schmidt in 1794^[1] and August Friedrich Ernst Langbein in 1812,^[2] both "lengthy and dull pieces of ornate poetry" (Franz Magnus Böhme, 1886).^[3] (1766–1853) in 1823 composed a new tune to Langbein's lyrics,^[4] for which he has erroneously been claimed to be the real author.^[5]

For many years, it was regularly played and danced at the end of wedding celebrations, and became known as the ("finale", turn-out).^[6] It became so associated with marriage that when Louis Spohr wrote a Festival March for the wedding of Princess Marie of Hesse to the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen in 1825, he was required to quote the in it.

Robert Schumann quoted the Grossvatertanz in a number of works, among them:

• the final section of Papillons, Op. 2 (1831)
• the final section ("") of Carnaval, Op. 9 (1834–35), where he labels the theme (Theme from the 17th century).

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky also quotes the tune in act 1 of his ballet The Nutcracker (1892). It appears at the end of the Christmas party. Tchaikovsky was a great admirer of Schumann's music, but it is not clear whether this was meant as some sort of tribute to Schumann or simply as an appropriate tune to use in music depicting the winding up of a happy family event.^[7]

More recently, the German composer Jörg Widmann has used the Grossvatertanz in his Third String Quartet, "Jagdquartett" (2003), to evoke a hunt.^{[8] [9]}

Further reading

• Eric Blom ed., Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed. 1954
• Max Friedlaender (1918): Das Großvaterlied und der Großvatertanz. In: Festschrift Hermann Kretzschmar zum siebzigsten Geburtstage. Peters, Leipzig, pp. 29–36 .
• Grossvater-Tanz . 1.22. 634 . Prout . Ebenezer . Ebenezer Prout. 1900 .

Notes and References

1. Wilhelm Werner Johann Schmidt, Friedrich Lautsch (eds., 1826): Klamer Eberhard Karl Schmidt’s Leben und auserlesene Werke. Vol. I. Cotta, Stuttgart and Tübingen, p. 389 (online).
2. August Friedrich Ernst Langbein (ed., 1820): Deutscher Liederkranz. Berlin, p. 152 f. .
3. Franz Magnus Böhme (1886): Geschichte des Tanzes in Deutschland. Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig. Vol. I: Darstellender Teil. p. 184 f. ; Vol. II: Musikbeilagen. p. 214 f. ; quotation: "lange und langweilige Kunstdichtungen".
4. [August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben]
5. Book: Cooper, John Michael . 2013 . Historical Dictionary of Romantic Music . Kehraus . https://books.google.com/books?id=td5_AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA307 . Scarecrow Press . 307 . 3 February 2019 . 978-0-8108-7484-8.
6. Book: Jensen, Eric Frederick. Schumann. 93. Oxford University Press. 2001. 978-0-19-534606-0.
7. Web site: Decca, Notes to Tchaikovsky recording.
8. Web site: Hunting Quartet . Schott Music . 3 March 2020 . 6 March 2021.
9. Armstrong . Asher Ian . Jörg Widmann's Jagdquartett. Tempo. 70 . 276 . 5 April 2016. 10.1017/S0040298215000959 . 22–33 . 147149237 . 6 March 2021.